How to Start Your Tank RIGHT! Cycling a Tank The Top Shelf Way!

what's going on reefers Blain here in today's video we're going to finally start the cycling process on our Nano project in the studio you guys have seen the tank you've seen Kevin's amazing esape but today we're going to link up with teras and he's going to go through all the phases on how top shelf Cycles tanks if you guys have a new project up and coming right now this is going to be a video you're not going to want to miss I'm really excited about diving into the new project finally getting a tank rolling in the studio so let's go aad and dive in all right so we're grabbing the scape out I want to pull it out of the system before we set up the sand just because I want to be able to get underneath get the sand in get the water in and then we can start getting this thing rolling so for sand you guys are seeing a reoccurring theme on the channel we're going to be utilizing KABC sand and for this specific tank we're going to be using the reef sand I really like the reef sand because it's a much more natural looking sand it has all kinds of different sizes of Pebbles and granules so I'm really excited about getting this into the tank we'll add in the clarifying packet and then we'll be good to go to start adding in some water so something I have seen that we do here at topshelf that I've actually done in the past as well is I'll use the old sandbag cut some holes in it and that way when I'm adding in water I'm not going to make the tank super cloudy we're going to add it in and it's slowly going to fill the tank over time rather than flushing the tank with all the water right at once getting everything super cloudy we're going to cut some holes use the bag as kind of a buffer zone and then we'll filled the system up all right now I'm going to add the rock structure back in and the reason I want to do this now before I start adding in the water is the rock weight is going to displace the amount of water that we're actually going to be able to fit into this system so I'm going to add this in we're going to have this added on we're all set now we can start filling up the tank all right now it's time for the moment we've all been waiting for it's time to start filling this tank tank up we've leak tested it already it's all good to go so now it's time to fill it up with some good salt water we grab from over at the farm and we'll get this thing [Music] running all right time to plug in the pump and get this thing running so let's see how it goes look looks like we're good we got the tank running so we'll let this run over the course of the weekend we'll get back with it on Monday we'll get with teras and we'll start setting this up for the cycling [Music] process all right so we're here today to talk more about the Nano project we're here with teras appreciate you stopping in teras pleasure is always bling and so today we're going to talk more about this system you guys have seen us we recently got the water the sand and the scape into the tank but now we're going to start talking about all the phases of how we cycle things here at topshelf so we're going to start about Ground Zero so we're going to talk about how we're going to start off our microbiome layer and how we're going to get all these things started so I'll kind of let teras take it away well in my opinion it is the first couple days of the aquarium building process that are the most exciting it is those days where the Aquarius really has the most direct contribution to the future of what this aquarium is going to be so but a few days ago this was but an empty desk now it is a full aquarium it is an aquarium that has salt water is aquarium that has substrate structure has filtration flow illumination it is all of these factors now where do we go from here now unlike in the wild uh coral reefs do not spontaneously erupt from terrestrial habitats so it is the role of us Aquarius to directly uh introduce uh for lack of a better word the Pioneers the microbial pioneers of the tank those that will Define how the resources of the tank are distributed and what organisms will uh later uh succeed and thrive in the aquarium so let's talk a little bit about what's going on now there are infinite things going on when it comes to the aquarium but the thing that we're most concerned about with a new aquarium is establishing the nitrogen cycle so we have products such as microbact also in the substrate we use carab C substrate for this this is true yes so we have quite a few pioneering organisms that have been purposefully cultured by these corporations to at least start the Bedrock that this nitrogen cycle can start now what is nitrogen cycle itself so that ammonia gets formed and it's a waste product that will burn destroy and run rampant now there are sets of bacteria specifically the nitr simonis genus that specialize in oxidation reactions they use oxygen and alkalinity they take that ammonia and they oxidize it into nitrite so the microbes that we are initially dosing into the aquarium are incredibly important for establishing the this cycle where first the ammonia will rise then it will fall the nitrite will rise and then it will fall and eventually we will have a certain Plateau where ammonia and nitrite never raise up to toxic levels anywhere because there's a constant population of bacteria consuming them at all times but for the most part think of it as nitrogen cycling that's objective number one and it stays important till the end of the aquarium's days gotcha and so these are things that we're adding into the custom tank installs that you guys are seeing on our YouTube page and any tank that I've actually set up as well I've been using this microba xlm start myself and I think that it's a great product that we provide here at TSA but like you mentioned as well we have cycled media that's going to also help grow that microbiome and it's something that we offer as well I'm very excited about our pre-cycled media having pre-cycled media is absolutely essential for giving your tank a little splash of what you want it to be someday awesome so that is Phase zero that's where we're going to start out with just our cycled media adding in our bottled bacteria and all things like that so that way we can blossom into phase number one so we've started off with phase zero and now we're working our way up to the next level of things you mentioned it before teras we're talking about the next kind of hearty group of specimens so what do we have on our plate for this tank that we're going to use well that nitrogen cycle is going to be important the entire way but what happens when we have a bunch of nitronic and nitria sucking up all of the ammonia and nitrite well if we don't have a base source of ammonia eventually these things will crash and then second we try and introduce another animal or we try to feed the tank we'll have ammonia again we'll have the issue so we have to sustain this population this economy of nitrogen cycling so for that reason I think TSA aquacultured pids specifically mollies are very very very advantageous they're very very cheap you can get quite a few of them for only a couple dollars the price that you would spend on one clown fish for instance you can put them into a tank they'll provide all kinds of IIA secretion to fuel that microbial bedrock and they're very very easy staying towards the surface to extract when uh the time to move them on has come so cheap and easy stuff that's what I recommend for phase one gotcha and I know I've seen recently myself that mollies do great work on algae they're really good grazers so I've actually seen some people throw them into their frag tanks it's not just fish that you're going to end up giving back they could be you know no Noble citizens in an aquarium at some point and do some great work for you if you if you have the option I personally recommend just throwing them into a lower flow refugium if you have it or even a macro tank Heck if you have a freshwater tank they can go right back to zero parts per thousand salt so the next phase we're going to talk about is more of our bigger grazers and things that are going to be taken out more larger algae and things like that so what's the next phase in our cycle well as our aquarium airplane takes off if you will it's starting to get a little bit of lift underneath its wings there's lots of microbes supporting the cycling of carbons and phosphorus and nitrogen now we're feeding this tank we have to keep this cycle going but it's very very difficult we're not we don't have mass spec systems here and even if we did you know to get that granular about it would be near impossible so as the tank slowly Rises and we start to increase and rev up the dose of food and feed intake into the system we can expect uh some sort of ugly phase just like when you were a teenager you went through an ugly face adolescence it was a normal part of you ascending to who you are and and where you are now um to try and Skip adolescence all together would be uh somewhat unwise uh if you try and starve your tank and try and skip it all together you may be dealing with a far worse pest long term such as cyanobacteria or dulat so it's very important to not be afraid of this uh inevitable growth in a little bit of modulated uglies if you will but uh to be afraid of it is not the same thing as to know that it will come and have a couple hungry grazing organisms ready to slurp it up when it does this might also be a very good time to introduce some more hearty fish into the aquarium something like maybe a lawnmower blenny or or or Cardinal fish something else which isn't terribly sensitive but will again help you establish kind of all different ranks of your ecological niche um CU that's what you're trying to do right so you guys heard it so having the ugly stage is not a problem we all go through it whether it be ourselves in our lives with the ugly stage or if your tanks are going through the ugly stage you don't want to skip out on that because the risk of skipping out on that could then create much larger issues down the road which then you're going to want to try and figure out how you can fix it when in the reality if you just slow down and let yourself go through those Cycles you're much better off so we've gotten to the point where we've gone through the ugly phases and now we're starting to create the reef tank we've always wanted and not every tank is the same I think this is something that we see a lot of time people try and shoot for this certain image but every single tank is going to be special in its own way what's the next phase in our cycling process well I think that this is a very subtle but very important part of the whole aquarium process what are your goals do you is there a fish that you always wanted to keep that you just want to have in your life is there a coral Colony that you want to grow out and see what is the scape what is what image are you going for with that in mind we identify what fish what corals we want to keep which ones would probably work together and now is a great time for research if we haven't already done it in depth go very specific into every everything you can possibly learn about those organisms this is a great time to evaluate what your average water quality is to practice testing practice dosing and kind of get a feel for the instrument that is your reef tank what are you trying to keep and then what is the average performance of what you have already if it's not exactly what you think will be helpful for keeping the organisms you want alive maybe now is the time to play with that lighting maybe now it's time to increase or decrease that flow all these different things so that when we enter the next phase and we're dealing with the expensive and more importantly the precious organisms that we are setting the perfect stage for Our Stars gotcha so this is the point in time where we're trying to dial in our system we're trying to get it exactly where we want it and so we have those conceptual parameters that we're looking for and it's kind of what we're trying to get to to just dial in that perfect amount so that way we can focus on our final step all right so now we're going to talk about the last step in our cycling process we're going to start talking about the precious corals and the precious fish that we want to keep so what's the last thing that we're trying to do in our cycling teras well the last phase exactly what you said Blaine it's the precious you've established this tank you've been dealing with it for months probably at this part you've been through it with it for its ugly periods you were there when its first couple hermit crabs were scuttling across its clean white sand so this is the moment where having lfs like stores like Top Shop Aquatics in my opinion is I think this is the qu essential part because you can walk into a brick and mortar place look at a fish and this is a wonderful part where if an informed and conscientious and more importantly caring reefer um will identify the needs of that organism they're going to get what the odds are of it doing well and then they can make the most effective and most rewarding use of their money um this is when we see tanks transcend from uh everyday wonderful reef tanks to something of divinely unique beauty with showstopping and unique centerpieces of coral and unique fish that potentially can't be found for thousands of miles around I think you made a really good point in the fact that you know we care a lot about the animals right sometimes people lose that concept and they start talk thinking about the image of the reef and it's just the reef in itself but just like you would look at your dog or your cat at home this is the same way that me and teras look at our C cucumbers and our conks that are hanging out in the sandbed they're very important things to us and I just have I love doing this with you talking about the cycling process and I know you're very fond of the little guys the little tiny creatures in our reefs and I think the cycling process is a really good time for you to get in tune with those smaller creatures in your microbiome so that way you can end up creating that unique Reef that you want in the end well thank you bla this has been a lot of fun absolutely thanks Frost thanks so [Music] much so right here we have some of our cycled media we got right out of the arm I wanted to mention again to you all that you guys can pick this up on our website and I wanted to mention it again the fact that this could be a really great addition to a new system and it's not bottled bacteria this is bacteria and beneficial bacteria that's been growing living and thriving in our farm system so we're going to take one of these logs of cycled media we're going to get it in the back of the chamber and then we're going to add in our fish another thing we're going to add into the system today that I'm really excited about is a little bit of grassia now now I am a huge Fanboy when it comes to macroe I love it in sumps I love it even in displays I ran macroy systems a while ago and I think it's a really great addition into any system just due to the fact it adds a really great space for Copa pods and those things those microf to live and Thrive and breed in but also it gives the tank a natural feel so we're going to go ahead and add this into the system not sure how long it's going to end up being in there but we're going to add it in so that way we can get all of the microa that's living on this into the [Music] tank all right as teras and I talked about we're going to add in some mollies into the tank today I have two little guys here I'd love to hear down in the comments below what you guys think I should name these cute little guys they're so precious but I'm going to go ahead grab them one by one and we'll add them into the tank the first fish of the studio oh he's so cute and the second fish of the top shelf studio is in all right just like that we've started the top shelf cycling process we've got water in we've got Rock and Sand now we've added in our mollies some microa that's attached to the macro algae and we've got our microbact xlm start inside the tank adding in all these beneficial bacterias and giving an ammonia Source will help us out with the cycling process to get this Nano up to speed one product though and one piece of equipment that I did want to talk about and mention that I'm going to add on to the system right away is an auto top off I think one thing people forget and don't talk about enough when it comes to Nano systems is salinity levels now to do it and make it much more simple we can add on an auto topof system and for this one we're going to be utilizing the coral view atto EZ so we're going to be setting this one up here on this tank showcase it to you guys so if you guys want to maintain a good solinity level inside your system be sure to grab yourself an ATO system and the coral view atto easy is one we recommend for Nano [Music] tanks and just like that we've got the tank cycling here in the studio we have our bacteria added in and we've got an ammonia source and the two mollies we've added as well having some saltwater aquacultured mollies from the farm is really cool because now we've got some fish in here and we finally have some life in the studio I want to give a big shout out to teras for coming over to the studio walking you guys through every single phase in the top shelf process of cycling a tank it was a ton of fun going over it with him he is so animated and he's full of life and fun so it's always great to get him on the Channel I want to say though this scape made by Kevin is really killer and I think how Dynamic it is it's really going to be fun trying to get this whole tank rolling and together I want to hear down in the comments below what you guys think I should be adding in into the scape to make it look really nice and make it a great Nano project if you guys have hung out all the way till the end I want to say thank you so much be sure to like subscribe and hit the Bell notification so you don't miss out on any future [Music] uploads oh