Cycling New Tank - Nothing is happening!

[msteele]

The tank has been cycling for 8 days:
I set my new 38 gallon tank up with filter, heat, powerhead, mixed the saltwater, put in an aragonite base and added approximately 30 pounds of live rock (fiji) which came with a beautiful purple algae growing on it. As recommended on several posts I added a cocktail shrimp to start the cycling process. I have diligently tested my water for the past week and nothing has happened! Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have all stayed at 0. (pH is 8.2).
I thought that my ammonia would have started to build up by now. My rock has turned brown and is now started to turn green and a lovely brown film of algae has covered the walls of the tank. Again, I thought this growth would have indicated that the tank was cycling properly.
Am I missing something?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hey msteele and welcome to Reefs.Org.

The whole concept that you need to see a spike of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for a tank to be "cycled" is somewhat of a misconception IMO. When starting up a new tank with live rock that's in good condition, it's not uncommon to see little to no imbalances in the nitrogen cycle - therefore no major spikes. Keep in mind that live rock has all of the necessary bacteria on/in it to complete the nitrogen cycle.

If you see a spike in one of these compounds it simply means that particular nutrient is building up quicker than the bacterial populations that consume it. This often happens in a new setup. Not seeing readings on your kits isn't necessarily a bad thing though. It doesn't mean the bacteria is not there, or the tank is not cycling. It just means things aren't far enough out of balance for any one compound to be accumulating.

All that being said, I'm surprised you haven't seen some traces of ammonia because by adding the shrimp you've introduced a significant bioload.

Did you buy the rock locally? It's possible that the rock was just well cured and the shrimp isn't enough to cause an imbalance.

Either way, it's nothing to worry about. Just sit tight for at least a month before you add any livestock, regardless of what your test kit readings are. Your kits may show good numbers, but it takes time for a reef tank to stabilize and mature.

HTH

 

[shr00m]

a monkey with patience gets good potatos.

 

[msteele]

Thanks for the advice. What you told me is what I was hoping to hear!

Yes, I did buy the rock locally and I believe it was well cured before I brought it home.

My tank looks disgusting with all of the algae on the walls and substrate. Can I add some invertebrates (snails and/or hermit crabs) to start cleaning up the mess?

 

[Anonymous]

I would be hesitant to add somthing just yet. Are you running your lights? If you are cutting back on them will cut down on some of the algae growth. I would give it atlease another week or so to make sure thangs are not just moving slow. Then add a few clean up critters at a time.

 

[ChrisRD]

As Wazzel suggested - give it some more time. Don't worry too much about the algae, it's normal for things to get ugly in the early stages. In fact, for the first 6 months or more your tank will experience several different algae cycles.

 

[nanocat]

I had pretty much a similar experience with my nano. Nothing really spiked and my nitrites have been 0 since day one. Nitrate remains constant at 20. After 14 days I've added some snails and a couple of peppermint shrimp. So far so good. Based on what I read, I expected these spikes too, but my LR was fully cured, and the arag-alive and Catalina water seemed to work out OK.

I'm not adding any fish until I hit 4 weeks (assuming levels support and nitrates lower).
I run my PC 10 hours a day, and so far the algae has been minimal.

 

[Anonymous]

Cycling and curing (as Chris is alluding to) are two different things. What you wish to accomplish in these situations with "cycling" is culturing enough nitrifying bacteria to deal with future bioload. This is easily helped along by adding a bit of raw shrimp in a piece of pantyhose to the tank and letting it rot.

The algae at this point is to be expected, if you can avoid removing too much nutrient load then this will help you in the long run in relation to your cycling.