cycling the sandbed?

[siskiou]

I'm just setting up my 20G high, and so far I only have 20lbs of dead sand (Aragonite grade 0) and about 2 cups of LFS live sand in it.

 

Water temp is 80 F, salinity 1.023, ph 8.0.

 

It's going to be at least a week before I get my LR.

 

Would it be a good idea to cycle the sand bed in the meantime, by throwing in a shrimp (where does one get uncooked shrimp, anyhow)?

 

Get some bacteria going before I add the rock to make it easier on any lifeforms hopefully surviving on it?

 

Siskiou

[tinyreef]

i never did/do understand that uncooked shrimp fad (unless you're not going to use any type of live rock at all then i can kinda understand it). the live sand and live rock will cycle enough (more than enough sometimes :x ) for you. imo, the fresher the rock the better the results.

 

for example, i got some really rawass sewage fiji rocks from jeff's exotic last december. the galaxy corals were still flesh rotting on the rock but it was teeming with life! yeah, the water got syrupy and green but now i've gots loads of different algae and tunicates a-go-go (i.e. cryptic filtration ).

 

the 'live' on the LR with make it thru almost all cycles as long as you have good water current and occasionally export out the rotting fleshy parts. :x it takes a little longer ime but it is well worth it imo.

 

don't be afraid of the cycle. embrace it! nanananana!

 

btw, you can get the shrimp from the seafood section of almost any supermarket. "gimme one shrimp. mmmm, i sure is hungry!" "just put it in my hand"

[siskiou]

btw, you can get the shrimp from the seafood section of almost any supermarket. "gimme one shrimp. mmmm, i sure is hungry!" "just put it in my hand"

****************

 

Yeah, but here the shrimp are all pre-cooked .

 

I guess I'll have to spring for a prawn, if I decide to try the sand bed cycling

 

Though I'm not sure if there would be a real difference between raw and pre-cooked for a cycle.

 

Siskiou

[ocellaris]

Siskiou,

 

If you're going ahead with the cycling without the LR, skip the shrimp and use some flake food or something slong those lines. It does not have to be a shrimp or prawn... plus it'll take forever for that hunk of flesh to break down... it'll still be there when you add your live rock and then you'll have the fun of dealing with a furry check of flesh.

 

Best of Luck - ML

[siskiou]

Thanks for the hint, ML.

 

Are we talking a small pinch of flake food, just once?

 

Siskiou

[ocellaris]

Siskiou,

 

I think a tiny pinch'll do... then watch to see if it dissolves and then run a couple of tests in a day or two to see if there's any ammonia present etc... Oh by the way... you should get some water movement in there if you don't already have it.

 

Keep in mind that once you add the LR, you're basically going to go through another cycle. The teenie pinch of flake food from my perspective is just to sustain the minimal live sand that you have. I don't think you're going to get much propagation into your new aragonite within a week's time.

 

-ML

[siskiou]

I have a HOB refugium and two powerheads for circulation, atm.

About 300 Gph flow.

 

Will probably get another powerhead before the LR comes in, since one of the phs I have now is a very noisy Rio 400, and I've read too may stories about failing Rios.

 

It'll serve as a salt water mixing tool in the future!

 

Siskiou