method of cycling?

[saltcreepette]

right now there are no fish in the tank, therefore my thought is I need to add SOMETHING for the bacteria to eat so they can multiply. do you agree?

[Instar]

If you do add the bacteria bottle, do it the day before the fish so it can colonize substrate and surfaces and be "settled out" so to speak. Most of it will adhere to the substrates in 24 hours and be ready for the fish. This also makes the water clear for the fish addition.

Like Matt, I see no positive purpose in the shrimp or letting uneaten fish food decay in a new tank. There is already plenty of dead stuff in "live rock". If you have a full bacterial loading colony representation, it works without any mess or fuss and you can get it to work without a tragic dramatic ammonia or nitrite spike. The spiking/cycling thing is a really a thing from the distant past since there is live sand and bacteria cultures readily available. This does not apply to nasty dirty mostly dead newly imported live rock of course. That stuff is a mess inside as is obvious when you check the tank a day or two later. That bad spike and recovery really throws the trace content and purity of the new salt off too and that's why the 100% water change is preferred after all the nasty stuff is digested and cycled to more harmless products.

If you use about an inch to inch and a half of a completely colonized live sand (not just a cup to innoculate it) and that is not too fine a grain, you can support the fish immediately. If using just a scattering of live sand, it takes time to mature and colonize all the sand bed and therefore takes longer to support a fish load.

[saltcreepette]

thanks Gary. question on the live sand though; since most people usually recommend against re-using an entire sandbed (whether its from a moved tank or from someone else selling it), are you referring to the aragalive-type sand sold in stores?

[OldSalty]

Why don't ya just buy a bottle of biozime. It's live bacteria and cheap. Tank will be ready in 24 hours.

[saltcreepette]

already added bacteria sand and rock. fish arent going in for three weeks due to QT.