I'm facing a conundrum and would like other opinions to possibly see a different perspective than what I keep coming to.
I might go through the looking glass on this, so bear with me.
I'm cycling a new saltwater pico (3 gallons) with just live rock and live sand. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and the ammonia and nitrites still read pretty high. This is my first saltwater and I've never had a freshwater not cycle in a week. Granted, this is a tiny tank and I've had nothing but doubt about this Berlin method. Everything in my freshwater gut says I need biomedia in filter!
Here's what I'm thinking:
-Will a 3 gallon even cycle or always be in drastic swings based on bioload and feedings?
-If I put in Purigen now to stock corals and clean up crew faster will I nix any chance of a cycle? I first think 'of course' removing the ammonia and nitrites will keep the bb from blooming and culturing itself on the rock surfaces. No brainer, right?
Well, maybe not. If the nitro bacteria in a well established tank only keeps a colony size in proportion to the available food (ammonia/nitrites), adding purigen will absorb as much organic wastes (which will degrade into ammonia) as it can, thus starving the bb colonies until they die off to the point that residual ammonia can sustain them.
The point being that adding purigen during the cycle is the same as adding it to an established tank as it will use the nutrients before they get to the bb, thus starving bb back to a level they can sustain in a low ammonia/nitrite environment. So, the question is not "should purigen be used during a cycle?" but "should purigen be used at all?" The downside of replacing the natural nitrogen cycle with a chemical absorbent is that the latter needs to be serviced more. The purigen needs to be recharged when it becomes saturated and ineffective. When it is removed is the aquarium in sudden danger of spikes since the bacteria colonies are not up to par with a heavy bioload? Well, this can be avoided by having 2 or more bags in rotation. Another downside is the amount of purigen filtering the tank is constant but the pollutants are not. So a load of purigen may last a week, 4 days or 2 days depending on what's going on in the tank. Overfeeding or dead fish can be handled by a well established bio filter that can step up quickly when needed. The purigen may take it well but it needs constant checking to make sure it hasn't turned dark and need cleaning. To check purigen on a schedule, say weekly, could be unwise because it may croak at any time.
I've decided for myself that since this pico will be high maintenance anyway, I might as well add the extra work of swapping out purigen while I'm topping off and water changes. Hell, with the purigen I might not need so many water changes if it eliminates nitrates. Especially since i want to keep sensitive corals. So, by my logic, I should just add it now and screw the cycle. If I wait for the full cycle I may be wasting up to 6 weeks just to kill off all the colonies anyway.
-Anyone use Purigen? Thoughts? Comments or reviews?
-Even if you've never used it, like me, is my logic sound? What's the way to go?
Chew on that and give me some food for thought.
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
I might go through the looking glass on this, so bear with me.
I'm cycling a new saltwater pico (3 gallons) with just live rock and live sand. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and the ammonia and nitrites still read pretty high. This is my first saltwater and I've never had a freshwater not cycle in a week. Granted, this is a tiny tank and I've had nothing but doubt about this Berlin method. Everything in my freshwater gut says I need biomedia in filter!
Here's what I'm thinking:
-Will a 3 gallon even cycle or always be in drastic swings based on bioload and feedings?
-If I put in Purigen now to stock corals and clean up crew faster will I nix any chance of a cycle? I first think 'of course' removing the ammonia and nitrites will keep the bb from blooming and culturing itself on the rock surfaces. No brainer, right?
Well, maybe not. If the nitro bacteria in a well established tank only keeps a colony size in proportion to the available food (ammonia/nitrites), adding purigen will absorb as much organic wastes (which will degrade into ammonia) as it can, thus starving the bb colonies until they die off to the point that residual ammonia can sustain them.
The point being that adding purigen during the cycle is the same as adding it to an established tank as it will use the nutrients before they get to the bb, thus starving bb back to a level they can sustain in a low ammonia/nitrite environment. So, the question is not "should purigen be used during a cycle?" but "should purigen be used at all?" The downside of replacing the natural nitrogen cycle with a chemical absorbent is that the latter needs to be serviced more. The purigen needs to be recharged when it becomes saturated and ineffective. When it is removed is the aquarium in sudden danger of spikes since the bacteria colonies are not up to par with a heavy bioload? Well, this can be avoided by having 2 or more bags in rotation. Another downside is the amount of purigen filtering the tank is constant but the pollutants are not. So a load of purigen may last a week, 4 days or 2 days depending on what's going on in the tank. Overfeeding or dead fish can be handled by a well established bio filter that can step up quickly when needed. The purigen may take it well but it needs constant checking to make sure it hasn't turned dark and need cleaning. To check purigen on a schedule, say weekly, could be unwise because it may croak at any time.
I've decided for myself that since this pico will be high maintenance anyway, I might as well add the extra work of swapping out purigen while I'm topping off and water changes. Hell, with the purigen I might not need so many water changes if it eliminates nitrates. Especially since i want to keep sensitive corals. So, by my logic, I should just add it now and screw the cycle. If I wait for the full cycle I may be wasting up to 6 weeks just to kill off all the colonies anyway.
-Anyone use Purigen? Thoughts? Comments or reviews?
-Even if you've never used it, like me, is my logic sound? What's the way to go?
Chew on that and give me some food for thought.
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
