Is Live Sand suppose to Foam?

[TheChad]

Hey all,

Today I put in 40 lbs of CaribSea Live sand in our new 55g tank, and noticed there was a thin layer of foam on the surface of the water after pouring.

The tank is cloudy as to be expected, though not as cloudy as it was when we poured the 40lbs of Nature's Ocean Non-Live sand in a few days ago.

Now we have a total of 80lbs of sand in our 55gal, That should make a 2.5"-3" ~ sand bed.

In a day or 2 after the tank settles down again, I will turn the canister filter back on and put a few pieces of raw cocktail shrimp in the tank to begin the cycle.

With the 40lbs of LS, What should I expect in a cycle? How high should the ammonia get?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[stainless_wm]

As for the foam on the top of your tank, I am not too sure, but I think that is the same thing that happens in your skimmer, or in the ocean for that matter, (Sea Foam)

I think your skimmer will clear that up.


I think I read somewhere, when cycling, your ammonia may spike up to 4 or 5, but should drop within a few weeks.


At least,,, thats what mine did


Wade

 

[tecwzrd]

The small amount floating on the top should clear up once you turn your ph on and aim it towards the surface.

With the 40lbs of LS, What should I expect in a cycle? How high should the ammonia get?

Most “live” sand that comes in bags is not really live like the kind you might get from a quality lfs or local reefer. Most if not all the bacteria within the bag would die off after sitting on a shelf for many months.

Your nh3 could spike as high a 5+ ppm using two small raw shrimp. I’d look for a least a spike 2+ ppm over the first week or two testing every other day. If you get 0 nh3/no2 readings before two weeks then you probably didn’t have enough shrimp in the tank to cycle properly. Full cycle should take anywhere from 4-6+ weeks unless you have a ton of cured lr in the tank, then it could be as short as a week or two. If your no3 gets above 40 ppm I’d pull any shrimp from the tank that might be left after 4 weeks. I’d also keep the lights off during the cycle to keep down on algae.

Are you adding cured or uncured lr during the cycle?

Don’t forget to at least add one fish to the tank shortly after your cycle is complete or dose nh3 or small amounts of flake to keep the newly created bacteria.

 

[TheChad]

We will be adding LR little bits at a time, probably none durning the cycle.

Once the tank is cycled we will move our CB butterfly over and our inverts, Then we will begin to get and QT new fish before adding to the new 55g tank.

Should I keep the Canister filter and PH on durning the whole cycle process?

p.s. A question on the canister filter.... Its didn't come with a active carbon filter, but they sell one for it If i want to add it. Should I put a carbon filter? I know the carbon don't last that long, so is it even worth putting?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[fishfreek]

I would say filter with carbon for a week every month and thats it. Use the filter media to host the biological filteration. Its fine to leave things running while the sand settles. The foam you see is a result of the very fine sand particles that have setled to the top and has increased the surface tension causing the foam. You can skim this off with a cup if you want.

 

[hackteck]

mine did the same when i first started up my latest sw cleared up with the power heads towards the surface

 

[sonoma2nv]

I used the same sand you did to cycle my 55gal and it did the samething.But my overflow for the sump solved that.And by the way i had 120lbs of uncured lr and it took 29days to cycle.But if i had to do it over i would of bought the dry sand and just seeded the dry sand with real ls.Alot cheaper to..