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#1
04-20-2009, 04:41 PM
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quick question
maybe I read it wrong, but if theere is no live rock or snd or anything else, and you're adding a dead shrimp, how will the bacteria form? don't you need at least one source of life, so to speak?
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#2
04-20-2009, 05:33 PM
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Go
Live rock and live sand have bacteria and other cool life forms, for sure. Adding them will speed up the cycling process a lot, and will add a whole lot more living organisms to the tank. Starting with dead, sterile rocks and sand won't have the extra life, but the bacteria itself basically materializes out of thin air. It just takes a lot longer for the tank to cycle this way.
I live in a small town with no SW LFS, or any other reef keepers that I know of, so I'd be limited even if I wanted LR or LS. I've got a mild touch of OCD, so my biggest issue was always trying to rearrange the LR to something sturdy and appealing aesthetically. The DIY rock works well for me.  I'm going to use pure ammonia instead of a dead shrimp. I've decided to start my tank off as clean as possible. Shutting down an established tank is messy and smelly, and my job will keep me moving around every few years. I'm really aiming for simple, portable, and hassle-free. (The less time I have my hands in the tank, the better.) The DIY rock I have was never used in a tank before. It should do the trick, though, once its cured. It's fairly porous. Most of the bacteria will be in the lava rock I plan to put in the canister filter, though. ________ USED VOLCANO VAPORIZER Last edited by Flusher; 04-21-2011 at 03:18 PM.
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#3
05-15-2009, 03:42 AM
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Go
I found a decent table for my tank, and it just barely fits the filter.
 The plumbing was finished today, so I'm testing the filter, flow, and heater.   The DIY rock is still a long way from being cured, it turns out, so I'll be doing a fishless cycle on the biomedia and substrate in a separate tank. Hopefully this concurrent activity will save me a lot of time.  I just need to finish the canopy and lower trim, and the hard work is done. Then it's just a matter of the rock curing and the media cycling before I can add livestock... (Fortunately, I have a few freshwater tanks to play with in the meantime.) ________ Marijuana medical Last edited by Flusher; 04-21-2011 at 03:18 PM.
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