"Moron Cycle"

[Krish]

Did the title catch your attention??? Well, I am a "moron". I have been found guilty of practicing something in my tank called the "moron cycle". I had never heard of the term before it was used on me by Nikki (out of constructive citicism of course) and I thought it was funny and cool and was something I should share with the rest of you who may be potential "morons" as well

So far what I have gathered from the whole concept is it means instead of you allowing your tank to cycle naturally and completely on its own (or run it's course), you continuously stick your hand in your tank, intervening or fooling around with things which slows down or doesn't allow the true process of cycling to occur (or maybe no "balance" to be achieved). So instead, you end up with a "moron cycle". Who thought continuous cleaning was bad? Remove the waste right? But maybe we are removing much more than just waste when we do this and as a result are causing more harm to our tanks than good. You often hear the phrase, "Less is more". In this case, is it? Hopefully we can get some more feedback on the subject incase it may be beneficial to someone else as well as me to know if a person can clean or do too much to their tank to cause it more harm than good.

 

[spongebob lover]

LOL !!! .
Well i guess i'm not a moron since my tank went through a huge cycle when it was first set up .
Then when i thought it was done, my husband decided that home depot sand looked cooler, then we had to remove it and put some live sand, and that made another little cycle i guess .

 

[wrightme43]

Its like a judgement call some times to leave alone, and what to do, and what not to do. I laughed my butt off the first time I heard that too. LOL

 

[Scooterman]

There comes a time when you have to go for it & start buying corals & more corals & more corals, then you think I'm I really ready for such a commitment? ......................................................

 

[Krish]

LOL...Well, I'm a moron. Instead of turkey basting my rocks or blowing them off with a powerhead,I decided to take out all of the rocks last week and swish them around in a bucket of tank water. I felt more like a "moron" because I had trouble setting the rocks back up the way it was before, but Nikki made a good point that exposing the LR to air all the time isn't good for certain things that are alive on the rock. So instead of swishin, I blow off the rock with my Tunze! That'll get it all the detritus off

 

[NaH2O]

So far what I have gathered from the whole concept is it means instead of you allowing your tank to cycle naturally and completely on its own (or run it's course), you continuously stick your hand in your tank, intervening or fooling around with things which slows down or doesn't allow the true process of cycling to occur (or maybe no "balance" to be achieved).

Yes, I'm told I'm in a moron cycle......and I think I am stuck in it....which is why I told you to quit messing with your rocks. But...you said this:

Who thought continuous cleaning was bad? Remove the waste right? But maybe we are removing much more than just waste when we do this and as a result are causing more harm to our tanks than good.

I wasn't saying that with regards to cleaning. Yes, cleaning is good - you want to get the detritus out of your tank...you want to remove waste products. But, there has to come a point when you stop moving around the rocks, and fiddling with things in the tank. Remember, every time you put your arms in the tank, you are adding oils from your skin (unless you are like me and wearing shoulder length veterinary sleeves). Look at what happens to your skimmer when you are in there fooling around. I'm not saying to stop siphoning out detritus piles, but you don't need to remove all of your rocks to see if you get the same amount of detritus in a bucket as you would by blasting them with a powerhead, IMO. If you change the way your aquascaping is in the tank, then that will change the state of your tank...might change the flow, or allow detritus to collect in an area that it didnt collect before, etc. Does that make sense?

It is more of a maturity thing, as opposed to a cycling thing. Allowing your tank to mature, instead of changing stuff around all the time....for me that included adding new equipment on or changing equipment, or lights, or return, etc. I'll be in the moron cycle for a little while longer, because I need to add back rock I have cooking in the basement, and I'm changing out my reflectors to Lumenarc IIIs....so, as you can see, I'm not letting my tank stay the same and remain that way.....once I get this new stuff on there, and I can start adding corals again, then hopefully I can just let my tank sit and grow without my interference .

Don't get me wrong, there are times when you have to make changes to a tank, but I suppose it depends on why you are doing it.

 

[sryder]

I had that horrible Hair algae and have removed the rock 2 times to brush them off. It did help the algae. I also noticed that when i did it within a few days I would get the glass algae realy bad for a few days. perhaps a mini cycle. I also have moved the rock around for water movement purposes and ease of cleaning. I guess this makes me a moron too krish...

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the reply Nikki and clearing up things for me. Like I said, just learned the term last week and wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but new it had to do with me continuously pulling out the rocks

I guess this makes me a moron too krish...

LOL...You said it Steve, not me

 

[Scooterman]

Krish let me add one thing to blowing off your rocks, when you to this put a micron filter sock on your sump drain, let me tell you that doing this removes so much in one shot you would think your skimmer isn't working, order them, get a couple & don't leave them on longer that several hours.

 

[CarlaW]

Krish, do you remember a PM that I sent you a while back?????? I wasn't gonna say anything because I thought it would hurt your feelings, but now.............................................


KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE %^&* TANK!!!!!!! Let things proceed!!!

 

[Krish]

Krish let me add one thing to blowing off your rocks, when you to this put a micron filter sock on your sump drain, let me tell you that doing this removes so much in one shot you would think your skimmer isn't working, order them, get a couple & don't leave them on longer that several hours.

Thanks Scooter. I'm thinking that may be the way to go because setting up, cleaning and changing the polishing cartridge in my H.O.T magnum everyweek, is getting old. For starters I haven't had a re-placement for it seeing there are no cartridges here on the island for 2 weeks, which means I had to find other means of "cleaning" when I do my water change. So, a filter sock I can just slap on and wash off after every use may be the ticket. Thanks again...I'll order 1 or 2 this week when I go to order a few other things from Premium Aquatics.

 

[Krish]

Krish, do you remember a PM that I sent you a while back?????? I wasn't gonna say anything because I thought it would hurt your feelings, but now.............................................


KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE %^&* TANK!!!!!!! Let things proceed!!!

But you did tell me to go play in it too though which got me in trouble:lol:

 

[CarlaW]

But you did tell me to go play in it too though which got me in trouble:lol:

there was another reason for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You didn't have to listen, no one else does.

 

[Krish]

there was another reason for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You didn't have to listen, no one else does.

LMBO! I guess fooling with the tank was a lot better than what I was doing huh:lol:

 

[NaH2O]

Krish - you can do a search on "moron cycle" and see other posts about it. Here's a quote:

A Mature tank is not really an age thing, its a tank that has gone through its cycles. The original nitrogen cycle, its algael cycle, bacterial cycle and what I call the moron cycle . The moron cycle is when we constantly screw around with our tank, tweeking a new skimmer, or calcium reactor or the plumbig set up that doesnt quite work right and so on and so on. Once you get through the biological cycles and get your tank where you are not constantly screwing around with it you cn go for what ever you desire (based on your set up)

 

[CarlaW]

Nikki,
That is such a good quote, I printed it out and am going to post it by my tank. I think all of us are more than guilty.
Don't feel to bad Krish, it looks to be universal.

 

[Krish]

Thanks Nikki...

 

[Krish]

Nikki,
That is such a good quote, I printed it out and am going to post it by my tank. I think all of us are more than guilty.
Don't feel to bad Krish, it looks to be universal

Yeah Charlie...I'm beginning to think I signed up for the wrong hobby because I can't seem to stop fooling with things(LOL) Hopefully when the baby comes and my time will be taken up, things will change

 

[spongebob lover]

A Mature tank is not really an age thing, its a tank that has gone through its cycles. The original nitrogen cycle, its algael cycle, bacterial cycle and what I call the moron cycle . The moron cycle is when we constantly screw around with our tank, tweeking a new skimmer, or calcium reactor or the plumbig set up that doesnt quite work right and so on and so on. Once you get through the biological cycles and get your tank where you are not constantly screwing around with it you cn go for what ever you desire (based on your set up)

ohh dood that's such a good quote, i am guilty too then

 

[Scooterman]

Without the Moron cycle you loose about 50% or more reasons why we even get into this hobby, there isn't a such thing as perfect so it compels our compulsion to do whatever it takes to make it perfect, which then causes another moron cycle, you see these cycles are never ending Never!