Is it possible to cycle a tank in two weeks?

[Brewmaster]

I set up a new 29 biocube 15 days ago with 15 lbs LR and 20 lbs LS over 25 lbs aragonite.

Tested today for ammonia, trites and trates and all are zero.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[MikeG]

If the rock is fully cured and not taken out of water long as well as doesn't have much dieoff from tank to tank then yes you can set up a tank with no observable cycle at all.

 

[ceige]

my new tank is doing the same thing two weeks and everything is still very nice......I will add something small from my other tank this weekend to try to kick start a cycle to see if it will happen at all

 

[Jim Tansey]

Be careful the first couple of weeks often show nothing.

Jim

 

[kotu100]

set up my girls tank a couple days ago. took like 5#'s of rock from my fuge, along with 10#'s dead rock, and 20 lbs dead sand. seeded sand w/ sand from my tank, and a nice chunk of chaeto from my sump. put a hermit in there last night and so far hes doin fine. also a couple small 1/4" snails hitchiked from my fuge, they're doin fine as well.

when i put 25#'s of 2 yr old established rock in that tank the 1st time (my 1st reef) i had a very short cycle, couple days at the most. never saw ammonia, and very little trites which were gone in a day.

add a hermit crab, IME they dont do too good if you DO get a cycle. that way you're only out a buck.

 

[Blueflu1]

when i started mine, it "cycled" in two weeks. then two weeks later I got the algae that is normal. took 2 months to get rid of most of the algae. 3 days without lights during the power outages got rid of the rest of it.

 

[SharkLover]

i went 2 weeks with no parameter changes then Whammmmm.... cycle, and a hard one. and that was with cycled rock and sand from a matured tank. The works, diatoms, algae etc..

take it slow until the 4th week and keep the lights off if you can.

 

[JohnK]

Entirely possible to be through the "initial cycle" that fast. Just keep in mind that there is a lot more settling in to do.

It's not a bad idea to let the tank settle in for a few months after the ammoina and nitrite test zero. Think of it as an investment in stability

 

[afboundguy]

I will echo what others have said that you might not be in the clear. IMO I'd also wait a little while longer before you add any fish in there.

I took my sweet time when I cycled my tank, I think it was something like 4-6 months before I put in my first fish. The longer you wait to add livestock the better you will be in the long run...

 

[naturebatslast]

I set up a new 29 biocube 15 days ago with 15 lbs LR and 20 lbs LS over 25 lbs aragonite.

Tested today for ammonia, trites and trates and all are zero.

Cheers,
Jim

Nope, you can't.

 

[Matt L.]

It may have gone through the initial cycle, but it is not established and ready for fish. The initial guideline of 6 weeks before fish, I think, is still a good one,

Matt

 

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Curing

If the rock is fully cured and not taken out of water long as well as doesn't have much dieoff from tank to tank then yes you can set up a tank with no observable cycle at all.

I agree with Mike here. When I started my tank I used 100% fully cycled live rock. I had no die off and never measured any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. I still have the Yellow Tang (8 years now) I put in the tank 3 weeks after the sand, rock and water.

 

[Brewmaster]

Thanks for all the replies!

I've set up a few other tanks and have no intention of adding any live stock for at leat another month. I also have not been lighting the tank at all.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[Andy V]

I am sure everyone will excoriate me for saying this, but you can cycle a tank in a day. Usually this is difficult to do with larger tanks for reason listed below. Before everyone goes crazy, this is how I did it:


I bought live sand for substrate
I used live rock from another tank
I used 50% of water from an established tank (my tank is only 30G)
The rest of the water was freshly made

If you think about it, it's not really "cycling" the tank, so maybe I am technically incorrect. But what I did was basically take some established rock and water, and added some live sand. Essentially what I did was like doing a 50% water change.

I put corals in my tank the second day after setting it up. Never had a loss, I just raised the bioload gradually. This is a great method for people setting up smaller tanks.

 

[Jim Tansey]

I am sure everyone will excoriate me for saying this, but you can cycle a tank in a day. Usually this is difficult to do with larger tanks for reason listed below. Before everyone goes crazy, this is how I did it:


I bought live sand for substrate
I used live rock from another tank
I used 50% of water from an established tank (my tank is only 30G)
The rest of the water was freshly made

If you think about it, it's not really "cycling" the tank, so maybe I am technically incorrect. But what I did was basically take some established rock and water, and added some live sand. Essentially what I did was like doing a 50% water change.

I put corals in my tank the second day after setting it up. Never had a loss, I just raised the bioload gradually. This is a great method for people setting up smaller tanks.

Sounds more like you moved an established tank from one tank to another.

Jim

 

[SharkLover]

I bought live sand for substrate
.

Can someone clear this up. I thought that when sand sits is when the bacteria begin growing on the various levels of depth that remove things like nitrate. if you have *bought* live sand, is it not fully cycled sand for lack of better word? Would he not have had hugh nitrate problems due to the lack of bacteria? I am so confused. I would think a tank like this would have a hugh algae outbreak if not a few deaths. someone explain why this did not happen. (and if it "DID" happen but 30 gallons wasn't enough size to impact)

 

[MikeG]

Can someone clear this up. I thought that when sand sits is when the bacteria begin growing on the various levels of depth that remove things like nitrate. if you have *bought* live sand, is it not fully cycled sand for lack of better word? Would he not have had hugh nitrate problems due to the lack of bacteria? I am so confused. I would think a tank like this would have a hugh algae outbreak if not a few deaths. someone explain why this did not happen. (and if it "DID" happen but 30 gallons wasn't enough size to impact)

Live sand that you buy should have anerobic denitrifying bacteria. This is the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. The bacteria you are referring to are anerobic bacteria that are found at depth in deep sand beds that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. These would not be present in a bag of live sand. I personally still don't understand the packaged live sand thing as I am not sure how long bacteria will live in this enviorn,ent. If it was live sand out of a tank from a deep sand bed and they took all the way to the bottom, then they may have some die off of bacterial populations. Might not be enough to be measurable though. One thing to remember is that you have to think of bacterial biomass as a fluid thing. Even when a tank is stable, there is constand die off and reproduction of bacterial populations.

 

[NSbobby]

I used NSW to fill up, fully cure liverock, and lots of live sand and it still took a few weeks to cycle. Backing up what most said, just give it some time and let it work work its cycle. I knew mine was mostly done after a diatom bloom and tested the water regularly.

Goodluck and listen to those giving advice, most know this hobby very well and are great help!

Bobby

 

[Matt L.]

...I personally still don't understand the packaged live sand thing as I am not sure how long bacteria will live in this enviornment.

Bacteria are ubiquitous in the environment. They are all over the place. If bacteria aren't in an environment that is favorable to them, they will simply become inactive and/or form spores.[/QUOTE]

...If it was live sand out of a tank from a deep sand bed and they took all the way to the bottom, then they may have some die off of bacterial populations....

They would actually have a lot. Aerobic conditions are lethal to anaerobic denitrifiers. Only a few would survive, and they would be inactive.

...One thing to remember is that you have to think of bacterial biomass as a fluid thing. Even when a tank is stable, there is constant die off and reproduction of bacterial populations.

Yes, and the bacteria we desire are very slow growers, so if they die off or are inactive or are introduced in small numbers, then it just takes a while for them to reach the numbers we need.

Matt