Cycling methods

[kevin]

Hi, will the roadblocks ever end?

125 tank 300 watt jager heater in return part of the sump. Has been running for 30 hours and will not climb above 75.9F?? Why? I will be adding another heater eventually but the 300 should do.it? No?

[exv152]

Is the heater itself warm to the touch? If it is, then it probably just needs to be calibrated which is why it has the button on the top. See this discussion thread for a more detailed desc of how to calibrate http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?72025-Calibration-button-for-Jager-Heater.

[elk]

youre better off with 2 heaters

[kevin]

Thanks guys, i'm over complicationg things. I thought the red arrow dial was the adjuster  adjusted with the blue dial and it is rising  Salinity is at 1.025 temp almost at 77.0F 48 hours and I should be good to grab some hermits and more LR to seed and start to cycle?

I could not have done this without the help of all you guys who responded in my time of need!

Thanks!!

[bt]

Don't buy hermits if you haven't cycled yet.

[kevin]

What am I suppose to cycle with? Many have told me start with the cleaning crew?

[Dakotamay]

Go to the local grocery store and buy a fresh piece of raw shrimp. Throw it in and let it rot. That will do it. Or you can just feed the tank a few flakes or something like that every day. That as they rot will also do it. Don't put any clean up crew into the tank until after the cycle is done. You'll just waste your money on them as most if not all will die.
If you really want to have something in your tank to cycle. Most will use green chromis. They're hardy and although it's cruel to put them through a cycle. Will usually survive it. None the worse for wear. You could start with 2-3 of them. I'd recommend though to just use a raw piece of shrimp.

[kevin]

I read that, thanks. I don't want tocreature suffer that's for sure. I watched a video about Dr. Tims one and only, they did tests and apparently this stuff really works. They cycled the London aquariums with it in a day! Adding sharks and rays immediately. Without anything producing amonia after the shrimp has decayed what is feeding the colonies?

[Djokher]

Kevin. Just good live rock and patience my friend. Everyone has a receipe...add this and that and some other stuff. Live Rock is the way to go. Between 1.5 and 2 pound of LR per gallon of water and wait. Nature has to go it's way. After the cycle is done the pods and other creature will start to spread.....you will get algae bloom....then coraline will start to form and all this takes weeks. Usually after 2 week of proper salinity / temp / ph you can start by adding CUC (cheap blue leg hermits and cheap snails) dont start fancy dont waste your money take your time. For about 1 month stick with the cheap CUC and feed them gently.....not to much. Look at the tank you might see odd things hapenning....you might find a good or a bad hitchicker on the Live Rock you may have to take stuff out or move the rocks around....all this is better done in the first few week....not when the tank is fully loaded.....once everything is stable and well establish then add more fancy CUC...like mexican turbo snail (with them you will quickly know if your LR are properly secured) and Nassarium (they are great sand movers)...you can add some emerald crabs, are shrimp.....then after couple more weeks start with simple easy to care fish (but make sure it's a fish that you will want to keep....so beware of the interaction) you can also add some softcoral.......(again beware some a invasive...like Green start polyp and Pulsing Xenia) make sure to isolate on rock island the invasive one so that they cannot overtake your tank.....they are great starting corals and easy to care for.....has you go and time pass you will learn more and more and perhaps go toward SPS.

The best advise.....take your time.....no impulsive pruchase.....read.....and beware off all those pseudo expert on the internet.

Finally stay away from good deals that might seems really good because you dont know what parasite you will bring home......like Aptaisia, Majano, Red Bugs etc etc.....before buying from anyone ask to see the tank, the sump. the frag area....make sure there is not parasites and perhaps do some CoralRX dipping.

[Dakotamay]

Kevin. Just good live rock and patience my friend. Everyone has a receipe...add this and that and some other stuff. Live Rock is the way to go. Between 1.5 and 2 pound of LR per gallon of water and wait. Nature has to go it's way. After the cycle is done the pods and other creature will start to spread.....you will get algae bloom....then coraline will start to form and all this takes weeks. Usually after 2 week of proper salinity / temp / ph you can start by adding CUC (cheap blue leg hermits and cheap snails) dont start fancy dont waste your money take your time. For about 1 month stick with the cheap CUC and feed them gently.....not to much. Look at the tank you might see odd things hapenning....you might find a good or a bad hitchicker on the Live Rock you may have to take stuff out or move the rocks around....all this is better done in the first few week....not when the tank is fully loaded.....once everything is stable and well establish then add more fancy CUC...like mexican turbo snail (with them you will quickly know if your LR are properly secured) and Nassarium (they are great sand movers)...you can add some emerald crabs, are shrimp.....then after couple more weeks start with simple easy to care fish (but make sure it's a fish that you will want to keep....so beware of the interaction) you can also add some softcoral.......(again beware some a invasive...like Green start polyp and Pulsing Xenia) make sure to isolate on rock island the invasive one so that they cannot overtake your tank.....they are great starting corals and easy to care for.....has you go and time pass you will learn more and more and perhaps go toward SPS.

The best advise.....take your time.....no impulsive pruchase.....read.....and beware off all those pseudo expert on the internet.

Finally stay away from good deals that might seems really good because you dont know what parasite you will bring home......like Aptaisia, Majano, Red Bugs etc etc.....before buying from anyone ask to see the tank, the sump. the frag area....make sure there is not parasites and perhaps do some CoralRX dipping.

I agree strongly. I always go by at least 1 pound of live rock per gallon of water. More is better. Yes the live rock is where your nitrifying bacteria will live and grow.
Always remember this saying "Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. But, it sure can go bad fast" As was said above just take your time. Read and learn. Don't impulse buy. Don't always take what that LFS sales person is telling you to be correct. If you aren't sure and know nothing about what you're looking at purchasing. Ask if they'll hold it while you go home and Google it.
It sounds like you're off to a good start. Keep at it. Before you know it in about 4 weeks or so time. You'll be adding your first critters.
All the shrimp does as it rots is provide the ammonia needed to start the cycle.

[bt]

Personally, I'd go with the "ghost feeding" method (feeding the tank like it had fish in it).  Piece of shrimp will work as well, I just prefer the feeding method.

But definitely no clean-up crew, no living fish until the nitrogen cycle is fully established.

[rookie]

as a rookie how does the live rock help the heater to go above 75.9

[kevin]

Lol, this post turned into something else. The heater is fine, I was adjusting it wrong. Thanks for taking the time to post all this info guys; I really appreciate it I definately want to to start off right. I have 100lbs of dead cured LR in the tank and need to seed it. Building up another 50lbs of live established rock. I will stick to the conventional methods and do things that nature would (without chemicals). I like the ghost feeding idea as I read that rotting shrimp can really cloud up the water, if it's empty I want it to at least be clear 

Salinity is at 1.023 and temp at 77F has been for 24 hours. everything is running perfect so far. I will be changing my overflows as soon as I can, the suction toilet flushing is annoying but I have it at a managable level now. I had way too much flow at first and it was insanely loud! We had to raise our voices to talk. lol

How many water changes should I do weekly during the cycle?


Thanks again guys