My Biocube 29 is up & running

[DukeOfPrunes]

Finally got my Biocube 29 up and running....24 lb live rock (enough?), 20 lb live reef sand (the bag had some water in it and said "no cycling required"????!!!?? I guess I shouldn't believe it, right?). I have a Rio 6HF pump and a CPR SR3 protein skimmer ordered, did the extra flow mod on the tank. One interesting thing I found is the Biocube 29 doesn't hold anywhere near 29 gallons!!

The LR looks to be pretty well cured, the LFS has some great Fiji LR < $3/lb. It's fairly light & porous, so 24 lb took up lots of space. . .

What is the best way to properly cycle this tank?

I'll keep updating photos if anyone wants to see!

Cheers,

DoP

 

[Royalscott]

Looks good, but I would at some more LR.

 

[lcstorc]

I like the scape job.
A bit more LR would certainly not hurt. A lot depends on what kind of bio-load you are going to put in the tank.
As far as cycling. Get a piece of raw shrimp from the grocery store. Put it in a mesh bag or piece of stocking and put it in the tank. As the shrimp starts to rot it will produce amonia. Then the bacteria in the rock will convert the amonia to nitrites and the nitrite to nitrate. Test daily so you can follow the progress. Once amonia and nitrite are 0 do water changes to get rid of the nitrates. Then you are ready to go slowly starting with your CUC. It is very important to add slowly since each addition will stretch the filter capabilities of the bacteria in the LR. It will continue to grow and provide a better and better filter.

 

[DukeOfPrunes]

OK..put the shrimp in. . .did all the water tests I had:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.8
Calcium: 340
Carbonate Hardness: 179
Phosphate: 0

We'll see what happens