Cycling New Tank

[kiLLscaLLion]

Hi, I'm new to the hobby and decided to just dive right in and try my hand at a reef aquarium. I purchased the Red Sea Max 130D, added saltwater, put in 24 pounds of fully cured live rock (the tank size is 34 gallons) and waited for it to cycle. So far, it's been about a week and a half and the ammonia level is still too high. A couple of quick questions:

1) Does it usually take this long even with fully cured live rock? I was under the impression from various sources that cycling should only take about a couple of days (essentially the live rock with all its organisms would be able to process the waste chemicals right away).

2) I noticed a lot of brown algae growing on the rocks and green algae growing on the inside of the glass. This may be due to me leaving the lights on for about 10 hours a day. Should I be keeping up a regular lighting schedule? How would I eventually be able to get rid of the algae? Cleaner shrimp?

3) I have not changed the water so far. Should I be doing that?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

Welcome to MR.. I advise you to do more research on keeping a saltwater tank and YOU MUST HAVE PATIENCE in order to suceed in this wonderfull hobby. 2 weeks in not enough time to cycle your tank even with all the live rock you state you have. It will not process that fast because your water does not contain the load to process the nitrogen cycle.
No dont change water.
Turn off your lights. You have no animals or corals in there.... research what a cleaner shrimp does. Just because its a cleaner does not mean it cleans the tank. They pick parasites off fish. Thus the name cleaner shrimp.

Research my friend.. you will gain more knowledge that way than what I could or anyone type. Do that and you will be fine.... Good Luck and welcome to MR!!

 

[pauliwalnuts]

Well, did you also get some water from the same aquarium you got your rocks from ?

 

[daisy]

if you do a search (search option on the tool bar above) for cycling, see what you get - but the tips you've gotten are good - to wait, leave it alone with the lights off, and wait!


While you're waiting, be sure to read a ton - it's the best way not to repeat the mistakes the rest of us made!

Welcome aboard and good luck!

 

[rkaragozler]

welcome aboard just like everyone will suggest including myself patience is the name of the game, you will be very happy with your results, read and read as much as you can.
+1 don't make the same mistakes we have made.

 

[kiLLscaLLion]

Thanks, guys. It looks like I'll just need to be more patient and turn off the lights so the algae stops growing.

I did not get any water from the aquarium I got my rocks from, so that might also be why.

 

[Lenny718]

Thanks, guys. It looks like I'll just need to be more patient and turn off the lights so the algae stops growing.

I did not get any water from the aquarium I got my rocks from, so that might also be why.

There is no such thing as "Live water" so you do not need any water from an established tank, it won't help or speed things up since there is almost no beneficial bacteria in the water column. Listen to the advice that was posted, turn off your lights and don't do any water changes YET. Sit back and let the tank cycle and while the tank is doing its thing YOU do some research on keeping, maintaining and stocking a marine tank. Good luck!

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Welcome,I have that same set up so if you need to ask anything about the RSM,I'm your guy

 

[TonyHNY]

And I was just there yesterday to see ZANYMASTER's setup

kiLLscaLLion; dont spend any money yet until your tank is stablized. At the moment, living things on your rocks may be dying off slowly resulting in your ammonia spikes.

Welcome,I have that same set up so if you need to ask anything about the RSM,I'm your guy

 

[NanoAquatic]

I say, use Nutrafin Cycle, worked for me the last 2 years, never had problems

 

[jdnumis]

Welcome to MR. +1 on the advice above. You should wait 4-6 weeks to even to anything to it. Keep lights off, then do a water change after your cycle. test, test, test. Then when all your parameter are correct, start with the CUC(clean up crew) first.

Do yourself a favor and do a lot of research and ask tons of questions. Everyone here is awesome and are full of knowledge.

Good luck to you, and please don't rush. Take your time and it will result in a great looking aquarium.

~James