instant cycling ?

[fkshiu]

The best way to ensure an "instant" cycle is to buy your LR first and have it bubbling away in the dark in a heated rubbermaid tub for several weeks while you go off and collect the rest of your equipment - the longer the better. This way by the time you're ready to start the tank any necessary cycling is already done plus you have the added bonus of ridding yourself of a lot of nuisance algae and crap that was trapped in the rock.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

The best way to ensure an "instant" cycle is to buy your LR first and have it bubbling away in the dark in a heated rubbermaid tub for several weeks while you go off and collect the rest of your equipment - the longer the better. This way by the time you're ready to start the tank any necessary cycling is already done plus you have the added bonus of ridding yourself of a lot of nuisance algae and crap that was trapped in the rock.

Bingo! But you can't really call that instant cycling. That is just called "curing" your rocks, but the difference between curing at home and curing at the store is that there is only a few seconds they are out of water when they are transfered at home from the bin to your tank. They mis the road trip from the store to the tank. This is what I do with my rock.

[asherah]

sweet thanks for the advice =) I'm going to have to buy a few large rubbermaid containers I think =p

so when you put the then cured rock into the tank is it safe to then start slowly stocking ?
or it is still advised to wait and do tests ?

[Brent F]

Originally Posted by asherah

sweet thanks for the advice =) I'm going to have to buy a few large rubbermaid containers I think =p

so when you put the then cured rock into the tank is it safe to then start slowly stocking ?
or it is still advised to wait and do tests ?

Test - it's beter to be safe and make sure you are throught the ammonia cycle than it is to lose stock
________
marijuana strain strawberry cough

[Pan]

Oh and reef ceramics are quite nice...if you like that sort of thing.
http://www.captiveoceans.com/ReefCeramics.htm
there are other locations as well....just a hint as to what they look like.

[Myka]

^ Good post!

Originally Posted by 'Ol Nobodaddy

Oh and reef ceramics are quite nice...if you like that sort of thing.
http://www.captiveoceans.com/ReefCeramics.htm
there are other locations as well....just a hint as to what they look like.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I thought she was talking about those ceramic rings and stars and crap that they put in filters for biological filtration. LOL!

[Myka]

Originally Posted by asherah

sweet thanks for the advice =) I'm going to have to buy a few large rubbermaid containers I think =p

so when you put the then cured rock into the tank is it safe to then start slowly stocking ?
or it is still advised to wait and do tests ?

If you're going to cycle the rocks in rubbermaids, then I would suggest you wait about a week before you start to stock (go slow and light) just to make sure everything is functioning properly, temp is where you want it and stable, and sand is settled (this can take a week on its own). In that time I would test every second day for ammonia and nitrites. If both stay at 0 for the whole week, then I would test nitrates at the end of the week and as long as they are below 10 I would say you're safe to start stocking. If you get ANY ammonia or nitrite, then I would wait longer. I like to wait at least one week of 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite before I feel it's safe to say the cycle is over. JMHO.

[Brent F]

I'm missing something. What's the advantage of cycling the rock in a Rubbermaid tub verses doing it in the display tank?
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Honda RC172

[albert_dao]

You can "cook" rocks in remote containers more easily.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Brent F

I'm missing something. What's the advantage of cycling the rock in a Rubbermaid tub verses doing it in the display tank?

Easier to clean up the gunk that comes off the rock in a rubbermaid then to have it in the display. Plus you can catch any unwanted critters easier too.