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Cycling 16G tank: CaribSea Life Rock + Bacteria in a bottle + ghost feeding
Muffin87 posted a topic in Biological Filtration
I'm getting my first tank tomorrow, a 16G (60 litres = 15.85G), and I plan to do fishless cycle with dry rock (I'm a penniless PhD student and I don't want hitchhikers). I've watched tons of video tutorials about cycling a reef tank, but I'm still not clear if cycling with dry rock is the same as cycling with live rock with the exception I need to add the bacteria and the ammonia source. If someone has some experience with fishless cycles with dry rock such as CaribSea LifeRock, could they share their wisdom and tell me if this is how I am supposed to go about it, and possibly correct the wrong steps? (I'll be testing with Salifert tests plus an ammonia badge) Tank = Empty Add a flat layer of sand [1 inch to 1.5 inch thick covering the full bottom of the tank - sand comes with the tank kit] Add Carib Sea Life Rock for a total of 18 lbs (8 kgs) [This brand of dry rock has bacteria spores inside] Add Saltwater [premixed or mix in the tank?] Add Bacteria-in-a-bottle, specifically EasyLife EasyStart [American brands are difficult to find in Southern Europe, and this product has good reviews] Add fish food daily (ghost feeding) until ammonia reaches at least 5 ppm [I'd dose pure ammonia, but adding fish food seems less likely to end up in extremely high ammonia] Ammonia over 5 ppm, plus nitrifying bacteria, means nitrite spike. If nitrite=0, raise ammonia back up to 3-4 ppm, and add bacteria, until I get a nitrite reading. After nitrite, I'll get nitrate. At what level/PPM of nitrite should I start testing for nitrate? When nitrite tests 0 ppm and nitrate is spiking (over 5 ppm? 10 ppm?), do a water change (5%? or 10%? more?) to lower nitrate to 0-10 ppm. Tank = cycled, add fish. Sorry this is very long-winded, but I couldn't find a step-by-step procedure to cycle with dry rock such as CaribSea Life Rock, bacteria-in-a-bottle, and fish food. Thanks a lot if someone can help!
