Well, she is now officially cycling.
I'm adding
Stability. I've got another bottle of
Microbacter7 on order, and when that arrives I'll use that as well. I think there is value in using a variety of bacterial sources. I'm adding a big pinch of fish food pellets a day: more than the fish in this system will get to eat. I'm not going to test for ammonia or anything until mid-November. The last tank I cycled this way took 19 days, but I didn't add bacteria daily past the first week: I just kept ghost feeding the tank. I suspect this one will cycle more quickly, as I'll be adding bacteria daily. This tank will be a nitrifying beast by the livestock addition date.
Worth noting is that this tank is cycling hot at 83F. I believe this is a better temperature to cycle at, as it is said that the bacteria multiplies more quickly in warmer temperatures. I wouldn't cycle that warm with live rock, but as this rock is dry rock there is nothing worth trying to preserve on it.
Also, we should talk about phosphates. Dry rock is a phosphate bomb. People may advertise otherwise . . . but don't believe it. I am heading for a MAJOR GHA issue. I'm not worried about it, as I've been through it before. But, in an attempt to mitigate the phosphate damage, this rock was soaked in RO/DI for several weeks. In addition to that, I've added
Phosbuster Pro to the water, and I'm using
Pura Phoslock. Despite that, I expect this tank to go really green and hairy within eight weeks.