I just purchased a Oceanic BioCube29 on Tuesday and set it up with salt water from the LFS tanks and I have herd mixed thing about the cycle process of the tank the guy at the LFS said I needed to add live rock to start the cycle process. My little brother has been in the hobby for like 3 yrs and is currently running a succesful 10g nano reef and said don't add the live rock until the cycle is complete, I also have seen on a couple of other websites that you don't want to add the live rock until the cycle is complete, I was also told to run the lights on a 12 on 12 off cycle while my tank cycled. Any help on this or any other good ideas would be much appretiated.
The rock is part of the cycling process also, though I have seen others not use it.
The thing is, when the tank has completed it's cycle and you add live rock, it can kick start the cycle all over again. this also depends on how much rock you add after the cycle. A few pieces and no re-cycle, a tank full and a re-cycle.
I think it is best to add the rock as part of the cycle process. Add it now and be done with it.
I agree with Mark that if you use uncured live rock it is better to cycle your tank with it. It takes anywhere from 3-4 weeks to complete, dependin on how much die off you'll have, or how raw your rock actually is.
i also agree, buy some uncured live rock, from an internet source, much cheaper than your LFS and uncured is cheaper than the cured or precured. do not run your lights at all during this cycling process, this will create algea blooms, and without a clean up crew it will go crazy if you leave the lights on, so just leave them off
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