start from scratch and add fish coral and all in a day.

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by acepumping

Its all good. Just wanted opinions not smart _-_ remarks lol.. so yes I did ask a question rookie.. I am going to do it the old school proper way but was thinking about a change up. Thats all.. thnx for you opinion rokkie lmfao

Welcome to canreef.

As a noob, this is what you can expect.
best keep your questions to yourself and do a little reading instead.

[albert_dao]

Oooooookay, listen, here's how you do it:

*Disclaimer 1, I do this all the time. But I know what to monitor and have a ton of water premixed in case anything goes south. Proceed at your own risk and don't be a scrub and keep on adding livestock if you are experiencing negative water quality.

Disclaimer 2, if you are a noob, stop reading now and just keep doing what everyone else is telling you to.

1. Set up tank. Make sure you have good equipment and lots of flow (the flow part is important). If you have any real liverock, it would be to your benefit to use it. If you don't, well, you don't.

2. You'll need a substrate for the bacteria. I use a 1:5 mix of Zeovit and Hydroton. Place this into a suitable container (media reactor, canister filter, whatever), you'll need at least 1 liter of this media per 100 gallons of water.

3. Seed the tank with a product like Zeobak or MB7 (I use Zeobak, your mileage may vary with other products) at triple the recommended dosage.

4. Add enough household ammonia (or pee, yes, pee, haw haw haw) until you get an ammonia reading of 0.25-0.50, NO MORE. If you overdose, you will retard and delay this process.

5. Add a DOC source. I use vinegar mixed with vodka and acetic acid (1:1:1 ratio by volume) at the rate of 1mL/gallon. This should cause a bacterial bloom which will cloud the water nearly opaque. Keep your skimmer running and empty the cup as necessary.

6. Continue adding bacteria (normal rate) and DOC (1mL/50 gallons) daily until the bacterial bloom subsides. This can take anywhere from three days to 15 days. Test your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels daily, twice a day if you're bored.

7. Enjoy your cycled tank. Continue adding bacteria until you run out. Dose DOC source as needed (test your NO3 and PO4 levels to determine the dosing rate).

This method works for me 100% of the time and I can put my money where my mouth is (read: conspic angel and gem tang +++).

Edit #1: I r bad english.

Edit #2: I know this isn't a one-day recipe, but I doubt there is one, short of being plumbed directly into a GIANT water source which can naturally buffer all of the bad stuff (e.g. the ocean).

Edit #3: Clarified the term 'bacterial bloom'.

[subman]

I may have been guilty of peeing in my tank to get things going lol

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by subman

I may have been guilty of peeing in my tank to get things going lol

Your wife was probably really impressed :P

[subman]

Yeah it's definitely on the list of things she shook her head at and walked away lol

[naesco]

Rather the **** to cycle the tank than damsals.

And subman don't make a habit of it.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by naesco

And subman don't make a habit of it.

Dude... Uncool. Seriously. One never doesn't simply tell a man he can't pee into his tank. Wars have been started over less.

Subman, on behalf of the rest of the internet, allow me to apologize for this guy's callous and unthinking hate mongering.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by subman

I may have been guilty of peeing in my tank to get things going lol

Haha. If I tried I'm sure company would walk in. Ill stick to peeing in the shower

[toytech]

a 2 or 3 day cycle can be done using products like dr tims and you could add fish but i find when using dry rock i always get quite an algea bloom.With a bunch of fish it will be hard to control nutrients at first and that bloom is going to be hard to knock down and corals arn`t going to be happy .Its not the way i would start a tank because it would take me longer to get it turned around then it would to set it up right.

[acepumping]

FINALLY!! Some legit answers instead of been bashed. Albert, thanks for your opinion. I have met and know that your a smart guy this way.. I am still going tondo it the old way.. just going tonseed my tank with a few rocks and get some dry rock and let it cycle. But im going to let it go for a good month.. the old way is the proper way but new technology allows us to jump to our steps faster.. its not like the old products that were hit and miss

Once again thanks to the real ones that gave me legits answers