Cycling new tank
- Thread starter gtox44
- Start date
No telling really... I have had tanks cycle in 2 weeks and one took about 6 weeks...
Ammonia will go up, taper off then come down,Nitrite will do the same after ammonia, then the nitrate will rise and stop.. then do a waterchange and BAM! Avg.. 3 weeks or so...
Trust me.. You will get a better answer than this lol
Ammonia will go up, taper off then come down,Nitrite will do the same after ammonia, then the nitrate will rise and stop.. then do a waterchange and BAM! Avg.. 3 weeks or so...
Trust me.. You will get a better answer than this lol
My cycle took just over two weeks... on day 16 ammonia and nitrites were zero, nitrates were 5 (or .5, whichever is the first step up from zero on the API kits). They were almost zero after a 30% water change. FWIW, it was a 75g and I did the cocktail shrimp method to kick it off.
It took my tank about a week and a half to cycle after I set it up, but I have a little over 2lbs of rock per gallon of water. I have had it up for about 1.5 months now with little hassle, knock on wood. I have three fish and a good size clean up crew in my tank and have not had any real big spikes. There is a really good FS in Flowery Branch that helped me a ton and can do the same for you.
William must have much better luck than I do. When I transferred my old 90G that had been running for 2+ years to my new 185G, I moved all the water too (about 120 gallons). No sand, as I am a BB club member. Didn't figure I really needed a cycle period as I was even careful to keep even the LR 100% submerged. Not long after the move, hair algae was everywhere and took me over a month to get it under control. No losses, but a PITA.
Well it is now day 12. I've been at college for the first 12 days but now I'm home so I can devote my full time to it. The LR has little brown spots on it. I don't have a test kit yet. I'm going to Keen Reef to pick one up and get some more LR tomorrow. When should I do the first water change? Also, there is little specks of stuff on the surface. I'm assuming that's what the skimmer gets rid of, but how much is supposed to be there, if any?
Take some water with you and let him test it for you and pretty much show you how to use your new kit. Not saying you can't read instructions, but Tim is a good dude and every little bit helps right? He can help with any questions you may have too.
May need more flow across the surface to break that stuff up so be sure to tell him what you have as far as pumps and powerheads and get his advice. Good luck and keep us posted buddy
May need more flow across the surface to break that stuff up so be sure to tell him what you have as far as pumps and powerheads and get his advice. Good luck and keep us posted buddy
mine sat up for 3 days with 100lbs of lr then i got antsy and dropen a snowflake and lion in dumb a** me....lol but no problams at all they did great luck i guess.....now 1500 worh of coral and fish doing great...dont follow my doings wait it out
IMO don't do a water change until Ammonia and Nitrites are zero. Do a fairly large water change to get your Nitrates down. After one or two, you should be ready to start SLOWLY stocking. Keep an extra close eye on your water parameters early on. There is some debate on when to add a clean up crew, but IMO they need detritus to eat, and that comes from fish. I'd personally add a fish, then a few CUC members, adding more CUC as you stock more fish later.
True, but to help with the first stages of the algae bloom a small cleanup would be beneficial and cheaper than "test damsels." And with more fish more cleanup. If I could take one thing back it would be to go snails and few hermits other than the complete opposite route I went.
We call it, "The hurry up and wait stage!"
Every tank is different - but you have received good advice. We're all impatient and want to see stuff in there "now" - but going slowly and patiently is the only way to go.
Water from an existing setup is not necessarily a benefit from a biological filtration point of view, but it may help with the ionic balance, if that water was very good. If the water was less than perfect it can be a detriment to move a problem from one tank, into another.
Rock/sand from a cured system will help with the cycle - you may see little or even no ammonia/nitrite if you moved the stuff quickly.
Wait for the diatoms to come and keep an eye on parameters - that will tell you when it's time. No ammonia, no nitrite and nitrate below 20 (close to zero is better!) and you should be good to go... SLOWLY!
Jenn
Every tank is different - but you have received good advice. We're all impatient and want to see stuff in there "now" - but going slowly and patiently is the only way to go.
Water from an existing setup is not necessarily a benefit from a biological filtration point of view, but it may help with the ionic balance, if that water was very good. If the water was less than perfect it can be a detriment to move a problem from one tank, into another.
Rock/sand from a cured system will help with the cycle - you may see little or even no ammonia/nitrite if you moved the stuff quickly.
Wait for the diatoms to come and keep an eye on parameters - that will tell you when it's time. No ammonia, no nitrite and nitrate below 20 (close to zero is better!) and you should be good to go... SLOWLY!
Jenn
I had this tank as a freshwater last year and I put fish in WAY to early. I've been through that whole phase of killing a lot of fish. Not gonna do that again. Salt water fish/corals are too expensive. My lights are on for 6 hours with a just actinic period of one hour before and after.
But I have a question about my skimmer. It is the aquac remora with the prefilter box. That box if giving me a lot of trouble. The reason the gunk is on the top is because the water is not going in through the slits on the front of the box. I can see it just sitting there. I guess it is coming in through the slits on the back? But I can't figure out how to make it work.
Also, what is the height on the collection cup supposed to be. It looks like it is collecting the same amount at every height I try so I dont know what is correct.
But I have a question about my skimmer. It is the aquac remora with the prefilter box. That box if giving me a lot of trouble. The reason the gunk is on the top is because the water is not going in through the slits on the front of the box. I can see it just sitting there. I guess it is coming in through the slits on the back? But I can't figure out how to make it work.
Also, what is the height on the collection cup supposed to be. It looks like it is collecting the same amount at every height I try so I dont know what is correct.
