question on cycling, and temperatures

[tsinkoy]

Yay! I already added water and salt to my 75G. The salinity is just about right, and I have powerheads to keep the world going round. The water at least.

I will be purchasing live rock today, and I have live sand with me. This will go into the tank later on.

Question, do I need to keep the water temperature between 78 and 82 degF while cycling? Because that means I will need to get a heater today if I want to start cycling.

Thanks.

 

[scumonkey]

YES...if you bring the temp up a little high the rocks might even cycle a little faster.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I would have put the sand and water in after you filled the tank half way.

Get that heater in there and get that water up to temp.

Start everything running and then your cycle will start. Your cycle will end when it's over.

 

[House of Laughter]

here is a great article on seashorses.org on cycling a marine tank.

Keep in mind that in colder water, beneficial animals and bacteria that reside in live rock will die off and increase the cycle of the tank and rock. Bringing it up to temp will help stabilize the animals and bacteria in the rock and have it begin the process of cycling and filtering the tank. As Monkey pointed out without actually saying why.

Try to glance at the article, I felt it was helpful even after I have set up many tanks and tried several cycle methods.

Good luck and welcome aboard

House

 

[tosiek]

The cycle won't start untill you have some sort of bacteria/animals to kill. Thats where the live rock/sand come in. Also, it probably doesn't matter now but if you added the sand and rock before you placed the water in it would help you have clear viewing while setting up and place the rock. Your going to create a sandstorm and cloudy water for a few days once you add the sand.

do a search on the forums. Alot of helpful stuff going around on setting up tanks and adding stuff like sand and rock.

 

[basiab]

I will be purchasing live rock today, and I have live sand with me. This will go into the tank later on.
Thanks.

Sand might not be live if you wait too long.