Bio-Spira

[marrone]

It doesn't harm corals, it's bacteria that converts ammonia and nitrites into their end product, which is nitrates. It the same bacteria that develops on your live rock, or for that matter whatever other source your may use in your filter or tank. You still need something to eliminate the nitrates, either through your skimmer, water changes or bacteria that develops over times. When you first start out there is a lot of ammonia and nitrites these products give you a safe net to add fish and coral right away without the worry of them dying from spikes in ammonia and nitrites. Now fish can take these spikes but a lot of corals and inverts can't, so even though these products do work it's best not to use them with corals because of this.

 

[BioMan]

I'm not skimming or changing water while I cycle, should I? I was expecting this to take a long time (background info-My only experience is with 14 & 29 gal cubes and a 35 gallon freshwater that everything hung on the back. I bought this tank second hand and it had a few fish in there and I was told no copper so I used the old sand and half the water. tests for phosphates and nitrates eventually went down thanks to the good people Phosban but my corals and snails were dying. I had my LFS test for everything and copper was present so I tore this tank down and tossed everything and am starting from scratch.

 

[marrone]

No, you don't want to do any water changes, as this will remove ammonia and nitrites from the water, you want to let the bacteria develop and build up with the ammonia and nitrites that are in the tank. Some people do skim, especially if you have a lot of live rock, but it's not necessary. The cycle can take a while or a short time, it all depends on the live rock and live sand that you use. If you're using new live rock, with a lot life on it, it can take sometime to cycle. If you're using dry live rock, or live rock that has been in someone tank, the cycle can take a much short time. Some people even upgrade their tanks, using the same live rock and sand, and see very little to no cycle at all.

 

[BioMan]

Thank you! I've been taking pics expect a tank thread in the next month or two