Question about cycling..?

[BBBunn]

So I have a 10g saltwater I set up. I wont be getting coral for a few months. I want the tank to be running and cycled for that time. I want to responceable and get used to doing water changes and caring for the tank without fish. (I know that sounds dumb but I want to make sure I can handle it without harming any coral or fish) So How would I do that? Just continue the fishless cycle until I get fish? 🙂

[j.falk]

58 minutes ago, BBBunn said:

Just continue the fishless cycle until I get fish? 🙂

Yep...although why change the water if you don't have any livestock in there polluting it?  It seems like a waste of money to toss out perfectly good saltwater for no reason.  You won't know how to correctly take care of livestock/the aquarium until you actually have livestock in the tank to care for.

 

 

[BBBunn]

2 minutes ago, j.falk said:

Yep...although why change the water if you don't have any livestock in there polluting it?  It seems like a waste of money to toss out perfectly good saltwater for no reason.  You won't know how to correctly take care of livestock/the aquarium until you actually have livestock in the tank to care for.

So Would it be better if I didnt change the water out?

 

 

[j.falk]

5 minutes ago, BBBunn said:

So Would it be better if I didnt change the water out?

There would be no point to it...unless you like wasting money.  LOL

 

The purpose of changing water is to dilute things when the nitrates/phosphates start getting too high.  Without livestock in the tank creating waste, those levels won't elevate.

[BBBunn]

3 minutes ago, j.falk said:

There would be no point to it...unless you like wasting money.  LOL

 

The purpose of changing water is to dilute things when the nitrates/phosphates start getting too high.  Without livestock in the tank creating waste, those levels won't elevate.

What about keeping the cycle?

[j.falk]

13 minutes ago, BBBunn said:

What about keeping the cycle?

If you are constantly putting food in the tank to keep whatever bacteria you added alive then you might get levels in need of a water change...but that seems a bit pointless.  The purpose of the tank is to be able to have / enjoy livestock.  Keeping an empty tank would be counterintuitive.

 

The best advice I can give you: Cheap livestock is usually easy to care for livestock.  Start with something relatively inexpensive and learn the ropes with it.

[Tired]

Keeping the cycle just requires, essentially, keeping the tank wet. Water changes are to remove high nitrates and phosphates, to replace calcium, alkalinity, and other nutrients, or to remove some harmful substance like ammonia, excess coral slime, or a contaminant. If none of those things needs to be done, don't do a water change. Even once you have fish and corals, don't do water changes unless it's needed. An arbitrary schedule ("oh, I'll change it every week, that seems good") can drive your nutrients too low, or stress your livestock with water changes that weren't needed. Change the water when the tank actually needs it. 

 

You may want to add a few snails. They're very easy to keep, and will help keep the algae from running too terribly rampant before you add anything else. Just add them and ignore them, they'll be just fine assuming you have some algae already. 

[BBBunn]

50 minutes ago, Tired said:

Keeping the cycle just requires, essentially, keeping the tank wet. Water changes are to remove high nitrates and phosphates, to replace calcium, alkalinity, and other nutrients, or to remove some harmful substance like ammonia, excess coral slime, or a contaminant. If none of those things needs to be done, don't do a water change. Even once you have fish and corals, don't do water changes unless it's needed. An arbitrary schedule ("oh, I'll change it every week, that seems good") can drive your nutrients too low, or stress your livestock with water changes that weren't needed. Change the water when the tank actually needs it. 

 

You may want to add a few snails. They're very easy to keep, and will help keep the algae from running too terribly rampant before you add anything else. Just add them and ignore them, they'll be just fine assuming you have some algae already. 

And that will keep the cycle? any clean up crew you recommend for a 10g nano?

[j.falk]

1 hour ago, Tired said:

Keeping the cycle just requires, essentially, keeping the tank wet.

So you're saying that bacteria don't need to be fed to keep them alive? Just fill the tank with water...add bottled bacteria (enough to fully cycle the tank) and the bacteria will survive and keep the tank fully cycled forever as long as the aquarium contains water?  

 

LOL

[Tired]

They can survive a long time without being notably fed, especially since the rock and sand should contain some nutrients. Sure, they'll probably die off eventually, but you'd have to let the tank sit for a very long time to get that. A few months shouldn't be anything like a problem. 

 

Think of it this way: if I put some live rock in a bucket, with a powerhead and some light, and ignore it for a couple months, does it become not-live rock? 

[j.falk]

Even if the tank were set up with dry rock and dry sand?

[Tired]

Dry rock tends to give off some nutrients, yes. 

 

Now, the occasional addition of a very small bit of food wouldn't be a bad idea. And by that I mean something like, the tiniest pinch of food you can possibly pick up, once a week or less. But it takes bacteria a long time to starve.

[j.falk]

O_O