When Can You Add Hermit Crabs After Cycling

Setragni, I recently went through this whole procedure and faced the issues around several people saying unlike things. For me, this is one of the nigh frustrating aspects of this hobby. The other claiming is that credible lack of solid scientific studies that highlight the pros and cons of various approaches and changing of single or fewer variables in order to determine the isolated effects of different approaches (at least I accept yet to see this research and I volition be happy when someone points me to them ).

The reality is that in that location are several ways to cycle a tank that will result in a stable tank. For me, agreement the chemistry behind cycling was most helpful. The link BobBursek pointed to is very helpful.

These are the highlights for me:

1) Cycling = growing bacteria. Flow. That'southward what you are trying to practice. Imaging your stone and sand as a big petri dish on which you are trying to grow colonies of bacteria.

two) The bacteria grow largely in staggers: ammonia "eating" bacteria first (Nitrosifying bacteria), and then "nitrite" eating bacteria (Nitrifying bacteria), then finally, it yous take enough places in your tank with surface surface area with piddling access to oxygen, you lot get nitrate "eating" leaner (Denitrifying bacteria).

iii) Most LFS Live Rock is often has a off-white amount of decomposable material that will exist a source of ammonia for your initial growths, but information technology does help to supplement this with an boosted ammonia source. A small single cooked shrimp from the grocery shop cafeteria ("cafeteria shrimp") will work. So will drops of ammonia, but this latter method is fraught with issues, so I would avoid it.

iv) The more than bacteria already on your Alive Stone and Live Sand when you lot start, the shorter your cycle. My initial cycle took about a calendar week to go from 1ppm of ammonia in my tank to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. I started with good Live Rock and CarribSea Body of water Direct Live Sand which should have had a fair amount of live bacteria already on it. I also used SeaChem stability to add together additional bacteria to the tank during the cycle. I accept read that if yous showtime with dry rock and dry sand, the bike tin take months.

5) During this period, y'all will exist susceptible to algae growth (since nitrate (among other things) is a fuel for algae). I kept my lights on a little to grow some algae to have a food supply for the CUC team when I finally added them, but I was careful not to keep the lights on too much). Some people say never plough on the lights, some people slowly increase the lights. I did 6 hours per day. My tank was fine when I added the CUC. I had some algae about 3/8" tall, merely 4 turbo snails reduced information technology to bare rock in a few of days.

half dozen) One yous have a fairly substantial amount of bacteria growing on/in your rock and sand, you can kickoff to add animals which produce waste. This waste material acts as a continual source of ammonia in guild to go on these bacteria colonies thriving.

7) You lot want to slowly increase waste product over time, otherwise you will overwhelm these bacteria colonies' ability to consume the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. This volition kill the living creatures in the tank or at least poison them to some caste. This is why you stock the tank slowly. This gives the bacteria colonies time to grow to handle the increase in waste material. The food you add to feed this live stock is also boosted source of waste material that must exist taken into consideration.

eight) My LFS told me to put a Dryad fish in the tank as a source of ammonia on day two instead of the deli shrimp. Many people, including myself, experience that this is not the proper use of a living brute. The reality is that while the fish may survive, it may exist damaged.