Eco-system users -- How did you setup & cycle?

[Plantbrain]

Let me put to ya'll another way:

I have a marine macro tank, I have _never_ measured any NH4(Lamott kit) and add KNO3 to add enough N for the plants. There's not a lot of fish really, quite a few critters and nusiance algae herbivores that leaves the macros and plants alone.

There is no biosection in the tank. None.

Bacterial levels will adjust to whatever levels of food (NH4 in this case) are avaiable. If you removed all the macro algae, then the bacterial levels will increase. If you add enough healthy growing plant biomass, it will reduce the amount of NH4=>NO2=>NO3 bacteria.

Even if there are a good sized amount of NH4 bacteria, the plant will also use NO3 as well and the PO4 and the traces.

Bacteria are a good back up in case the plants die or are not taken good care of.

A good idea either way.

But if you plant heavy from the start and give the seaweeds what they need to grow well, there is no "cycle".

**Few** folks do this though.
Often the macro's come in hurting and take awhile to get going.
But in a week or two most adjust pretty good and get to growing like the infernal weeds that they are.

Contamination in algal cultures, something I'm a bit too familar with personally is a problem since we are trying to get _pure_ cultures.
Even in the most heavily planted tank, there will be plenty of bacteria.
Their density will adjust to what available.
They(Bacteria.. well, cyano's if you to argue for them being a bacteria etc) do not run out of control in our tanks.
Why in cultures? Often the media is pretty damn rich.
When culturing algae, often unsterile methods lead to contamination. Bacteria and protozoa and other critters are a pain. The super rich media and light etc causes serious destabilization if something else gets in there and fouls the system up fast.

I think the basic ecosystem set up is good and folks can play around a be cheap and try other methods.

Tacking a skimmer on there is like having a bacterial back up, not a bad thing really, but once the refugium or planted marine tank is humming along, they are not needed much if at all.

FWIW, I actually(wow!) did measure the NH4 when I set up the marine plant tank. I tested about every 4 days. Never got any readings, I used aragonite, added a bunch of local macros(Florida keys) and have loads of current.
I have not added any iron rich material to the substrate but may work some in later.

The "mud" has some organic material in it and this may be a source of NH4 and it also has iron. You can make this and there are plenty of topics about the issue here and elsewhere.

I have my own "mud" that comes from the exact place where the plants grow.
But most folks don't have this option, nor access to a 5 gallon bucket of stinky old seaweeds. They pay a bunch for some from the LFS and wait for it to grow out.

Which is good, let the plants do the work for removing what you don't like from the tank. That's a good approach and I embrace it perhaps more than most.

Sorry slipknotting, I think the bacteria cycle first for a couple of weeks is about the best approach for getting a refugium going in most cases. It's just filter for most folks and a food source for tangs. But if they want a "real" Marine planted tank, then they might consider the "pack the tank with plants" method. Once up and going, macro's do a lot of work if cared for. They also look nicer than bacteria. No squinting:-)

Regards,
Tom Barr