cycle???

[joshl]

ok i have done this a few times already but never anything like this....
i have a 20 gallon AIO set up that got. The sand was clean nothing dead or alive in it when i put it in the tank just sand and a few shells... i bought
15lbs of live rock that has been est for over 30 years. i put in 2 silversides and let them rot my ammonia went thru the roof and then came back down with no cycle. what am i missing here i have had 4 saltwater tanks before and all of those went thru the normal cycle what am i doing wrong?

 

[dakota9]

Huh.....

You didn't need the Silver Sides if the rock was established.

The ammonia spiking and going down is a result from polluting the tank with the Silver Sides, and the biological filter consuming that waste.....

Should be fine if you showing zero trites

 

[joshl]

right, thats what i thought but shouldnt the tank go thru a cycle with it being new? i have always had them go thru the cycle before putting fish in. the one thing that i did do different this time was use rock that was established.

 

[dakota9]

The established rock prevented the need for a full cycle, that's all......


You were 90 percent there by using the established rock

 

[lilrobb]

Well,

Explain what you mean by "cycle"?

 

[joshl]

man i feel like a idiot.... thanks dakota! i have been out of this hobby for almost 2 years and trying to get back in it my brain didnt click when i bought the rock and put it in the tank.

 

[sleepyreef]

joshl;755506 wrote: i bought
15lbs of live rock that has been est for over 30 years.

30 years? Seriously? Did reef tanks or the use of live rock even exist 30 years ago?

 

[joshl]

The tank i got this from has been set up for over 15 years and i can promise this rock is a heck of alot older than that..

 

[umbrellacorp]

never heard of putting silver sides in to cycle. just put in the LR and the tank will be cycled in a few days