Live Sand!! Instant Cycle??

[Stix87]

My package of live sand said "instand cycle" i added normal agronite and live sand agrnite. I also added preprepared salt water. Does the tank still need to cycle. Is the "instant cycle just a gimic? Has anyone else ever used live sand that claimed "intsant cycle"

[Fishfirst]

I've tried it, and for the most part it worked. I did see a mini cycle (of coarse I added only 20lbs of liverock and 3 fish to my 125 gallon when I did it so that could have been a factor).

[Osiris]

LMAO, i see that stuff more as a jumpstart ur tank still go througha mini cycle

[Stix87]

id prefer a mini cycle over a reg cycle, im going to add live rock little by little i got 2 lbs so far, just one nice chunk, every week im gonna get maybe 5 lbs for 3 weeks i want about 18-20lbs in my 55g, then after the live rock ill add mushrooms then fish

[Stix87]

also will a whisper 40-60 work as a filter along with my protien skimmer. Im planning on buying a wetdry filter but that'll come later. Its doing good so fAR, i also need to change my lighting but also little by little.

[TheOldSalt]

That's not the way you're supposed to add live rock, you know. You're supposed to add it all at once. Your way will work, too, but it'll take a lot longer.
Anyway, yeah, live sand makes for very rapid cycling. The caribsea stuff works okay, natural live sand works better, and the Nature's Ocean stuff in the blue bag works even better than that.
If you make a tank with the right amount of liveock & livesand from the very start, the tank will be cycled & ready the very next day, IF you live in florida or can otherwise get fresh rock & sand that needs no curing. Otherwise, the dieoff from curing will push the bacteria to their very limit for awhile, making it effectively an uncycled tank.

[Stix87]

lol u lost me old salt. I live sand i used to caribsea, 40lbs of that and 20 lbs of plain argonite. And actually if it takes long to get prepped the way im doing it then its fine. I dont have my wet/dry yet so im going to take my time and salt is soo expenisve that i dont want to get to the fish part yet until i have all the nessary equipment to sustain life. I also need to get stronger lights, all little by little. I may just stick to my 2lbs of live rock and 2 hermits for about a months and save 50 bucks every week until i can go buy the rest of the live rock in one purchase.

[Osiris]

Just a note make sure u get CURED liverock.

[Stix87]

whats the different?

[AshleytheGreat]

Lol same question...is it more expensive?

[TheOldSalt]

"Curing" is the process during which all the stuff on liverock which is going to die from shipping or unsuitability for tank life dies & rots. This can take weeks.
During this time, the tank is highly polluted.
The bacteria in the rock have plenty of food during this time, but they are also poisoned by the excess ammonia & nitrite & nitrate, which slows them down in growth & function. The tank can barely handle itself, let alone any fish, until the curing is completed and a large water change is made.

Cured rock is that which has already undergone this process, resulting in rock covered with stuff which will live instead of rot, and thusly cured rock is ready to use as an effective filter a once.

Most cured rock isn't very attractive. Most fresh rock IS very attractive. The tricky part is figuring out just how fresh it really is, and how much curing it will have to go through before being part of the solution instead of the problem. Florida stores can usually be counted on to have really good rock which won't need any curing even if it is fresh. More inland areas have rock which had to first be shipped to them, resulting in rock which will have a lot of dieoff. Since most people don't live in florida, most people don't know what live rock really looks like. They see the ugly already cured stuff in their local shops and think it's good becase they don't know better, or they see good-looking fresh rock which looks good but is about to start curing like crazy. Floridians are really spolied in the live rock department, having it both fully live and not subject to dieoff.

Anyway, when Malawian Pro said to make sure to get cured rock, he meant get the ugly stuff which won't rot any more than it already has.

Good rock smells clean & like the ocean.
Bad rock smells like rotten eggs & flesh.

[AshleytheGreat]

Wow, very nice to know. Thanks mucho.

[Stix87]

yes veru insiteful. After reading i checked my rock it did look pretty plain althought i saw some red coral growing on it and since tuesday ites grown a bit more. and nothing looks to be rotting, althought i do live in florida so chances are i have nothing to worry about