Working in an aquatics center, I've seen a number of people use this method with pretty hit and miss results. Personally I find cycling with bottled Bacteria and letting the bacteria dye off is a safer bet. Leading to less uneeded fish mortality. Patience is the biggest thing I wish we could bottle and sell these days.
Thanks Alex for another great video. You cannot appreciate the bacteria enough. I always add a little bit after each water change to increase bio diversity which helps me to keep Cyano at bay
Great video mate. I loved how you explained it in simple terms but also informative. Little to no confusion for a beginner. A big thumbs up from myself in the land down under 👍🏼
I have just finished my cycle, and have done what you have mentioned. I use seachem prime to help detoxify ammonia an stability for bacteria. Full initial cycle happened in 9 days. Now its just diatoms and green hair algae.
Good advice. I'm on day 28 of cycling. Its diatom time and the snails are killing it. Its not growing back quickly where the escargot have gone. The basic cycle took 18 days and Gramma Loreto went in day 19. Its going really well. There is now a baby Hepatus doing great too after I took him out of the bristle worm tank.
I agree Alex. Last year I did fritz zyme 9 bacteria. Added a. Bottle and two clowns to a 70g tank. Never saw ammonia and after a few days nitrates. No harm no fowl
Most can NOT use tap, can't trust city to clean. I live in N Seattle our water is pristine, not as clean as RODI but clean enough. you started to lose me when you said you can't add coral from day one. I've always added coral from day one along with fish. I was pleasantly surprised for this very informative video. I posted my thoughts and shared my experience on this w/ social media and got flamed 8 months ago... lol aquarium police came out with their squad...
Ammonia can't go to zero if you have a dead shrimp and food. It will skyrocket. THen you want to reduce it and wait till it goes to zero? I still don't see the logic in that. You're literally spiking ammonia, the very thing that can kill the fish, and for what? I feel like cycling is a complete waste of time without fish. Just have the fish poop and have a skimmer run and keep the ammonia down + add a bacterial killer thing everyday for a week or so.
Nice video! I'm excited that I can potentially add fish so soon in the cycling process. I thought I would have to wait a month or more. What about quarantining the fish? Is there a need to do that if the tank is new? Also regarding the adding a piece of live rock from the local aquarium store to help add nitrifying bacteria. What about the risk of introducing unwanted pests into a new tank. What are your thoughts on that? Total newb here, please excuse any ignorance in my questions.
I don't quarantine fish personally but if you're going to do so, you should still qt your first fish. The only real pest you're likely to get is aiptasia and you should be able to spot that easily on a small piece of rock. True live rock from the ocean is just much better than dry rock though for things like biodiversity and filtration capacity. The pros heavily outweigh the cons for me 🙂
Thanks a lot for the info by the way I have just purchase a 10 g and I turned it into a salt water tank and it's at the cycling part as we speak and I do have an damsel in it. But after the cycle part I will purchase a peacock mantis shrimp at a local fish shop I really can't wait I'm so excited about the salt tanks I always wanted to start one up but I was Afraid of the cost and maintenance on it but now it's not all that hard to do it but like I said great job on this vid
I have a display tank which i'm cycling with the Reef Mature Starter Kit from Red Sea, In the meantime I have also setup a quarantine tank, but without live sand and rocks. I was persuaded to start this with AMT Colony and also Cupramine from Seachem as the LFS runs their fish tanks with about 0.3 ppm Copper. The initial dose of Cupramine is 0.25 ppm and the suggestion is to increase this to 0.5 ppm after 48 hours. My first two Clowns didn't make it through this initial period. One died after 24 hours and the other a day later. It was suggested that I should wait a week and start again with a full dose of Colony again. I decided that although Cupramine has benefits it is only slightly less toxic to fish than the parasites that it targets. So, I have been removing the Copper with activated carbon in a bag in the filter. I have two replacement Clowns and the plan is to wait and see if they need the Cupramine rather than add it from the first day. Fish already have a hard enough time until they arrive in our tanks, have acclimation to contend with and so don't perhaps need a further upset from the Cupramine? If I do introduced it again, it will be in stages - where a 20% water change could reverse the last increase. A further disadvantage of Cupramine is that it prevents using AmGuard from Seachem - so that if their Seachem Alert indicates too much free Ammonia, this can't be used to quickly lower the level. It seems that at start up the potential for Ammonia to increase is greatest compared to an established tank, so monitoring and having a backup plan is always a good idea. I also have two full containers of RO/DI and Saltwater in RO/DI available to manage water issues. Simon
Very useful video for me as I look to start my first reef tank. Question - when should I turn on my sump? You mentioned to turn off the filter but what’s a good time to have it on?
I'm very new into the hobby and I added GSP, mushrooms, rose BTA and rock flower anemone right after cycling and I just use water from my faucet. I never had any issues so far. 🤞
Aiptasia and algae are the main things I try to avoid - especially ulva lacuta. But if it looks clean, I'm not too fussy - a bit of biodiversity is a good thing 🙂
i kept reading up that urchins eat zoas as well. so i am so conflicted to get one. i think one more advice that you should add to newbies is that, a lot of information you find about reefing is anecdotal.
I agree, I have three in my tank with no problems at all. I do have one that has collected a Zoa garden on it's back but they don't mind being transported around so it's alright by me.
Loved this video. Clear and concise, sound advice. Thanks from Ireland and I’m heartily reassured that I’m on the right path. Have pretty much taken all the steps outlined, in the correct order…..elsewhere I find there’s too much conflicting info and American ranting on the subject…..delivered at 100 MPH! Oh and I’m a “Cannister Cowboy” too. #dontcare #notapurist #marinetankmaverick #alliswell
Great Vid - To the point without ambiguity - Q: Would you bother with live sand (dearer, less sand than dry sand per £) - If yes, then you still need atm colony/dr tims etc?
@@ReefDork This was my thought process too. Money saved on dry sand can be used on Dr Tim's. At least I know the bacteria is pukka from day one. I can also run a magnet through it 😉 Currently torn between Reeflowers Pearl White and Maidenhead Aquatics sand.
Upgrading in a house is relatively easy, just don't reuse the sand. Moving a tank to a different house is a pain in the arse! I've done it once and wouldn't do it again...
In my experience the best way to cycle a marine tank is to use RODI water, add a small fraction of shrimp at the very begining and every 4 days one or two flakes of fish food, then wait till ammonia and nitrites go to zero (local marine fish store can test them for you), the whole cycle lasts 1 month and a half aprox. During the cycling process you might add nitrobacter7 (one bottle, daily dosed as indicated by manufacturer), a couple of pieces of live rock from a VERY reliable source, light for just 6 hours a day (mostly blues/actinics), wavemakers at 100% and also filters (skimmer not necessary in this stage). After that, once tank is cycled, you start introducing fish (one every other week max), some CUC and a couple of soft corals. Skimmer and lights at full regime, weekly 10% water changes. Cheers.
Ammonia can't go to zero if you have a dead shrimp and food. It will skyrocket. THen you want to reduce it and wait till it goes to zero? I still don't see the logic in that. You're literally spiking ammonia, the very thing that can kill the fish, and for what? I feel like cycling is a complete waste of time without fish. Just have the fish poop and have a skimmer run and keep the ammonia down + add a bacterial killer thing everyday for a week or so.
I currently cycling my tank… Friday was day 14…( Dr Tim bacteria and ammonium)So I did a 45% water change due to the huge Nitrate spike. The next morning Nitrates are still high🤔 Where am I at in this step?
@@talk2yous6 Do not do anything till day 45 more or less, by this time levels should be: nitrites 0, ammonia 0, Nitrates something between 5-40ppm. Then perform the first water change of 20%. During this cycling time just add a little of fish food (1 or 2 flakes or a diminute portion of fresh food like shrimp) once per week.
I’ve had my salt water tank for about a month now the allergy is going crazy, but I’m starting to control it slowly my main question is what do the chemical levels need to be in the tank before you can add fish and corals
Please help. I used dr Tim’s one and only. 4-5 days later I added 2 clown fish. Fish are doing fab and are very happy. I’ve now had them 9 days and my ammonia is 1.5. I test and dose with prime and stability daily. When will my ammonia drop to 0?
Double check the result but you need to do a few large water changes on consecutive days. Basically at least 50% but as much as possible. I'd also add a piece of mature live rock from your lfs - make sure it stays wet on the way home.
Can you do a tutorial/guide regarding cuttlefish? I'm considering getting a beginner setup like the one you showed recently and perhaps eventually get a cuttlefish but I'm concerned that it would be too difficult because it's very hard to gain all the necessary information about what and how to get the equipment required for them. On top of that it would be useful to know where to purchase them and how to cultivate hatchlings. Keep up the good work and content!
Good question. Feed light as long as you can - testing nitrate and phosphate once a week is probably a good way to see if you've got the balance of feeding/water changes right. As long as your fish don't look thin (it should be obvious when they do) you're feeding enough
Thanks for all the great videos. What are your thoughts on a 1 day tank transfer. I have a new tank coming that is going in the same spot the current tank sits at.
Thanks, really a clear and direct to the point information video. I am planning to start my first 100 liters reef tank soon. I wanted to add Caribsea reef rock because they have dormant bacteria but no pests as live rocks as far as I understood. Can I still follow your procedure?
I'd be a bit more cautious if you don't add any live rock at all - maybe leave it a couple of weeks before adding fish to make sure there's no ammonia spike (but still feed the tank even without fish)
@@ReefDork Thanks for the reply :-) It seems not easy to find the 3 bacteria starters products you suggest in EU. Would "Brightwell Aquatics MicrōBacter Start XLM" be a good substitute?
I don’t have any where I could run a RO system. 3 fish stores here in town in Toronto said as long as I used the Red Sea water declorinator in each mixed bucket of water I introduced into my new tank (3 days old) I’d be ok. Will I be ok as hearing only RO water has now made me nervous. I’ve just spent 1500$ on my 40 gallon tank. I was just gonna stick to dry rock and fish. I was going to get 2 clown fish, a wrasp and a blue or yellow tang. My tank is also sitting at a 1.024 salinity. Will I be ok guys???? P.S I also put a small bottle of turbo Fritz in that treats upto 25 gallons. And a ammonia product by Fritz that you put 4 drops per 1 gallon into the tank. They said it speeds up the cycling process. I pray I didn’t screw this tank up using tap water like the stores told me I could do ☹️ Great content and I just subbed
1.024 is fine - just add some more saltwater and the freshwater will evaporate, slowly increasing your salinity to sg to 1.025 or 1.026. Just test every day for a week to make sure you're not overdoing it. Do you know what the TDS of your tap water is? Where I live it's 350ppm which is unacceptable! But some parts of the UK have as low as 10ppm which is probably OK, if not ideal.
Can't give you enough Thumbs up, I am trawling trough all your video's to try glean as much info as possible, but my tank (Red Sea Max Nano) is arriving on Tuesday (2 Days), so this video i have now watched 3 times. I will use it as my bible come fill up time a day or so after i have the scaping and sand done. A couple of questions if i may please?: 1. I want to add and run with MarinePure Gems at the bottom of my filter sock section (white fine floss for polishing on top)....Can i add and leave these two items from the start and during the Cycle? 2. I also want to run a small amount of the Red Sea Carbon that comes with the tank, but an i right in understanding that this carbon should NOT be used during cycle? Thank you Reef Dork, and i have loads of your video' to go through yet, but no doubt i will view this one again before Tuesday and have it on screen ready to refer with during my tank start up. (BTW Subscribed and notifications on)
Great video, recently subscribed to your channel and have just finished filling my first marine tank (5ft), added a shrimp yesterday so waiting for the cycle to start - question is do I need my heater on at the moment? Seems a waste for it to be on right now if I'm not adding fish yet?
Been a long time since I've cycled that way, but I think the temperate affects the rate at which bacteria proliferate. I'd have the heater on personally...
Those bacteria bottles sit on the shelf for months and need to be mixed thoroughly- much more than a person can mix even shaking the bottle. Skip it and buy a dead shrimp and throw it in. Much more *consistent* results.
I'm psyching myself up to move from fresh to salt water... not quite there yet, hopefully will be ready to go next year but I'm a notorious overplanner and researcher. I know I won't pull the trigger on something this expensive until I feel fairly sure I can do it without killing everything I put my hands on. I'm just saddened at the lack of actual plant life I'm seeing on this side. Other than people saying they put chaeto in their refugiums I haven't really seen any plants. Are there any decorative plants for the salt side of the hobby or is that just not a thing?
Hoping to start my salty journey soon. Most people seem to start with Clowns because Damsels are hardy - but I've read they can be territorial and I might be better to let more peaceful fish establish first, so the Clowns are not as boisterous! Can any fish be used for this method, for example, a Goby or Firefish or should you go for a fishless cycle method with less hardy first fish?
I've kept Firefish and briefly introduced a Damsel to my tank under poor advice; the Damsel was promptly returned the next day. This particular Damsel was incredibly territorial and fearless.
Hi Alex quick question having set up my first saltwater aquarium with the method you shown, you advise not making water changes for the first 2 weeks. What is your advice if my tank is reading high nitrate and nitrites only a couple of days in. Thanks
It’s a fluval evo 13.5 I used fritz zyme 9 for bottles bacteria currently housing 2 small clowns and a small cleaner shrimp. Could it be too much livestock too quickly and or overfeeding
@@ReefDork awesome thanks for your help. got a bit nervous seeing those test results so soon after starting, hopefully with each water change the test results improve and the bacteria can get to work I’m going to grab some live rock to give the tank a boost too. Thanks again
This video somehow answered a lot of my questions I have about cycling. If I would like to start a reef only with some inverts tank, is that the same cycling schedule?
Yes, yes it is as long as you are feeding your corals enough, remember people that keep reef tanks normally keep many fish as well as corals, corals feed from the water coloum, so as long as you feed the corals with enough food your bacteria will be fine. The key is test regular and water change regularly, I keep a reef tank with 2 fish and water change 10% weekly with natural sea water and its doing great (2 years). Decent light and food source is the key.
@@Wayneandjayswildadventures thanks for the input! I will take that into consideration when I start my tank. Still in the newbie planning stage. Haha stuck in the financial side of things right now but doing my due research and getting opinion before I start spending all that money. I'd need a chiller so to buy one is three times my current rent in my country. My country is hot and humid all year round so that's a must. Also, the tank with light, skimmer, and filter media is also around 2 month's rent. Being very careful before I start one.
ive been in the terrarium and freshwater hobby for soooo long and now i want to start with saltwater. im still kinda scared about this hobby since it sounds so complicated. do you also have a video about how you make your saltwater?
Turn the skimmer off for a week - probably won't hurt to leave it off longer. If you have filter media in your HOB filter, you'lll want that on. If you have chaeto or something else you'll remove and throw away, you want that off.
Hi , new subscriber here... . I have a 32 gallon tank that I top off with distilled water. I buy prepackaged seawater from my LFS for my original water and water changes. I heard that you can use distilled water for topping off for evaporation, is that bad? I don't have the room for a rodi filter and my tank has a lid so I don't get much evaporation.
So that I understand correctly. Sand rock water and bacteria boost bring water up to temp @ 79 degrees and add 2 clowns the next day. Run filter without the carbon pad for circulation until no ammonia??
I'm sorry to keep asking the same question but I'm a little confused. I have the rock and sand installed. I was getting my saltwater from local shop. He said to run filter while cycling and add dr tims. I thought the filter would strip the tank of what was needed that's why I was just gonna run the wave maker. Please help me understand!
@@ReefDork thanks for answering so quickly. I’m getting a saltwater cube tomorrow. Should I add live sand or regular aquarium sand? I will probably buy a rock or two and the bottled bacteria
Hi. Im cycling my 50gal tank with seachem stability and prime from 03/03/22. 09/03/22 i added one mini fox face + 1 vial of Prodibio Biodigest and 1 vial of biotim and then 14/03, i added 2 more fish: 1 unicorn tang, 1 bristletooth tang and they’r both 3finger size… 17/03/22 i added 4 Fauna Bacto Ball. Now my Seachem Alert always show 0.05ppm, test with Sera: No2 - 5, No3 - 50. So i asked if my tank is good to go or overload?
You need to slow down a bit - that's far too many fish so early. Get a 2nd ammonia test kit to make sure it's actually 0 but it wouldn't hurt to do a 50% water change just in case.
Hello Alex! Just set up my first tank and added a bottle of ATM Colony and 2 small clowns on Saturday evening! When would you advise to turn my skimmer on and also replace the bubble trap and filter sock? Thanks!
When you do the clown fish method do I do a water change or anything when the ammonia levels spike since I have 2 clown fish in the tank or do I let the tank do its thing if anyone can help me thanks
If you get any ammonia spike, you need to change as much of the water as possible - ammonia is torture for fish so change 70%+ and add some live rock from your LFS if you can.
We don't really have distilled water readily available in the UK so it's the unknown for me to be open. And everyone I've ever known to have a successful tank uses RO/DI.
If you already own an established tank. I can't recommend just using biomedia, old filters, or established rock enough. If you buy a piece of live rock from LFS do yourself a huge favor and dip the hell out of it if yoy dont want pests or add a wrasse right away
Why do you do such regular water changes? I thought if you had a good enough skimmer and auto dose daily this minimises water changes? I only need to do them around once every 6 weeks due to this. I know it depends on tank size and stocking levels
I think from my experience, distilled water is usually heated with copper wires or brass wires, which maybe the reason they want to avoid the risks of leaching these metals into the tank?
@@jacklawer6389 yeah that's why he telling you don't get fooled because RoDi will remove entire natural minerals from the tap water which is not good for corals and better you use tap water, just use anti chlorine like seachem pristine conditioner and please trust me because it was told by a marine aquarium boss and he using tap water only and all his corals was very healthier, he told me RoDi water is for marketing purpose only and he has personal coral tank at his shop , he says it was 12year older and all fish was very older seems very fine, he also showed me his blue tang got bigger , he says it's live in the tank for 10years old and he says it was dechlorinated tap water, no RoWater.. and he suggested me to buy seachem pristine, seachem stability
Cannot understand why still these kind of videos are being produced. How to cycle a tank in the 80s is the right header. Or the legend of cycling a tank. Or how to grow everything in a tank but corals. Water, Corals, then fish. Corals use Ammonium as food source. Corals have bacterias with them. Maybe you should start to learn a little bit more than what people thought 40 years ago was right. I bet 100 Euros that you can start here on youtube a tank with this way and it will succeed!!!
Lots of bad advice in this video, I guess it matches with the fact this kind of setup for a novice is just a sea creature killer so why should the advice be any different...."only spend as much money as you are prepared to lose as there is every chance it will fail and die"...... sums up the lack of care and completely irresponsible advice in this series. Why set these new people to the hobby up to fail, why instruct them to have zero care that these are living creatures and knowingly kill them in the name of entertainment?
If so, as a newbie looking to setup his new tank, can you let me know what to do? What are the bad advice he stated, just to be aware? How long have you been in this hobby and can you share with us what is YOUR way of starting a tank?
@@RoroNYQ Well, were do you start, a lot of what he has said goes against mainstream (and most reefers) advice and really shows how much of a noob he is. You got less than 200L for your first marine tank then go start a freshwater tank instead. Don't feed pellet/dry food use frozen, not quarantining animals before going in the tank is crazy, don't add living creatures till you KNOW the environment is not going to kill them (generally a month or more of cycling and testing), putting fish in on day one is a complete joke which alongside old mates attitude towards killing living animals is simply unacceptable...... Old mate will probably get away with what he is dong, but only because he has a couple of other establish tanks to fall back on. Starting a sterile tank of this size at home, with no other larger saltwater tanks around for experience and as a safety net to rescue you, WILL go bad following this method. If you are killing things, then you are clearly doing it wrong, if your attitude to killing animals is only one of monetary loss then you should not be keeping animals.
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Working in an aquatics center, I've seen a number of people use this method with pretty hit and miss results. Personally I find cycling with bottled Bacteria and letting the bacteria dye off is a safer bet. Leading to less uneeded fish mortality. Patience is the biggest thing I wish we could bottle and sell these days.
@swifty2844 So, the products I am using are correct, notibly, you are working in am aquatic centre.
Thanks Alex for another great video. You cannot appreciate the bacteria enough. I always add a little bit after each water change to increase bio diversity which helps me to keep Cyano at bay
Super helpful video. Hands down most concise, informative fish in cycle video I’ve seen
Great video mate. I loved how you explained it in simple terms but also informative. Little to no confusion for a beginner. A big thumbs up from myself in the land down under 👍🏼
Just the info I was looking for! Adding water and a couple clown fish this weekend. Long time coming. Thanks for the great video
I have just finished my cycle, and have done what you have mentioned. I use seachem prime to help detoxify ammonia an stability for bacteria. Full initial cycle happened in 9 days. Now its just diatoms and green hair algae.
great and informative video as always! I wanna start my first tank in a few months! your videos helped me a lot in preparing for it
Best new tank cycle video ive seen. Thank you so much.
Prodibio Start Up has given me much better results in a long-term in a stable way 👍
Good advice. I'm on day 28 of cycling. Its diatom time and the snails are killing it. Its not growing back quickly where the escargot have gone. The basic cycle took 18 days and Gramma Loreto went in day 19. Its going really well. There is now a baby Hepatus doing great too after I took him out of the bristle worm tank.
Really great video Alex 👍
This is very clear and concise, but super useful information! Thank you!
I agree Alex. Last year I did fritz zyme 9 bacteria. Added a. Bottle and two clowns to a 70g tank. Never saw ammonia and after a few days nitrates. No harm no fowl
Most can NOT use tap, can't trust city to clean. I live in N Seattle our water is pristine, not as clean as RODI but clean enough. you started to lose me when you said you can't add coral from day one. I've always added coral from day one along with fish. I was pleasantly surprised for this very informative video. I posted my thoughts and shared my experience on this w/ social media and got flamed 8 months ago... lol aquarium police came out with their squad...
Ammonia can't go to zero if you have a dead shrimp and food. It will skyrocket. THen you want to reduce it and wait till it goes to zero? I still don't see the logic in that. You're literally spiking ammonia, the very thing that can kill the fish, and for what? I feel like cycling is a complete waste of time without fish. Just have the fish poop and have a skimmer run and keep the ammonia down + add a bacterial killer thing everyday for a week or so.
@@arsenioseslpodcast3143 It's all about the balance 🙂even a cycled tank can have an ammonia spike if too much bioload is added at once...
Nice video! I'm excited that I can potentially add fish so soon in the cycling process. I thought I would have to wait a month or more. What about quarantining the fish? Is there a need to do that if the tank is new? Also regarding the adding a piece of live rock from the local aquarium store to help add nitrifying bacteria. What about the risk of introducing unwanted pests into a new tank. What are your thoughts on that? Total newb here, please excuse any ignorance in my questions.
the advice in this video generally should not be followed if you want to have success
I don't quarantine fish personally but if you're going to do so, you should still qt your first fish. The only real pest you're likely to get is aiptasia and you should be able to spot that easily on a small piece of rock. True live rock from the ocean is just much better than dry rock though for things like biodiversity and filtration capacity. The pros heavily outweigh the cons for me 🙂
Thanks a lot for the info by the way I have just purchase a 10 g and I turned it into a salt water tank and it's at the cycling part as we speak and I do have an damsel in it. But after the cycle part I will purchase a peacock mantis shrimp at a local fish shop I really can't wait I'm so excited about the salt tanks I always wanted to start one up but I was Afraid of the cost and maintenance on it but now it's not all that hard to do it but like I said great job on this vid
Great video as always Alex! 😀👍
I have a display tank which i'm cycling with the Reef Mature Starter Kit from Red Sea, In the meantime I have also setup a quarantine tank, but without live sand and rocks. I was persuaded to start this with AMT Colony and also Cupramine from Seachem as the LFS runs their fish tanks with about 0.3 ppm Copper. The initial dose of Cupramine is 0.25 ppm and the suggestion is to increase this to 0.5 ppm after 48 hours. My first two Clowns didn't make it through this initial period. One died after 24 hours and the other a day later. It was suggested that I should wait a week and start again with a full dose of Colony again. I decided that although Cupramine has benefits it is only slightly less toxic to fish than the parasites that it targets. So, I have been removing the Copper with activated carbon in a bag in the filter. I have two replacement Clowns and the plan is to wait and see if they need the Cupramine rather than add it from the first day. Fish already have a hard enough time until they arrive in our tanks, have acclimation to contend with and so don't perhaps need a further upset from the Cupramine? If I do introduced it again, it will be in stages - where a 20% water change could reverse the last increase. A further disadvantage of Cupramine is that it prevents using AmGuard from Seachem - so that if their Seachem Alert indicates too much free Ammonia, this can't be used to quickly lower the level. It seems that at start up the potential for Ammonia to increase is greatest compared to an established tank, so monitoring and having a backup plan is always a good idea. I also have two full containers of RO/DI and Saltwater in RO/DI available to manage water issues. Simon
Very useful video for me as I look to start my first reef tank. Question - when should I turn on my sump? You mentioned to turn off the filter but what’s a good time to have it on?
I tend to have a skimmer running more or less from day 1, but having no filtration for a month while the nutrients build up isn't a bad idea.
@@ReefDork thanks! Any rule of thumb in terms of what kind of skimmer to get? I am getting a 3ft tank with 2ft sump.
Thank you for making reefing less intimidating 😅
Nice video Alex and a great guide if you want to take this route. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I'm very new into the hobby and I added GSP, mushrooms, rose BTA and rock flower anemone right after cycling and I just use water from my faucet. I never had any issues so far. 🤞
I don't even dechlorinate. I just let my water sit for a week before I use it. May not be the best practice but works just flawless.
Great that it's working so far, but that's a ticking time bomb...
How often should I dose the bacteria during the cycling? Is it just once at start up or every couple days? Thank you for the amazing video 🙏
Just once but keep an eye on ammonia after 👍
Any tips on picking live rock to help the cycling...nasties or warning signs to look out for
Aiptasia and algae are the main things I try to avoid - especially ulva lacuta. But if it looks clean, I'm not too fussy - a bit of biodiversity is a good thing 🙂
@@ReefDork Cheers. It's finding the balance between lab sterile and Blackpool beach water.
@@modotd3885 😅
i kept reading up that urchins eat zoas as well. so i am so conflicted to get one. i think one more advice that you should add to newbies is that, a lot of information you find about reefing is anecdotal.
Never heard that myself - the blue tux is completely reef safe in my experience
I agree, I have three in my tank with no problems at all. I do have one that has collected a Zoa garden on it's back but they don't mind being transported around so it's alright by me.
Hi Reef Dork, whats your opinion on cycling a reef tank with dry rock, using Aquaforest Pro bio s and minus Np Pro.
Thanks in advance.
I've never used that stuff but I'm a fan of dry rock with a bottle of bacteria and a small amount of live rock.
Loved this video. Clear and concise, sound advice. Thanks from Ireland and I’m heartily reassured that I’m on the right path. Have pretty much taken all the steps outlined, in the correct order…..elsewhere I find there’s too much conflicting info and American ranting on the subject…..delivered at 100 MPH! Oh and I’m a “Cannister Cowboy” too. #dontcare #notapurist #marinetankmaverick #alliswell
Great Vid - To the point without ambiguity - Q: Would you bother with live sand (dearer, less sand than dry sand per £) - If yes, then you still need atm colony/dr tims etc?
I never do, partly because I like to rinse sand. But if I did, I'd definitely still use Dr Tim's 🙂
@@ReefDork This was my thought process too. Money saved on dry sand can be used on Dr Tim's. At least I know the bacteria is pukka from day one. I can also run a magnet through it 😉
Currently torn between Reeflowers Pearl White and Maidenhead Aquatics sand.
great video would be excellent if you could do a video on your opinion on tank transfers .e.g. upgrading to a bigger tank or moving house cheers
Upgrading in a house is relatively easy, just don't reuse the sand. Moving a tank to a different house is a pain in the arse! I've done it once and wouldn't do it again...
In my experience the best way to cycle a marine tank is to use RODI water, add a small fraction of shrimp at the very begining and every 4 days one or two flakes of fish food, then wait till ammonia and nitrites go to zero (local marine fish store can test them for you), the whole cycle lasts 1 month and a half aprox. During the cycling process you might add nitrobacter7 (one bottle, daily dosed as indicated by manufacturer), a couple of pieces of live rock from a VERY reliable source, light for just 6 hours a day (mostly blues/actinics), wavemakers at 100% and also filters (skimmer not necessary in this stage). After that, once tank is cycled, you start introducing fish (one every other week max), some CUC and a couple of soft corals. Skimmer and lights at full regime, weekly 10% water changes. Cheers.
Ammonia can't go to zero if you have a dead shrimp and food. It will skyrocket. THen you want to reduce it and wait till it goes to zero? I still don't see the logic in that. You're literally spiking ammonia, the very thing that can kill the fish, and for what? I feel like cycling is a complete waste of time without fish. Just have the fish poop and have a skimmer run and keep the ammonia down + add a bacterial killer thing everyday for a week or so.
I currently cycling my tank… Friday was day 14…( Dr Tim bacteria and ammonium)So I did a 45% water change due to the huge Nitrate spike. The next morning Nitrates are still high🤔 Where am I at in this step?
@@talk2yous6 Do not do anything till day 45 more or less, by this time levels should be: nitrites 0, ammonia 0, Nitrates something between 5-40ppm. Then perform the first water change of 20%. During this cycling time just add a little of fish food (1 or 2 flakes or a diminute portion of fresh food like shrimp) once per week.
I’ve had my salt water tank for about a month now the allergy is going crazy, but I’m starting to control it slowly my main question is what do the chemical levels need to be in the tank before you can add fish and corals
Have used atm and can say it does as it says
Thanks for the video
Please help. I used dr Tim’s one and only. 4-5 days later I added 2 clown fish. Fish are doing fab and are very happy. I’ve now had them 9 days and my ammonia is 1.5. I test and dose with prime and stability daily. When will my ammonia drop to 0?
Double check the result but you need to do a few large water changes on consecutive days. Basically at least 50% but as much as possible. I'd also add a piece of mature live rock from your lfs - make sure it stays wet on the way home.
Can you do a tutorial/guide regarding cuttlefish? I'm considering getting a beginner setup like the one you showed recently and perhaps eventually get a cuttlefish but I'm concerned that it would be too difficult because it's very hard to gain all the necessary information about what and how to get the equipment required for them. On top of that it would be useful to know where to purchase them and how to cultivate hatchlings. Keep up the good work and content!
I know nothing about them I'm afraid. Apart from the fact they're cool 😎
@@ReefDork Fair enough, thanks for the clarification though!
RODI is mega expensive, even in SE Asia where it costs $300 for a set up. No neeed for that, especially if you have 5-15 gallon tanks
When should i turn on skimmer after putting fish on the first day?
Hi Alex, at what point can I feed more and how many times a day should I feed? Thanks in advance
Good question. Feed light as long as you can - testing nitrate and phosphate once a week is probably a good way to see if you've got the balance of feeding/water changes right. As long as your fish don't look thin (it should be obvious when they do) you're feeding enough
@@ReefDork thanks once again alex
Thanks for all the great videos. What are your thoughts on a 1 day tank transfer. I have a new tank coming that is going in the same spot the current tank sits at.
Fine - I've done it a couple of times. Just don't transfer the sand and make sure the temperature matches on both tanks.
Thanks, really a clear and direct to the point information video. I am planning to start my first 100 liters reef tank soon. I wanted to add Caribsea reef rock because they have dormant bacteria but no pests as live rocks as far as I understood. Can I still follow your procedure?
I'd be a bit more cautious if you don't add any live rock at all - maybe leave it a couple of weeks before adding fish to make sure there's no ammonia spike (but still feed the tank even without fish)
@@ReefDork Thanks for the reply :-) It seems not easy to find the 3 bacteria starters products you suggest in EU. Would "Brightwell Aquatics MicrōBacter Start XLM" be a good substitute?
@@Alex-ws1xm I've never used that but it looks like the same sort of thing
How much live rock did you use I got just about 1kg but my colony didn’t make water cloudy
Alex your absolutely great 👍
I don’t have any where I could run a RO system. 3 fish stores here in town in Toronto said as long as I used the Red Sea water declorinator in each mixed bucket of water I introduced into my new tank (3 days old) I’d be ok. Will I be ok as hearing only RO water has now made me nervous. I’ve just spent 1500$ on my 40 gallon tank. I was just gonna stick to dry rock and fish. I was going to get 2 clown fish, a wrasp and a blue or yellow tang. My tank is also sitting at a 1.024 salinity. Will I be ok guys???? P.S I also put a small bottle of turbo Fritz in that treats upto 25 gallons. And a ammonia product by Fritz that you put 4 drops per 1 gallon into the tank. They said it speeds up the cycling process. I pray I didn’t screw this tank up using tap water like the stores told me I could do ☹️ Great content and I just subbed
1.024 is fine - just add some more saltwater and the freshwater will evaporate, slowly increasing your salinity to sg to 1.025 or 1.026. Just test every day for a week to make sure you're not overdoing it. Do you know what the TDS of your tap water is? Where I live it's 350ppm which is unacceptable! But some parts of the UK have as low as 10ppm which is probably OK, if not ideal.
NEEDED THIS FROM YOU
I added my coral on day one, green star polyp it is.
This is my favorite cycling video so far! But I was wondering, won't turning the lights on grow a lot of algae on the rocks and sand though? 🤔
Gonna happen at some point...
Can't give you enough Thumbs up, I am trawling trough all your video's to try glean as much info as possible, but my tank (Red Sea Max Nano) is arriving on Tuesday (2 Days), so this video i have now watched 3 times. I will use it as my bible come fill up time a day or so after i have the scaping and sand done. A couple of questions if i may please?:
1. I want to add and run with MarinePure Gems at the bottom of my filter sock section (white fine floss for polishing on top)....Can i add and leave these two items from the start and during the Cycle?
2. I also want to run a small amount of the Red Sea Carbon that comes with the tank, but an i right in understanding that this carbon should NOT be used during cycle?
Thank you Reef Dork, and i have loads of your video' to go through yet, but no doubt i will view this one again before Tuesday and have it on screen ready to refer with during my tank start up. (BTW Subscribed and notifications on)
Never heard of MP Gems i'm afraid. No need to run carbon for a good couple of months - your water won't need polishing at first
awesome video
How many weeks until we need to do a water change? And should I still keep the skimmer off?
Couple of weeks should do it. That'd be a good point to turn your skimmer on too
Great video, recently subscribed to your channel and have just finished filling my first marine tank (5ft), added a shrimp yesterday so waiting for the cycle to start - question is do I need my heater on at the moment? Seems a waste for it to be on right now if I'm not adding fish yet?
Been a long time since I've cycled that way, but I think the temperate affects the rate at which bacteria proliferate. I'd have the heater on personally...
@@ReefDork ok thanks for the response, ill get the heater on! Keep making the great content 👍
Those bacteria bottles sit on the shelf for months and need to be mixed thoroughly- much more than a person can mix even shaking the bottle. Skip it and buy a dead shrimp and throw it in. Much more *consistent* results.
When do you turn your protein skimmer/algae reactor on?? Great video :)
Probs around the 4 week mark, but test nitrate and phosphate and turn them on when you start to get readings
@@ReefDork Great thank you for clarifying!
I'm psyching myself up to move from fresh to salt water... not quite there yet, hopefully will be ready to go next year but I'm a notorious overplanner and researcher. I know I won't pull the trigger on something this expensive until I feel fairly sure I can do it without killing everything I put my hands on. I'm just saddened at the lack of actual plant life I'm seeing on this side. Other than people saying they put chaeto in their refugiums I haven't really seen any plants. Are there any decorative plants for the salt side of the hobby or is that just not a thing?
You can get some decorative algae - look for dragon's breath algae as an example. But most people aren't interested when they start keeping corals
is live sand and a bottle of nitrifying bacteria overkill or are they ok together ?
Not overkill, great combo
@@ReefDork excellent video and great channel, thanks for the advice
would adding some clean ocean water to the tank have any benefits? I am aware of a few negatives, but would there be any positives doing so?
Very good question
@@NillymNilly93 I havent tried it yet, its always been too turbulent to try, I have to wait for a day when its calm and clear.
Great video, thanks :)
Hoping to start my salty journey soon. Most people seem to start with Clowns because Damsels are hardy - but I've read they can be territorial and I might be better to let more peaceful fish establish first, so the Clowns are not as boisterous! Can any fish be used for this method, for example, a Goby or Firefish or should you go for a fishless cycle method with less hardy first fish?
Clowns will almost always be absolutely fine. But any fish will be OK if you follow the process correctly 👍
I've kept Firefish and briefly introduced a Damsel to my tank under poor advice; the Damsel was promptly returned the next day. This particular Damsel was incredibly territorial and fearless.
what if the water evaporates but it’s not water change day, do i add fresh water? or salt mixed water?
You always replace evaporated water with freshwater and water changes are always saltwater
The seachems ammonia chart card can fail horribly as well! I have had it happen a few times and it was well under year, one it took 3 months.
Hi Alex quick question having set up my first saltwater aquarium with the method you shown, you advise not making water changes for the first 2 weeks. What is your advice if my tank is reading high nitrate and nitrites only a couple of days in. Thanks
It’s a fluval evo 13.5 I used fritz zyme 9 for bottles bacteria currently housing 2 small clowns and a small cleaner shrimp. Could it be too much livestock too quickly and or overfeeding
Yep, crack on with weekly water changes.
@@ReefDork awesome thanks for your help. got a bit nervous seeing those test results so soon after starting, hopefully with each water change the test results improve and the bacteria can get to work I’m going to grab some live rock to give the tank a boost too. Thanks again
This video somehow answered a lot of my questions I have about cycling. If I would like to start a reef only with some inverts tank, is that the same cycling schedule?
Hmm, in theory yes I suppose. Doesn't feel like a good idea though - not sure you'll have enough bioload to sustain a happy tank.
Yes, yes it is as long as you are feeding your corals enough, remember people that keep reef tanks normally keep many fish as well as corals, corals feed from the water coloum, so as long as you feed the corals with enough food your bacteria will be fine. The key is test regular and water change regularly,
I keep a reef tank with 2 fish and water change 10% weekly with natural sea water and its doing great (2 years). Decent light and food source is the key.
@@Wayneandjayswildadventures thanks for the input! I will take that into consideration when I start my tank. Still in the newbie planning stage. Haha stuck in the financial side of things right now but doing my due research and getting opinion before I start spending all that money. I'd need a chiller so to buy one is three times my current rent in my country. My country is hot and humid all year round so that's a must. Also, the tank with light, skimmer, and filter media is also around 2 month's rent. Being very careful before I start one.
ive been in the terrarium and freshwater hobby for soooo long and now i want to start with saltwater. im still kinda scared about this hobby since it sounds so complicated. do you also have a video about how you make your saltwater?
No, although I show the process briefly in my how to set up a saltwater aquarium videos.
How long do you leave the filter off after adding the liquid bacteria
24 hours will be fine
Can you use a pre seeded bio block? Common practice in freshwater?
Yep, common practice in the salty side too 🙂
Should I add fish in the day of adding Colony Marine or like the day after?
Either is fine
Ill be setting up a tank soon with HOB Filter and HOB Skimmer. Do I turn both of these off? How soon can I turn them back on?
Turn the skimmer off for a week - probably won't hurt to leave it off longer. If you have filter media in your HOB filter, you'lll want that on. If you have chaeto or something else you'll remove and throw away, you want that off.
Can i ise distilled water just to do the top off everyday ?
We don't really use distilled water in the UK so you're probably better off asking someone stateside
since when can you not use distilled water to mix with a reef brand sea salt?
Brilliant vid 👏 👌 👍
Hi , new subscriber here... . I have a 32 gallon tank that I top off with distilled water. I buy prepackaged seawater from my LFS for my original water and water changes. I heard that you can use distilled water for topping off for evaporation, is that bad? I don't have the room for a rodi filter and my tank has a lid so I don't get much evaporation.
I've never used distilled, only rodi. Distilled seems more common in the US so I'd ask someone Stateside
How long should I let my tank cycle before adding clowns and cleaner shrimp?
best is to wait until ammonia and nitrites go to zero, that's it 1 1/2 or 2 months.
Could you have a tailspot blenny and hermit crabs as cuc
Yes but the blenny won't do much cleaning...
So that I understand correctly. Sand rock water and bacteria boost bring water up to temp @ 79 degrees and add 2 clowns the next day. Run filter without the carbon pad for circulation until no ammonia??
Yep. Heat the water before the bacteria goes in though - I believe that's what it says on the instructions...
@@ReefDork got any link for some budget rock and sand
I'm sorry to keep asking the same question but I'm a little confused. I have the rock and sand installed. I was getting my saltwater from local shop. He said to run filter while cycling and add dr tims. I thought the filter would strip the tank of what was needed that's why I was just gonna run the wave maker. Please help me understand!
If you cycle a tank do we need to add water if it evaporates?
Yes, you always need to replace the freshwater that evaporates otherwise your salinity will spike
@@ReefDork thanks for answering so quickly. I’m getting a saltwater cube tomorrow. Should I add live sand or regular aquarium sand? I will probably buy a rock or two and the bottled bacteria
great info ;)
If i do 20% water change everyday should i add salt?
20% per day is far too much, but i'm not sure I understand the question - add salt to the water change water? Or tank?
Hi my seachem alert is showing green, can i use seachem prime alongside ATM colony?
I'd guess yes but I have no experience with Prime I'm afraid.
Do I remove filter pad and carbon bag from my media rack while cycling ?
Carbon yes, filter pad no
Hi. Im cycling my 50gal tank with seachem stability and prime from 03/03/22. 09/03/22 i added one mini fox face + 1 vial of Prodibio Biodigest and 1 vial of biotim and then 14/03, i added 2 more fish: 1 unicorn tang, 1 bristletooth tang and they’r both 3finger size… 17/03/22 i added 4 Fauna Bacto Ball. Now my Seachem Alert always show 0.05ppm, test with Sera: No2 - 5, No3 - 50. So i asked if my tank is good to go or overload?
You need to slow down a bit - that's far too many fish so early. Get a 2nd ammonia test kit to make sure it's actually 0 but it wouldn't hurt to do a 50% water change just in case.
@@ReefDork so then should i get the fish out and cycle again? Or just leave them in my tank and wait?
Hello Alex! Just set up my first tank and added a bottle of ATM Colony and 2 small clowns on Saturday evening!
When would you advise to turn my skimmer on and also replace the bubble trap and filter sock?
Thanks!
I'd leave it off for a couple of weeks or until you get some nutrients in there. Sock out,bubble trap in imo
@@ReefDork Thanks for the advice! I did try turning it on last night but it was just overflowing, even on the minimum setting.
When you do the clown fish method do I do a water change or anything when the ammonia levels spike since I have 2 clown fish in the tank or do I let the tank do its thing if anyone can help me thanks
If you get any ammonia spike, you need to change as much of the water as possible - ammonia is torture for fish so change 70%+ and add some live rock from your LFS if you can.
@ReefDork sorry I meant to say during the cycling stage do I have to do anything when the ammonia spikes
@@ihopethebestforeveryone5257 If you have fish in the tank, yes. If you don't, no.
if i wanet to make a clown fish aquarium with just two ocelaris clown fish and no corals what tank sise would you recomend??
60 litres plus
@@ReefDork thanks
Sup, can i use cycled salt water water instead of bottlized bacteria?
Nope
@@ReefDork Ok! Tysm!
I would make sure it’s fully cycled also the alerts arnt accurate
Distilled water is different than tap water, why cant i use it if i am getting mineral content from my marine salt?
We don't really have distilled water readily available in the UK so it's the unknown for me to be open. And everyone I've ever known to have a successful tank uses RO/DI.
Is that dry rock?
Yep
If you already own an established tank. I can't recommend just using biomedia, old filters, or established rock enough. If you buy a piece of live rock from LFS do yourself a huge favor and dip the hell out of it if yoy dont want pests or add a wrasse right away
100%
Why do you do such regular water changes? I thought if you had a good enough skimmer and auto dose daily this minimises water changes? I only need to do them around once every 6 weeks due to this. I know it depends on tank size and stocking levels
Water changes do sooo much more than just remove a few nutrients. They're hugely valuable for long-term success in my opinion.
@@ReefDork may I ask what for? Not a criticism, I'm fascinated as maybe I need to alter my own schedule
@@jhaych too much to explain here - BRS have talked about it a lot. Check out their most recent video
Good video but you haven’t kept anemones?!??! I did not expect that
I was obsessed with the idea when I first started, but the reality of them always put me off! One day...
@@ReefDork one day they are awesome in my experience
Does this method still work in 2023
Yes, it's still what I do - the live rock is more important than I made out in this video though
I don’t see why distilled water would be a problem as it’s TDS is close to zero.
I think from my experience, distilled water is usually heated with copper wires or brass wires, which maybe the reason they want to avoid the risks of leaching these metals into the tank?
Dechlorinate tap is totally fine. Don't be fooled
How come please
I used RO and still had problems, alge and stuff
Tq so much
@@jacklawer6389 yeah that's why he telling you don't get fooled because RoDi will remove entire natural minerals from the tap water which is not good for corals and better you use tap water, just use anti chlorine like seachem pristine conditioner and please trust me because it was told by a marine aquarium boss and he using tap water only and all his corals was very healthier, he told me RoDi water is for marketing purpose only and he has personal coral tank at his shop , he says it was 12year older and all fish was very older seems very fine, he also showed me his blue tang got bigger , he says it's live in the tank for 10years old and he says it was dechlorinated tap water, no RoWater.. and he suggested me to buy seachem pristine, seachem stability
Your stupid 😂😂
Cannot understand why still these kind of videos are being produced. How to cycle a tank in the 80s is the right header. Or the legend of cycling a tank. Or how to grow everything in a tank but corals.
Water, Corals, then fish.
Corals use Ammonium as food source. Corals have bacterias with them.
Maybe you should start to learn a little bit more than what people thought 40 years ago was right.
I bet 100 Euros that you can start here on youtube a tank with this way and it will succeed!!!
That was a shrimp
And we still want more seal puns
But really, why not distilled water? It’s even cleaner than rodi, isn’t that better?
It's not, no
Lots of bad advice in this video, I guess it matches with the fact this kind of setup for a novice is just a sea creature killer so why should the advice be any different...."only spend as much money as you are prepared to lose as there is every chance it will fail and die"...... sums up the lack of care and completely irresponsible advice in this series.
Why set these new people to the hobby up to fail, why instruct them to have zero care that these are living creatures and knowingly kill them in the name of entertainment?
If so, as a newbie looking to setup his new tank, can you let me know what to do? What are the bad advice he stated, just to be aware? How long have you been in this hobby and can you share with us what is YOUR way of starting a tank?
@@RoroNYQ Well, were do you start, a lot of what he has said goes against mainstream (and most reefers) advice and really shows how much of a noob he is. You got less than 200L for your first marine tank then go start a freshwater tank instead. Don't feed pellet/dry food use frozen, not quarantining animals before going in the tank is crazy, don't add living creatures till you KNOW the environment is not going to kill them (generally a month or more of cycling and testing), putting fish in on day one is a complete joke which alongside old mates attitude towards killing living animals is simply unacceptable......
Old mate will probably get away with what he is dong, but only because he has a couple of other establish tanks to fall back on. Starting a sterile tank of this size at home, with no other larger saltwater tanks around for experience and as a safety net to rescue you, WILL go bad following this method. If you are killing things, then you are clearly doing it wrong, if your attitude to killing animals is only one of monetary loss then you should not be keeping animals.
Always happy to be challenged - anything specific you didn't agree with?