The Puffer Forum

More = better to an extent. That will be enough to support a juvenile though I would imagine.

bertie 83 wrote:More = better to an extent. That will be enough to support a juvenile though I would imagine.

Yea I knew more would be better just wanted to at least make sure I'm off to a good start.

I'll look into getting more of either base or live rock. The base I've ordered won't be in until next Wednesday so I'm waiting to order the live so I can just have it all in the tank at once.

I'll look into getting more live to begin with if I can.

ETA: How does 25lbs base and 50lbs live sound?

Sounds perfect. It's nice to see lots of research is being done prior to jumping in. You can use this time to soak your base rock to reduce possible clouding.

bertie 83 wrote:Sounds perfect. It's nice to see lots of research is being done prior to jumping in. You can use this time to soak your base rock to reduce possible clouding.

Great. And thanks. I research just about anything before I jump right in or even purchase anything for that matter.

My base rock actually won't be here until Wednesday of next week. I haven't ordered the live rock yet but certainly can. I thought maybe it would be easier just to have it all at once or at least the base rock first as far as the aquascaping goes.

But I'm thinking I'd like to go ahead and order the live rock even if it gets here before the base rock just so I can begin the cycling/curing process. Think that could pose any problems?

Is there a good page that talks about the process of cycling with live rock?

I've never did cycling, or at least not properly, with the testing and everything.

My salt, hydrometer,heater, powerheads, test kit, etc have all came in so I can get the tank filled at least.

ETA: I went ahead and ordered the 50lbs of live rock, showing it will be here somewhere around 10th-15th and then the 25lbs of base rock will be in at my LFS on 10th.

Add the live rock to the tank, it will soon produce ammonia itself. You need to add ammo at 5ppm and test regularly, when you show nitrates but no ammo or nitri 12 hours after adding the 5ppm of ammonia you need to do a large waterchange and stock immediately or feed ammonia for longer til your fish arrives. You can add your base rock at any point, don't panic on that front. Google curing live rock and have a good read, I could be way off the mark lol

bertie 83 wrote:Add the live rock to the tank, it will soon produce ammonia itself. You need to add ammo at 5ppm and test regularly, when you show nitrates but no ammo or nitri 12 hours after adding the 5ppm of ammonia you need to do a large waterchange and stock immediately or feed ammonia for longer til your fish arrives. You can add your base rock at any point, don't panic on that front. Google curing live rock and have a good read, I could be way off the mark lol

Even with the live rock, that I'm sure isn't going to be cured, I would need to add ammonia? Or is that what would help speed up the process as well? Would I need to add bacteria as well if I'm adding the ammonia myself?

I've read some on the process but it seems there are different ways to go about this or they aren't very detailed in areas such as the testing or results.

I don't know what to expect in terms of what the results will/should look like exactly. Like when I would even need to begin testing and know the cycling has began..etc..

You need to add waste (ammonia) to simulate a puffers bio-load. You could add bio spira to boost but it is not necessary as you would be amazed to what survives in live rock even when it is dried. You are good to go when you test ammo-0 nitri-0 nitrates showing your final w/c before adding fish will get this to under 20 as this can be high at the end of the cycle.

bertie 83 wrote:You need to add waste (ammonia) to simulate a puffers bio-load. You could add bio spira to boost but it is not necessary as you would be amazed to what survives in live rock even when it is dried. You are good to go when you test ammo-0 nitri-0 nitrates showing your final w/c before adding fish will get this to under 20 as this can be high at the end of the cycle.

Ah okay..that makes sense as to why the ammonia needs to be added. Hopefully I can find some pure ammonia in a local store without any issues so I won't have to wait yet again for an order to come in.

Would I add the ammonia right off or give time for die off from the live rock to see what ammonia comes from there and then add the ammonia to get to 5ppm?

With 50lbs live rock, 25lbs base rock, and adding the ammonia (not sure if I will bother with the Bio Spira just yet) about how long can the cycling tank on average?

Yup add a little ammo to get it going, double check that tho live rock is not my strong point. You do not want ammonia going over 5ppm as it will slow the cycle. If you are thorough you could be ready in a couple of weeks or so.

bertie 83 wrote:Yup add a little ammo to get it going, double check that tho live rock is not my strong point. You do not want ammonia going over 5ppm as it will slow the cycle. If you are thorough you could be ready in a couple of weeks or so.

Okay, thanks so much. It seemed like it would take longer but just a couple weeks isn't bad. I expected at least that long. I'll definitely keep reading up. I certainly want to do this right.

Do I need to perform water changes during the cycling process, to possibly bring ammonia down maybe, or just once it is more or less complete, when its time to bring the nitrates down before adding livestock?

Un-cured LR will release enough ammonia--you don't need to add any more. That's why it needs to be completely cured, before adding any livestock. That means, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite & minimal nitrate.

Just to let you know, one of my tanks had the Backpac on the side, not in the back. It fits under the legs of my light, perfectly.

Thankyou for clearing that up for me pp. out of curiosity will lr give off upto 5ppm of ammo or if you added a little ammo to put it up to 5ppm like a fishless cycle would it slow the cycle?

I am wondering the same. My live rock will be here about the middle of the week so I will begin my cycling then. Just want to be prepared for what I'll need to do and have on hand for this cycling process.

I messaged the seller of the live rock I purchased and was told that the rock is kept in holding tanks until shipped. I'm not really sure what that means in terms of curing and how it will affect the cycle. I had asked if it was cured or anything and that was the response I got.

Even fully cured live rock will have some die off in transit, however it will establish quicker compared to very dry live rock. You should also get some cool hitchhikers too. I cannot really advise too much more than that as I seem to be a bit confused on the cycling process using live rock. Pp has a lot on ATM, hopefully rtr or one of the other marine experts will be able to help more. You will definately have all the info you need before your live rock arrives.