Making progress...on my 2 week old cycling tank

[oonycxwilloo]

Hey guys if you guys if you remember my old post on how to cycle a tank....well its been up for 2 weeks and 2 days...well...i have about 50lb in my 29g tank... i also had a anthelia in there from day 1 and it is surviving pretty good... well i do frequent water changes and my Ammonia is the second 1 down from 0, nitrate 0, nitrite 0 and ph is a little bit off... well i found this website saying first couple of days ammonia suppose to be present and then later on it dissapears then nitrite comes...and then nitrate comes...but in my case everything is good except ammonia...so...wats going on with my process..this is the website i got it from


http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=saltaquarium&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestfish.com%2Fnewtank3.html

 

[nanoreefer22]

If you ammonias still up, then the next step would be to have a spike in the nitrite, then nitrates. That seems about right.

 

[marrone]

Don't do any water changes as you interrupting the cycling process. Let the ammonia build and then it will start to fall by itself and convert over to Nitrites.

 

[oonycxwilloo]

But the thing is couple days ago nitrate was at 20 and nitrite was high too...all of a sudden it just dropped to 0 for nitrite and trate...i threw in a raw shrimp in there and i took it out already

 

[nanoreefer22]

You're probably messing with the new tank too much. No water changes or anything, just let the tank do it's thing. The raw shrimp should have been in there from the get go.

 

[marrone]

The cycle should follow the web site that you posted. The Ammonia should build and then you should start to see it drop to zero. At that point the nitrites should start to raise. Once you see the nitrite start to drop the nitrate will then build up. At that point you should have no ammonia and nitrite. To get the nitrates down you can do water changes.

Kris is right about the shrimp as that should have gone in the tank from the beginning but since you have all that LR in there it probably wasn't needed.

You need to determine if you had have the ammonia spike already, you should have done ammonia tests, and are now in the nitrite part of the cycle.

 

[oonycxwilloo]

well i did have 3 damsels in there...and i just put the rocks in....so does that mean my cycle restarted?

 

[masterswimmer]

Since you just put the rock in there, you're most likely experiencing another cycle. That's assuming you completed your first cycle (unlikely in the two weeks it's been up). Each time you increase the bioload of your tank significantly (adding 50 lbs of LR is significant), you'll have another cycle. Depending upon how established your system is will determine how long the new cycle lasts.

You need to really sit back and observe your tank for a few weeks. Do nothing but water tests. When your ammonia and nitrites are back down to zero and you only have nitrates registering, do a water change, get your nitrates down to below 15 or so, then.............you can add a fish or two.

swimmer

 

[marrone]

well i did have 3 damsels in there...and i just put the rocks in....so does that mean my cycle restarted?

You keep changing things that you have in the tank. What do you currently have in your tank, include all LR, corals, inverts and any fish.

Depending on the type of LR, whether it was cured before you placed it into the tank and how much live it had on it, your cycle could either be very short or long. Since the tank has been running for over 2 weeks what are your current ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. Also how are the corals, inverts and any fish that you may still have in the tank doing. Depending on these things you tank could be cycled and ready to go.

 

[oonycxwilloo]

so this mean that yesterday (which was the day i put in the rocks) is really the very first day of the tank again?

 

[marrone]

A lot depends on the LR itself and how well your biology bactiera was built up before you added the LR. If the LR was cured and didn't have a lot of live on it your not going to have an increase in ammonia or the amount maybe very small and your system can easily convert it over to nitrates.

So if you tank was running for 2 weeks and you did readings and the ammonia and nitrites were zero and then you added more LR you should test again. If you see the ammonia go up but your get zero for nitrites than your tank is still cycling. So if the tank was cycled before and your just getting a spike you should see the ammonia go down to zero, no nitrites and then probably see an increase in nitrates.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I assume you must have gotten the live rocks from an established tank because I kind of see you somewhere in a thread that you bought those rocks from a memeber just broke down his tank. If that is the case, the bacteria inside those rocks could easily take care of your ammonia if the reading is low to begin with. Since you keep on changing your stuff in your tank, you should really jog down the daily readings and a daily ledger of what has been done on that day in order to keep track of what is going on. We are having a hard time following your changes unless your write them out in a list form.

My very first SW tank never went to the nitrite and nitrate spikes because I used a lot of stuff from an established tank. Your case could be another example.

Also try to keep the threads together or at least point a link to the old thread so that we have a reference of your tank's history

 

[Tonyscoots84]

give it a couple of weeks of testing the water..... with the live rock added u should be well on ur way sooner then u thought... but dont give in when u see ur nitites, nitrates fall eventually... let it develop the bacteria inside... just feed the fish u have everyday and let us no when everything stabalizes.... DONT do any waterchanges.... i wouldnt add anything else to the tank for a lil bit until everything has stab.

 

[oonycxwilloo]

well i tested the waters today and trates and trites are still 0, ammonia is still the second 1 down from 0...i dont know whats happening because before i put in the rocks nitrite and trates were very high...the rocks i got was the rocks scarface had for sale...
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/sale-trade/12482-fs-lr-take-today.html

those were the rocks..and i also obtained 3 big pieces of live rock from my brother in law that owns a 600g tank..it has alot of alge on it...so can any one tell me where along the process i am and what should i do?

 

[masterswimmer]

Question for you, How old is your ammonia test kit? What brand? Salifert has an expiration date stamped on the box top. Could yours be expired?

Just a thought.

swimmer

 

[oonycxwilloo]

well...before i say this i know what you all are going to say...but i bought a master saltwater test kit from petland...and its not expired... =(

 

[marrone]

Assume that most of the LR you got was cured, you also have a couple of fish and some coral in your tank, it looks like from the nitrite and nitrates reading, before you place more LR into the tank, that your tank was on the way to finishing the cycle.

The new LR that you placed in the tank caused a mini-cycle and the bacteria is tring to catch up with the new load in the tank. What should happen next is that the ammonia will start to go down over the next couple of days and your tank should be cycled at that point.

More important how are the fish and corals and any other live stock doing in your tank?

 

[oonycxwilloo]

actually they are doing fine...i also have an anthelia in there...surprisingly it is still surviving because i still have a light for a freshwater tank...i gotta purchase a good light when i have the money..i'm still saving...but before i put the LR in ammonia was still present and nitrates and nitrites were very high...so thats why i decided to do some water changes...but right after i put in the rocks...nitrate and nitrite dissapeared...but ammonia still present but not that much...

here what i'm thinking...the rocks that i put in..i was told that it was cured...and the 3 large pieces i got from my brother inlaws 600g tank...look like they been in there for quite a long time because it has some crazy algae growing on it...and my snails are doing just fine...my brother in-law suggested that i should go to LFS to pick up 1-2 black and white damsels to swim around in there....

 

[masterswimmer]

Poor idea with the damsels. They are aggressive and will terrorize your other tankmates. And try getting them out! Unless you want to tear down your tank, you'll be stuck with them.

Adding damsels like that is something saltwater enthusiasts did back in the '70's and '80's. We've progressed quite a bit since those days.

swimmer

 

[marrone]

Don't add anything else right now as the tank does have a good amount of load in it. You want to wait until the ammonia goes down to zero which at that point you should be ready to go.

At this point you need to figure out what you want this tank to become, type of corals and fish. Once you have determine that you should then go out and get the proper lights and other equipment. You need to take your time here and do some more reading and research as there is a lot more to a reef tank then just having LR and LS and getting it cycled.