Cycling Dry Rock with Bacteria in a Bottle

[Nano_Addict]

Hey everyone!

 

I'm in the process of setting up a 50 gallon tank. This isn't my first tank, but it has been a while since I've gone through the cycling process.

 

I picked up an brightwell Xport Bio brick and a bottle of Microbacter 7.  My plan was to soak the bio brick in the microbacter 7 per the instructions toss it in the sump and let the tank start to cycle with small additions of fish food for the first few weeks.  However, now i'm seeing that brightwell has a specific starter bacteria https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/microbacter-start-xlm-brightwell-aquatics.html and I'm wondering if the xport bio and microbacter are really intended for use during the cycle.

 

In the end I suppose I just need to watch ammonia and nitrate levels and wait for them to dissipate before transferring my fish to the new tank.  Just curious if anyone has any advice or experience with the two products mentioned above.

 

Thanks!

[geekreef_05]

hey hey, I just used the Instant Ocean brand bacteria. 

 

It works. Cycled in about a week. I dont know the difference between any of the brands though. 

 

My advice is to skip the ghost feeding or raw shrimp method. It would take months to work. There is good science to show that now, Dr Tim has decent lecture about it if you want to google.  The key is also to have some ammonia drops to add or start with live-sand and they'll be fresh ammonia in the bag 🙂. 

[spectra]

Agree with above post...... I have used both the IO and the Dr Tims to cycle a tank and both worked great. Do not like the ghost feeding myself. 

[mcarroll]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:12 AM, Nano_Addict said:

I'm in the process of setting up a 50 gallon tank.

I take it from the rest of your post the this is just gonig to be an old-fashioned fish-only system with plain bio-media for filtration?

 

On 1/8/2021 at 9:12 AM, Nano_Addict said:

I'm wondering if the xport bio and microbacter are really intended for use during the cycle.

I would read and follow Brightwell's directions as closely as possible.  Ask questions about any deviations you plan to take from the directions.  

 

To be clear, the directions seem to include your scenario, so try just following the directions – nothing fancy:

 

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/xport_bio_brick.php

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7.php

[Nano_Addict]

3 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I take it from the rest of your post the this is just gonig to be an old-fashioned fish-only system with plain bio-media for filtration?

 

I would read and follow Brightwell's directions as closely as possible.  Ask questions about any deviations you plan to take from the directions.  

 

To be clear, the directions seem to include your scenario, so try just following the directions – nothing fancy:

 

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/xport_bio_brick.php

https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7.php

Appreciate the reply.  I did end up doing some research on Brightwell's site and ended up deciding to give their dry rock starter package a try since it's specifically meant to work together.

 

I guess I did leave out some detail, the tank is 50 gallon (actual volume ~39 gallon) and I do plan to keep coral in the future, probably several months from now after I get through the ugly stage and the fish have been in for a little while.