HELP noobie has a new tank!!!

[robcleve]

I am in the process of converting a FW tank to a marine tank. It is a std. 55 gal. tank. I currently have it full of water, and a subtrate( sugar sand and crushed puka shell). The water has been running through my power filter for a week, and is crystal clear. I just read an article on about.com that said, I should not cycle my tank with premium live rock. I had not heard this before. I was prepping to buy some live rock, from someone who has some, from a tank that has been established for 3 yrs.. I have done a lot of research to get this far, but would appreciate some good advice from someone who has been in my shoes before. I have limited funds, and would like to avoid any costly mistakes. thanks, Rob

[Reefing Madness]

Its nots necessary to cycle the tank with fully cured live rock, you can by all means. But to make it cheaper people will use mostly Macro Rock, then throw in a peice of Live Rock to seed the Macro. You should cycle the tank with the rock in there, thats your filter, not the one you have hanging off the back of th etank, take that thing off. Your Sand and Rock grow all the needed biological to maintain the health of your tank.
Bacteria will grow and multiply at a exponential rate, with all environmental factors staying constant, until there is a high enough population to process all of the available nutrients. At this point the population will stablize.
A change in the nutrient level, which will change the end population required, will make a very small change in the time frame required to reach this point because of the exponential growth rate. Additionally at the end of the cycling period, all of the dead organisms have been processed so there is now a reduced amount of nutrients available.
The bacteria population will adjust to the level to process the amount of nutrients now being generated in the system by living organisms. This will most likely result in a reduction in the population from a peak during the cycling period. There is no way that initially an operating system will generate as much nutrients as is generated during the cycling period. Therefore reducing the amount of waste and nutrients will not influence the final bacteria population or thetime frame to any large extent.

[twisted]

Before you remove your filter, look into hob overflows so you can add a sump for a skimmer or look into hob skimmers. You may even want to keep your present one to run carbon. Just remember, patience and research is the key
Good luck


Twisteds 180 Reef