Reef Solution?

[Anonymous]

My husband bought some of this stuff to put in our cycling (started cycling Saturday 4/22/06) tank (from LFS) to speed up the cycle. The LFS told him that after 7 days of supplementing with this solution that my tank would be ready to stock.

I need some feedback if this could be correct or not. Not sure I believe everything they say.

Thanks!

 

[Len]

Crissy, my best advice is to take it slow. Take it very slow. I can't think of anything good that comes from stocking a new reef tank quickly. The product might set up bacterial cultures fast, but that is only one criteria on how quickly you should stock your tank. I recommend you folks wait at least 6-8 weeks before introducing livestock.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Len! I trust your advise better then I trust those guys who have lots of fish loaded with ich in there selling tanks.

Appreciate it!

 

[pwj1286]

Reef Solution? If so, I do not think it will help to cycle the tank. It is more like a trace element additive. If you want to cycle your tank faster, try BIO-Spira. It is live bacteria, sold in the refrigerator at many LFS. Start with some damsels. They are the goldfish of saltwater. Wait a three or so weeks and get your LFS to check your water to see if your water is safe for more fish. Never add fish without testing your water first!

Is it this bottle you have?

What's from LA! Where are you from? Luling, LA is where I my tank resides.
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[Anonymous]

What kind of tank are you going for? Reef? FOWLER?


By "cycling," do you mean with live rock, or just with bio media?


Len is soooooo right. I know from experience, that getting too excited and stocking too quickly only leads to several weeks of massive water changes to keep your downward spiraling tank alive. :lol:


As for the damsels....not worth the trouble. It will be hell catching them later on and they do not mix well with passive tank mates. So unless you plan a moderate to agressive tank, you want to forget the damsels.

 

[Anonymous]

I forgot to add....those bacteria in a bottle things are pretty worthless. It takes just as long for the tank to cycle properly with or without. I tested this out with two seperate ten gallons set up at the same time. Both took several weeks to cycle properly, each with a sponge filter as the bio media.

With live rock, the rock brings in all the bacteria you need, so why spend money on bottled bacteria.


Also, I believe they do contain bacteria, but intuitively, I have to ask myself how much of that bacteria can stay alive in a bottle at room temperature.

 

[Anonymous]

Manny,

I am keeping a reef tank w/just a few fish. I have 45 lbs live rock, 40 lbs of dead rock (to be seaded by live rock), 150 lbs of crushed coral and 3 lbs live sand to sead the rest of the substrate. Adequate?

I do agree with you and Len and wait. I additionally agree with the containment of bacteria at room temp can't live, or at least I wouldn't think so.

I'm not putting Damsels in my tank at all b/c in my 30 ga I have a blue velvet damsel and he is a bully and I can't catch the sucker.

I know that the Reef Solution is trace elements now. I didn't have the bottle in front of me and my husband called from LFS wanting to buy it to speed cycle but he had the wrong bottle.

I am not going to hurry up anything though. I want to do this right the first time and not have to go through losing anything in my tank.

Thanks for everything!

 

[Anonymous]

Manny,

I am keeping a reef tank w/just a few fish. I have 45 lbs live rock, 40 lbs of dead rock (to be seaded by live rock), 150 lbs of crushed coral and 3 lbs live sand to sead the rest of the substrate. Adequate?

I do agree with you and Len and wait. I additionally agree with the containment of bacteria at room temp can't live, or at least I wouldn't think so.

I'm not putting Damsels in my tank at all b/c in my 30 ga I have a blue velvet damsel and he is a bully and I can't catch the sucker.

I know that the Reef Solution is trace elements now. I didn't have the bottle in front of me and my husband called from LFS wanting to buy it to speed cycle but he had the wrong bottle.

I am not going to hurry up anything though. I want to do this right the first time and not have to go through losing anything in my tank.

Thanks for everything!

More than adequate. I don't see any need to add any bacteria jump starters or even any trace elements at this point. The live rock and live sand will seed the dead rock and crushed coral with life and bacteria. I don't think you could speed that process up with something that comes in a bottle. Spend that money on something cool for the tank once it's up and running! 8)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Manny!

 

[Anonymous]

Reef Solution? If so, I do not think it will help to cycle the tank. It is more like a trace element additive. If you want to cycle your tank faster, try BIO-Spira. It is live bacteria, sold in the refrigerator at many LFS. Start with some damsels. They are the goldfish of saltwater. Wait a three or so weeks and get your LFS to check your water to see if your water is safe for more fish. Never add fish without testing your water first!

Do not use damsels to cycle a tank.
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[Anonymous]

Not planning to, but thanks for your suggestion.

 

[pwj1286]

Reef Solution? If so, I do not think it will help to cycle the tank. It is more like a trace element additive. If you want to cycle your tank faster, try BIO-Spira. It is live bacteria, sold in the refrigerator at many LFS. Start with some damsels. They are the goldfish of saltwater. Wait a three or so weeks and get your LFS to check your water to see if your water is safe for more fish. Never add fish without testing your water first!

Do not use damsels to cycle a tank.

Why not?
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[Anonymous]

Why would you purposely torture a fish? A tank cycling will have high ammonia and nitrate levels.

Just because a fish is not that expensive doesn't mean its OK to torture and kill.
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[ChrisRD]

IMO there's really no point in using live fish to cycle a tank. You can accomplish the same thing with a piece of table shrimp or some fish food...

In fact, depending on the type of setup there may be no point in forcing a "cycle" at all. If you're starting a FO or a QT setup that uses some sort of artificial biofilter and is devoid of live rock/sand then it makes sense. If, for example, we're talking about a a reef tank that has been setup with live rock - IMO it makes no sense.

The rock will provide ample bacteria as well as plenty of decomposing organics to fuel bacterial growth and get the nitrogen cycle underway. Adding something more to force an ammonia spike is potential harmful to any life that has hitchiked in on the rock. That could make your live rock into dead rock which pretty much defeats the purpose of live rock... :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Point well taken.

 

[pwj1286]

Why would you purposely torture a fish? A tank cycling will have high ammonia and nitrate levels.

Just because a fish is not that expensive doesn't mean its OK to torture and kill.

I dont know if you took me wrong. I only add fish to a cycled tank w/live rock, that all parameters read zero. I am not going to put fish in .25 ammonia.

Adding a new fish into this tank would add new bioload to the tank, therefore, can make the parameters go up slightly, but not noticeably in ammonia and nitrite, if you add one fish at a time and take it slow. Sorry if you took me wrong.
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