Saltwater Reef tank cycling, should i add ammonia?

Question

Ok i just picked up all the live rock i need...here is my tank setup

55 gallon
30lbs agronite sand
20lbs live sand
1lbs live sand from an established tank
60lbs (or more) of FULLY CURED liverock/that i bought from a established tank ($7/lb)

Fluval 305 filter (new filter media)(no access to used media)
Coral life Super Skimmer (65gallon)
Coral life Actinic light 260watts/10k


now thats out of the way, i was told by someone to do a FISHLESS cycle, and to add pure amonia (about 3-4ml a day) for 5 days....its day 3...i have gotten the PPM up to 1.5 or so....

nitrites and nitrates still read 0, pH is 8.2, salinity is 1.022

CONSIDERING i have 1lb of livesand from an established tank AND 60lbs or CURED live rock, should i even have to cycle the tank? or should it not already by cycled? kind like a clone tank...

i was assuming i should stop adding ammonia and check the nitrites every day until they spike? or will that not happen since i have so much from an old tank?

Answer 1

No you do not need to add anything to get your cycle going..The fact that you got some sand and rock from an established tank means you will probably have a VERY short cycle..My tank cycled in like 4 days with live sand and cured rock..
What you should test every other day is ammonia and nitrites,these will spike and it will probably be a very minor spike and then they will fall to 0 once they fall to 0 your cycle is done..Nitrates are not deadly to fish so I only test once a week for those.Nitrates at 0 are great but they will climb as your tank gets older.Water changes bring those down..Right now just watch for a rise in ammonia and or nitrites.
You may not see an ammonia spike with good rock but you should see a nitrite spike..Stop adding ammonia and let the tank do it's own thing it will cycle on it's own..It could very well be that you had no real cycle due to the great rock and sand but I would wait a few more days and test and if all is well then I would think you are done..

Answer 2

You don't need to add ammonia. That's used in order to build up a population of bacteria to cycle the wastes of the fish before you add them to the tank. Your live rock and sand already has living bacteria.

There will be some die-off from the live rock after you get it in the tank, so this will produce some ammonia already. Even if the rock is fully cured, how you place it in the tank will bury some areas, and have rock against rock where it's touching from stacking it, so areas that don't get enough light or folw will die. If you add too much ammonia at this point, you may damage the organisms living in and on the rock and sand. Just monitor the ammonia and nitrite for now. See the section on curing live rock in this link: http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterAquariumSetup.htm

Answer 3

Don't add more fish! Cycling without fish is much better. Way back in the day I used to use damsels to cycle a tank but have found it to be very inhumane. IF you can catch him do so and take him back for a store credit or something. You can add a fish a week or so after the cycle is done. Ammonia detoxifiers will usually still register on a test kit. Your only on day 2 though and don't have a lot in your tank to really give a hard cycle. When stuff starts to decay you should see a rise in your ammonia even with the Amquel. Your LFS owner probably sold you the AmQuel to help the fish with the ammonia. It's not at all necessary but shouldn't effect the cycle to much. Ammonia detoxifiers really should never be needed in an aquarium. Doing a water change now will not hurt at all since you are so early in your cycle. Water changes later during the cycle will prolong the cycle time. Your pH is completely normal for a new tank just starting the cycle. Don't mess with it and only worry if it is still low after your cycle is done. More live rock will help but its expensive and not really necessary. Adding in regular dead aquarium rocks will be seeded by the live rock and will grow to be live rock as well. Take out the biowheels. They aren't necessary and can prolong a cycle. The live rock will be your biological filter. Run the filter with just the filter pads in it. Carbon is kind of useless in this stage of your tank but the mechanical filtration of the cartriges is good to have. With only 10lbs of live rock and one fish for your cycle you will need to be careful as to how fast you add in fish later. You don't have a lot in there to really generate a lot of beneficial bacteria and it iwll need to adjust after each additional fish is added.

Answer 4

I wouldn't add ammonia any more. The live rock will suffer if it really is cured already. Remember, even "cured" live rock still needs to cure some more once you place it in your tank because inevitably, you will lose some of the microscopic "critters" living in it before it goes into your tank.

Answer 5

NO NO NO - as a salt water fish store owner, I would say NO NO NO do no add amonia to your tank unless you are sure of the types of fish you are going to put in it... Some fish can and will die if you over do it. How long has your tANK CYCLED?