R.E.E.F Methodology: What is this thing called cycling?
- Thread starter dallasg
- Start date
time to revive this thread.
i have been looking at the abundant new threads on algae, most are started by beginners and this got me thinking on the cycle process.
While i have never been one to do the whole 8 week cycle, i have seen that algae both good and bad is part of it whether we like it or not. I suppose doing the whole 8 week cycle is to experience the algae growth with no livestock in the tank and let it die out, but algae is something that has never bothered me so i usually ride out the storm, this year alone i have had a algae bloom in the water column, bryopsis which i left grow and removed manually, and some cyano which i got rid of with vinegar.
anyone else like to share the cycling experiences?
i have been looking at the abundant new threads on algae, most are started by beginners and this got me thinking on the cycle process.
While i have never been one to do the whole 8 week cycle, i have seen that algae both good and bad is part of it whether we like it or not. I suppose doing the whole 8 week cycle is to experience the algae growth with no livestock in the tank and let it die out, but algae is something that has never bothered me so i usually ride out the storm, this year alone i have had a algae bloom in the water column, bryopsis which i left grow and removed manually, and some cyano which i got rid of with vinegar.
anyone else like to share the cycling experiences?
Since my return to the hobby from being out of it about 7 years, a lot has changed. In the old days I didn't know of Stability or Special-Blend.
So when I started up again, I found out about these products and decided to give it a try. I used Special-Blend, and after 2 weeks' cycle, I started adding stock seeing as my params were spot on. After adding the stock, the parameters spiked slightly, which was to be expected. Currently I have a whole lot of happy fish and some growing corals. I need to test the params again tonight, so will post my findings here.
So when I started up again, I found out about these products and decided to give it a try. I used Special-Blend, and after 2 weeks' cycle, I started adding stock seeing as my params were spot on. After adding the stock, the parameters spiked slightly, which was to be expected. Currently I have a whole lot of happy fish and some growing corals. I need to test the params again tonight, so will post my findings here.
Well my tank has been up 5 months in 2 days time, i've got GHA and some briopsis and some beautiful red macro algae, different types, i've seen other tanks at 5 months and most of them had worse GHA then what i have, the same tanks at around 9 months are beautiful with little or no algae, so, my conclusion, ride out the storm without any drastic measures, stick to my filtration methods, don't confuse the tank by throwing various other forms of filtration at it and ultimately wait until my little micro bristle stars and asterinas and micro life that i may not have noticed is enough to eradicate the pest that is algae.
yes but the basics of biology havent, which means technically we dont need any of the new stuff
but its nice to buy