I have never anxiously waited in earnest expectation for the next episode in any series ever on KZfaq before this one. BRS team you are doing a great job. Outstanding video footage, excellent presentation Ryan. Two thumbs up to the team at BRS. Thank you again for this awesome series. Can't wait for next week's episode!

Thank You Again!! A very informative video covering more information on cycling a tank than I knew. I've started up my share of tanks over the years, fresh and salt. There's one thing I've learned, without proper cycling you are just headed for disaster from day one and trying to rush the process just compounds and lengthens the time needed to achieve the right balance. I look forward to these videos each and every week. Great work guys, your hard work is greatly appreciated.

I don't even have a marine tank but love to watch this series. Ryan, you are a pro on the camera! You can take a boring topic and make it interesting. Looking forward to seeing what this tank looks like in a year.

This guy has so much knowledge. Thanks for these series.

so glad BRS TV is out there. I was loosing my reef and completely forgot about ammonia. I have a deep fine crushed coral bed and i was not cleaning the sub straight because i did not know to pinch the tube, so i was using too much water for cleaning. Now the cleaning only take one to two gallons max for a good clean, my ammonia is completely gone, the corals are back in color, open and loving life. TG for Ryan and BRS TV, thank you all.

I've been watching this channel since 2011. Its just keeps getting better! I'm a reef addict and I love watching aquarium videos. I know you guys are very busy year round, but it would be awesome if you guys could do 2 videos a week cause I die knowing that I have to wait another week for more. When are we going to get to see R.T. series? (:

Great video Ryan can wait to see that tank finish

Iam just starting a new marine tank I have had tropical 🌴 fish 🐟 in the past , so this is a new venture for me 👍

Have been involved in the reef aquarium hobby for around twenty years mate and after watching several of your videos find myself still learning. You explain everything in a very simple but informative way. 10 out of 10 for your efforts

Each time I've cycled a tank I use Bio Spira and Dr. Tim's bottle of ammonia. Dr. Tim provides really good information and how-to videos about the ammonia and how exactly much to add in order for your tank to cycle quickly.

Glad to see you guys jumped on ammonia, its to often ignored in tanks - especially after the cycle. ammonia spikes are the no 1 problem when you start to see negitive health in corals and fish

I've used Bio-spira before, great stuff, I am interested in the Seneye module, that looks pretty cool!

Love these videos Ryan! Great work! I've used a few different additives in the past to kick off the cycle. Dr. Tim's seemed to work the fastest followed by Bio-Spira and Microbacter-7. I love Red Sea products and their kit looks very promising as well. I think what's important when using these is to get them from someone like BRS where the stock is rotated out fastest... Wouldn't want a bottle of Bio-Spira that's been sitting on a shelf in a LFS for years on end....

I don't have any experience with NH3 monitor, but I would like to thank you all for this series. I've kept fish most of my adult life and am getting ready to set up my first reef tank over the winter. My only complaint about this series is that 1 a week is too long? I wish I had this idea next year so I could binge watch the BRS160. Although this information is largely available in many other places I find these videos informative and interesting without being too opinionated. While many of the topics discussed are somewhat controversial in that there are two or more camps in the community I feel like Ryan is presenting straight information and leaving bias out.Thanks guys, I guess I will wait for next week now...

I added Arag-Alive to my substrate in my 55g brackish tank and ended up with a complete nitrogen cycle. "Look Ma, no nitrates!"

Do y'all have a video on PH 101? Thanks for all the helpful info!

i used bio-spira, and phantom feeding. took a few weeks before i was comfortable but slow and steady wins the race

waiting all week for this video. woo hoo

I started a 40 gallon tank last weekend with reef saver dry rock and live sand. I added bio-spira, but I didn't add anything to feed the bacteria... can I add one small hearty fish a week after adding bio-spira, or do I have to re-dose the tank with more bio-spira before adding the fish?

Im preparing to take my first attempt at salt water. Ive had large fresh water tank my entire life. I got the bug from my dad. I'll never forget him telling me to stay away from gold fish because they put off higher amounts of ammonia and can cause problems in tank for other fish. Therefore I've always checked it especially after a feeding of 20 feeders for the Oscars.

Hi, firstly I love you videos - they are so helpful for me as a new reefer. I am just about to use the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro Kit and was wondering if you recommend cycling the tank with this kit with the lights on for 10 hours as per Red Sea instructions.

I've been using the Seneye and webserver since they were released and glad I have as they recently saved me when a power surge took out my Profilux controller for the better part of Christmas day. I was able to monitor temp remotely from 45 minutes away while visiting family... not having a controller meant that I was leaving my tank to the mercy of the halides and no trigger to switch on fans should the tank get too hot. Without the Seneye, I would have been likely driving home to check on the tank when I'd rather be spending the holiday with family.

I've using the Seneye Reef monitor for a little over two years. There are pros and cons. The main issue with it, as I see it, is calibration. I do not know how accurate it is, it seem to be reading low on temperature. Also, it seem like when replaceable slide ages it reads lower and lower in ph and when I replace the slide at the end of the month the ph jumps up again. It would be interesting to see if you at BRS have the same experience. I find it very useful in my quarantine tank reading ammonia, this is where the Seneye really shines, at least for me. In my reef tank nothing much happens when it comes to ammonia, but in the quarantine tank much more happens when it comes to this. I can see how the ammonia level rises when I feed (around 0.003 increase) and how it decreases overnight. It really saved me when I was medicating with chloroquine phosphate, I got a big ammonia spike, but since the Seneye started blinking red, I was just in time to save the fish as the ammonia rose to deadly levels.

Hi Ryan, what is the make of the gravel syphon that is featured in the video? Thanks.

Having used the seneye for awhile. Would you recommend it for a budget reefer. I run a red sea 170. Does its ph probe need replacement too?

When cycling a new tank should I be running all of my filter media or should I exclude some types of media?

I started my 140 with 160 lbs of CaribSea Ocean Direct Oolite, 125 lbs of dry rock and 25 lbs of live rock. I used Ace Hardware pure ammonia and a bacterial additive to cycle the tank.

Great

I've got a seneye on my freshwater tank and it's saved my tank twice this year already. Heater failure and ammonia spike when I stupidly forgot to turn my external filter back on after cleaning it.

Great video Thanks, When cycling a tank should you run the skimmer?

I recently cycled a new tank with the Red Sea Mature kit. I had decent results but my nitrates were between 30-60 for about 4 weeks after the completion of the program. The only variable that I did not follow in the program was the rock. I started with uncured BRS Reef Saver rock. I'm not sure if this was a factor or not? Either way, Nitrates are now low so all in all, I feel good about the kit.

During the cycling process do you want to run Carbon and GFO and replace at normal frequencies?

Hi new to the hobby.. Is it necessary to have algea on my live rock to conclude that my cycling is doing great ? Or it is possible to get through cycling with any algae? Thank you

Great vids! What if I cure my rock in BRUTE while waiting for my tank delivery. Rock, heated salt water (HWMarine), power head for flow, lid and a bottle of (Biospira, Dr. TIms's etc.) do i need to also add food for the bacteria at this stage. When i get the tank and move the rock i will then use the RED Sea Reef Pro you mention in the vid and all of its components but the question is for the BRUTE time. I plan on doing the 3 month cycle you mention in a later vid. thanks PS it has been cool to see your family grow in a binge mode since i started watching these vids in prep for my WB 230.6 Platinum Pro.

To use even tap water, it should be left for a day or two w/ ammonia neutralizer/tank starter solutions mixed in it...

Great video! Surprised you guys didn't discuss adding detergent free, 100% pure ammonia to start the process.

Hay Ryan i have a 29 gallons saltwater tank for almost a year Now I’m starting a 75 gallons can I use the water & the live sand and the live rocks from my 29 gallon for my 75 gallon tank and do I have to cycle the tank again to put my fish & my corals in or do I have to wait for a couple of weeks before I can add the fish and the soft corals.... please let me know thanks

Seneye seems very useful. If there was ever an alarm on it to indicate an ammonia spike...what actually would be the plan of action? Water changes or an additive? Thank you.

Did I miss an episode? Where did you show the sump being bottom lined with MarinePure? I know the theory, it was mentioned in passing and we can see it but I think you could have given it a little more time. Interested to know know how many blocks you used, I couldn't tell as some had been cut.

What's your take on Dr. Tim's One and Only for cycling the tank? Folks swear by it. On another note just wanted to chime in here and reiterate that I'm really enjoying the BRS160 series. Keep up the good work and please keep us posted on the seneye.

Hi Sir. If i start new tank, with bactery housing from old tank (13months tank). But i use dead rock & not live sand. Should i wait as usuall cycling (around 8 weeks) or i can speed up the cycling?

I wish to ask @BRStv : On doing this 4 month, low light cycle, when is the right time to add Copepods?, and how the introduction of algae liquid food to feed them would affect post cycle?…. Lastly, how often would you add additional bacteria? Thank you!!! 🙏🏻🙂

after putting bio spira to newly setted up tank,can we put fishes immediately?

Is freshwater beneficial bacteria same as saltwater bacteria? I have couple well established freshwater tanks and about to start saltwater. I was wondering if i can put my filter and bio media from my freshwater tank in the saltwater tank to aid the cycle. Thanks

Can I you the fluval G3 on my tank or A wet and dry filter?

Hello Ryan & Team, I currently have a 80 Gal, salt/fish only tank that has been up for almost 16 years currently but this is it's second time being setup and is actually over 22 years old. I am currently upgrading and bought 120 gal tank and would like to include corals this time, with that my current sump has been running awesomely since I added it 16 years ago. I would like to reuse that sump, my question is; should I clean out the bio balls or replace them, or should I add an algae plant?

I am setting up a 75 Gallon reef with a 20 Gallon sump, I will be using wet liverock and dead sand with a cup or so of livesand from a buddies tank, so would adding a bacteria supplement still help? Thanks

can i run the protein skimmer during cycling

In this video you talk about how Ammonia can come from the tap water being put in the tank, and in previous video you talked about RODI systems which are expensive... I live about 45 minutes from the ocean in southern California and my local reef shop carries Ocean water. They have a truck get it out of the ocean and they have a huge tank of it in the shop that you can buy by the gallon. Is this water safe or recommended?

I'm confused on the part which discusses the nitrate removal that can happen when bubbles rise up from the sand and the internal rock layers....to the top...if this happens in a tank that is 4 or 5 months old....does that mean that there was some sort of spike of something...and the bacteria in the deep sand bed (4 or 5 inches) ...took care of it slowly? I've seen bubbles rise from sand and rock and collect at water surface...

Is this really 1/4 done already? Time is ripping by!

I've been trying to cycle my freshwater (I know this is a reef video) tank since April.. no bacteria are growing. I ended up self dosing ammonia because the food wouldn't decay (water sat at 65 so I thought that was why). It's now been about 2 months and no nitrates. My pH is sitting at 8.4, temp is now 75ish, ammonia 3.0, and nitrites 0. Not sure what else to do.

I know I am late to the party but I bought some Bio Spira and it states to turn off the skimmer for 48 hours. Also can you cycle it with Bio Spira and NOT add a fish? I do have some partially cured fiji dry rock from BRS. It has been about 8 days in the rock curing and this was after I did a 24 hour Muradic Acid bath and rinse. So I know there is probably some dying off of the dry rock, but would this be enough to keep the Bio Spira active and alive?

Help! I put in 18 corals I won from unique corals. They are dying one by one! Ten gallon. I should have made them ship separately but the plan was half in this and half in the 36 gallon. The 36 gallon had delays in cycling and I felt it was to soon. I followed ur advise on my 10 gallon and didnt use light or add corals for 3 months. I delayed this shipment but couldnt keep on. Now I an experiencing maybe a crash. I discovered salinity was way down to 10.18! I test weekly too beacuse I change water weekly. I noticed my refractometer was off by 4 but that dosnt explain how I am off by that much when I mixed it up the week before.I am thinking I have been mixing off for a while because whenever I bought salted water or fish fro m anyone it was always high with my refractometer and had to dilute with rodi! I had not calibrated for a while. I had to extend 10 days to change the water because I was waiting on 2 refractometers one hanna checker and another of the same type! I no longer trusted that one! My corals are doin worse since I upped salinity! Maybe I did it to fast, but it was an emergency so I did it in 2 days time plus changed water. Ny dkh rose to 11 too. I had removed the fish earlier when I discoverd the amonia. I dint act fast enough on it, not realizing the danger of a little amonia for corals. ! I have been askng you guys lots of questions about lights but I am scared to move them for 2 reasons: I dont want the stress of a new light and the bigger tank is to new. I dont even run the light but maybe an hour a day recently I started and its been cycled about 3 weeks or more. but it cycled fast because I used all live rock. I added dr tims once, no change and then I added 4 times microbe lift daily bacteria starter. still amonia, so decided to add prime. AShould have done that first thing! Live and learn..newbie here! lol Dont like adding additives! What the hell do I do? I was feeding them and now relize I shouldnt but I have brought my acan back from near death b4 by feeding but he is way down to the skeleton in some spots. Actually all 3 acan frags one is okay. love acans! My torch isnt extending as much , zoas wont open but one little colony, or frag p lug. my dumbass dropped salt on a duncan, burned one spot and today all the skin came off. I got what I could out of the tank, chunks of flesh when I went to blow it off because it looked like it was covered in red slime! I sat a beautiful duncan colony on the sand bed, not on a plug and I suppose it dint get enough light on the last head or it sunk down in sand a little now that one is dead and the skin is peeling upwards from the bottom of the branch. Reef 2 reef said just make sure I keep parameters in check. Hopefully after no amonia shows up from prime they may start to recover! Anything else I can do? Do you think this all spiraled because I added these 18 frags! all sitting on the sand bed. To much for a 6 month old tank? To top it, just b4 all this my hubby added tigger copepods for a fish that wouldnt eat. Yellow clown goby! I told him they were to big but I guess he figured the clowns would pick them off. They didint plus I had to remove clown soon after. The YCG jumped! I took the live rock out on 3 occasions to clean the sand bed, because we were throwing in so much food trying to coax him to eat. I think he was living off the reef! I noticed coppods before we added them on glass and he picked at the glass on the side I left unclean for him. Maybe taking out the live rock on 3 to 4 occasion killed the bacteria and stared the ammonia a nd the refractometer just not working and why salinity is so low, or its a crash.. I dont know what came first the chicken or the egg, just that they are dying some have and others arent looking well. Some are fine like the leathers. 2 toadstools and a neon kenya! I know this isnt an advice column but I have tried that as well and just say leave it alone and get ammonia out.. what do you think, or should I move them? Do I keep adding macrobe lift or just prime or what. Ihave heard bad things about vibrant killing corals and fish too, maybe thats why they arent getting better Oh and the copepods are crawling all over them! Maybe eatting them! I am changing water again tomorrow, and ceasing feeding! But I dont want to lose cycle once it starts back from lack of feeding and no fish in there! Apoligize but if anyone else reads this very long post. Please help I just wanted to add maybe my new live rock isnt porous enough! I switched my live rock for a friends live beautiful caribe sea arch and cave rock. I have that in my 36 as well but I have a ton of marine pur balls in sump. This rock is dense. I just added some bio balls from other tank ...until I can get the fluval evo tank to come back in stock. I am changing since that has a skimmer and room for xtra media. Its an aio. My other one isnt! Plethora of reasons this could be happening! Just checked amonia at 0.25 not that hig but nitrite and nitrate are higher after adding prime about 8 hours ago nitrite about1.0 and nitrate20 to 40!!!! A whole cycle! This is real bad! doing a wc! I wont be sleeping tonight! lol already 3:30 Ryan, Randy, would one of you boys want a vacation to florida and stay at my house??? LOL

Can you give me some advice . I just set up my 185 gallon tank 2 weeks ago everything has turned Brown I believe these are diatoms but ammonia test are zero . Now the diatoms are releasing bubbles . I have no fish I also didn't had bacteria I practice patience and let the cycle happen naturally. My question is ? does this sound like it's going in the right direction.thank you for any advice or comments

Replacing a sensor in the Seneye every month kinda bites, but then add in that they're 10 bucks a piece....ouch. Yeah, it's a sweet unit though. Nice vid guys! Keep it up!

Question is do I need to cycle tank if...? 1. Established tank re-homed about 11 months ago - overgrown with aptesia and algae so rocks were mechanically scrubbed of most biological matter. 2. 3-4 moths later after aptesia repopulated itself, half of the rocked removed, and was acid bathed after which bleached and let soak in fresh water for a week then placed back and rest of the rock treated the same way. 3. Now no aptesia but rapid algae growth - should clean it daily. It's a 90 g with 40 g sump/refugium.

at about min 7:30 there is a clip of a cube tank with a wave action. can you tell me please how to do this with an Apex and tunze powerheads on the back wall? I have a 50g cube and I was under the impression it wasn't possible to create waves in a cube. thanks in advance. m6

I'm wondering why you don't mention using a refugium? I also favor setting up using the Jaubert system, which I know is an old method, but I've had HUGE success with in the past. Now that I've discovered the reef ready bricks, I'm interested in using those in conjunction w/ the Jaubert system - probably as the base layer w/ a finer sand above it. Contrary to common practice, I find a protein skimmer is NOT needed with the Jaubert system when set up as I've done in the past. I use a minimum of 2 lbs. Live rock per gallon of tank size + I build a homemade filtration system out of a large Rubbermaid trash bin ! Using a **WASHED floor scrubber disk as a bio-mass creates amazing bio - surface! I add alternate layers of Poly-fill ( pillow stuffing ) in approx. 4" thicknesses. I alternate this with **WASHED ( Use baking soda in the bath tub until clear & clean! ) 3 - 4" thicknesses of sponge rubber! Alternate these layers to the top of the trash bin, with your pump pulling water through to the bottom! I've run this on a 65 gallon tank / 50gal trash bin filter * ( So a total of 110gallons capacity { Actual amount of water will be less & depends upon how much Live Rock & Sand you use } ) & after 6 mos with NO water changes what so ever, my water tested PERFECTLY by a commercial service! I find recommended methods of set up overly expensive & work intensive! My next tank will add a refugium, which uses an addition small tank planted with marine plants - which FEED on refuse from the main tank & expel beneficial nutrients that feed fish & Inverts in the main tank! I like the "K.I.S.S. " system! . . . .Keep It Simple, Sucker! Copy nature & you'll be successful!

I use dr tims for my nitrogen cycle done in about 4 days.

This topic is a Headache

So I am cycling my tank that is B.B. tank with dry rock my cycle is 8 weeks in with 1 ppm nitrite. 8 weeks is a lot longer then most do you think everything is okay with my tank because it’s taking so long. Also I haven’t had ammonia for some weeks now should I be adding ammonia so my bacteria don’t die off?

my tank had cycled about three week and now the water start become cloudy , what is happening?is that amonia spike or bacterial bloom?

hi my fish keeps going to the top of the serface and keeps going up to the water pump and keeps jumping out of the water does it have ammonia

Just a heads up, although fluidized sand bed filters are commonly used anymore except commurcial application, they respond the fastest to ammonia spikes and provide the most surface area for space available.

wen the cycle is over can I add tangs?

Ryan how much water is one large marine our block designed to filter . I.e. how many would I need for a 900 ltr reef tank that's tank and sump combination

How often and which food should you use to feed the bacteria during the cycling period? Also, I have a bottle of the ATM bacteria and was wondering when to add it? They say you need a fish to keep the bacteria alive by providing an ammonia source. Can I just add food to the tank regularly instead of fish? Thanks.

What do you do if you already have a tank up and running and you're having an ammonia spike

Ryan, when Marine Pure Ceramic Biomedia plates are substrated in the sump without water flowing through them, wouldn't they just become anaerobic filters over time?Why not save $500 and just have a DSB for filtration?

Hey Ryan, another great video Question new tank dry rock, dry sand can you cycle the tank with a bottle of nitrifying bacteria and add 2 fish alone straight away.

I know this is an older video but at 11:53 the text that should read "phosphorous" is significantly incorrect lol

is this tank still up and running? How is the marine pure holding up? Did it leach aluminium?

Fish secrete ammonia continuously in various amounts. Dirtiest tanks are fish only with a lot of fish. Need the best filtering on those. Ozone is used in huge public fish tanks because it is cheaper than a lot of other means for monster sized tanks. Normal home tanks I would not use it myself unless a huge fish only system. good vid

would you recommend adding a dose of biospira to a weekly pico water change (replacing 40-50%) to better stabilize water conditions and limit spiking?

I'm curious about people's thoughts on the Dr Tim method and products... I picked up the reef bottle and ammonia and am planning on starting my cycle with these soon. Any thoughts? Should I reconsider my choice and go with something else??

I get a false positive on my API ammonia test kit on my two brackish tanks. The results look more like the saltwater color chart than the freshwater chart. I had called the people at API and they told me to follow the fresh water chart for brackish. ????? I know I'm getting "false positive" results because I watched the nitrites rise and fall and observed nitrates of 30pm in my 10g brackish. (Negative for nitrates in my 55g because of live sand.) All fish are healthy, hale and completely unstressed. Good appetites all around. Great coloration. What are your thoughts on API and brackish water? (SG 1.0055, pH 8.4)

Should I do water changes during the cycle if food is being added to the tank with no fish? I thought over time of adding food to an fishless tank, may make it smell and look unappealing?

BRStv is my church...!

So a question for you - just started my first "cycle" using pure ammonia instead of a fish (welcome to the modern age I suppose). SO with that in mind, I added a couple caps of ammonia, after a bottle of biospira. I'm now reading high ammonia AND high nitrite (will test nitrate tonight). Tank was dry rock and sand when this started: at this point should I just wait it out, or do I need to take action?

This isn’t even my first time cycling a tank but I’m going into week 3 and my ammonia is 0 then like .25 .5 a few days later my nitrite is high af as of a week ago so I guess I’m on my way still very low nitrates. Doing a fish less cycle with dry rock last time I did this it didn’t take this long and I didn’t do anything different

Ryan - ? - If I am using the water from my garden hose to fill the tank - would it not be wise to let it sit for a day or two in 50 gallon containers so harmful additives can evaporate? OR, are there "Instant" additives to make the water safe after it is hosed into the tank? What would this process of filling the tank do to the Beneficial Bacteria living in the sand?

can u cycle a tank with just live sand then add live rock latter

Hi sir , can i know why my ammonia tester show white colour?

I have 120 gal, and a 40gal sump have 100lb of dead rock and sand . I put a dead shrimp in and using microbacter-7.. day 10 now and my caulerpa is growing like crazy.. my question is, should I remove the shrimp out now ? it nasty and bloated lol thanks .. jim E

how we comes to know that tank is cycled with fish in tank without using test kit

BRS, what do you think of the ATM Product Colony??

I cycle a tank pretty simple. I fill the tank with my saltwater, start running the filter, and throw a raw shrimp in. I'll wait a week then take that shrimp out, at this point I start to dose baterica

As recommend for an upgrade for my Red Sea Max I upgraded my skimmer and to an intank media basket. Which instructions instruct to fill with purigen, chemipure elite and filter floss. Not a week later I’m starting to have a huge ammonia spikes and like WTH!?.....I stripped all the good bacteria from my friggin tank

Is this accessories readily available in markets, How to order

Are you saying salifert tests are not easy to read?

I'm currently on week 2 of my fishless cycling. however my nitrites has been stuck at 5ppm( deep purple) I had 0 ammonia reading + high amount of nitrates reading (orange or red). I did some water changes it dropped the nitrites to light purple (2ppm I'm assuming) but it bounces back to deep purple the next day.what should i do?

I always wondered if The nitrifying bacteria in a quarantine tank with copper is affected

Hello I'm planning on setting up a 400L FOWLR tank (won't be adding coral till I'm more experienced). Once I've put dry rock in the tank and added salt water, can I cure the Rock and cycle the tank at the same time with the ammonia coming off the rocks? Or should you cure the rocks. Drain the water out of the tank. Add new water. And then cycle the tank with this cured rock? Thank you

what about using good old fashioned pure ammonia dosed to the right ppm

you should do an episode on all the amazing reef products from Seachem. - also, people keep pronouncing it wrong. they say (see-chem) when its pronounced (see-kem) because its sea chemicals.

I plan to start a nano reef tank in the next month or two. Im a little confused as far as the bio spira. Was the water cycled first before you added that and a fish? or did you mean right from the beginning add both of those to help cycle it? I've only ever had freshwater aquariums but have been looking to get into saltwater as well. I've been doing a lot of research and continue too before I get started so I know what im doing and successful at it. I have a 20 gallon tank ill be using. I plan to start out with live sand and live rock and add two clownfish once cycled. I only plan to have those two besides a shrimp or two for cleaning. Besides the additives shown in the video is there anything else that would be beneficial in the start-up/maintenance of a reef aquarium? So far I've seen an endless amount of things to add but I don't want to frivolously buy things that really aren't needed.

My Seneye warned me that the temp on my tank was too high. I checked and found a heater had stuck on. It happened while I was away so if I had not had that I would probably have come back to a dead tank. I think it is more than worth the money I spend on slides each month. And lets be honest, as you said, who checks ammonia levels once the thank has cycled? Besides, Apex is really really hard to get in the UK and costs a fortune!

Which biological filteration media is best for marine aquarium?

What about skimmer waste from another tank?