thincat
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As long as you don't feed them, then they matter.But go nuts with da corals. They don't add to bioload!
Don't ask me why I added the butterfly!
Zer0's 25G Rimless Cube Reef
- Thread starter Zer0
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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Don't ask me why I added the butterfly!
Mitchell0605
Aquarium Advice Addict
I think with the MH they'll be fine.
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Yeah i don't plan to feed my corals. I may however feed some of my zoas PODS! I'm excited for that since i will have tons of them in my fuge lol.
I'm excited for that since i will have tons of them in my fuge lol.
Mitchell0605
Aquarium Advice Addict
I want lots and lots of pics! Im gonna envy your Zoas.... 
Im gonna envy your Zoas....
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I first have to get them for you to envy them lol. But surusly.. i wana see a zoa eat a pod. I've only seen it once before and it was awesome.
Mitchell0605
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've never seen it. You'll have to do a video.
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Ooo good idea on the video. The video quality on the camera i use is better than the picture quality lol.
Mitchell0605
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Is it possible to not have any nitrates at the end of a cycle? My ammonia is at 0ppm, and my Nitrites were at around 1ppm a few days ago, and my nitrates were at 0ppm. Now, with ammonia at 0 and nitritres at .25ppm, my Nitrate tests still come up 0ppm. Could the diatoms and algae growing be sucking up all of the nitrates? Because i mean.. i have lighting in my fuge 24/7 and there are TONS of diatoms and a bit of green algae.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes. With the low levels you had during the cycle it's quite possible.
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I thought you could only kill off the bacteria if you didn't feed the tank after the cycle was already completed? I didn't feed my tank last time I cycled my tank...
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No way.. i thought your supposed to take the shrimp out once your ammonia reads zero, and let the cycle finish up, THEN feed the tank.. there was hardly anything left of the shrimp.
ill wait for an expert to chime in here but without some kind of food source i dont see how it stayed alive. with no ammonia type food source the ammonia type bactira dies. if they die then the nitrite type bactira will die shortly after.
add a pinch of food or some ammonia. that will tell you for sure. if you get a spike and it goes away in 24 hours your cycled..if it stays or takes a bit to show ammonia you are restarting your cycle
add a pinch of food or some ammonia. that will tell you for sure. if you get a spike and it goes away in 24 hours your cycled..if it stays or takes a bit to show ammonia you are restarting your cycle
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I thought that when you put in ammonia, or food, bioload, whatever, if it decays or whatever, and no ammonia presents itself, THEN you know your cycled.. When a tank is cycled, you not supposed to get any ammonia readings if you had livestock in there.. right?
correct you shouldnt get an ammonia reading. thats because you have the bactira eatting the ammonia. the bactira is a living creature. it needs a food source to live. during your cycle that is ammonia or the shrimp decompsing. when your tank has fish the food source is your fish waste and left over food.
this is the basics of it
food source = ammonia. ammonia type bactira eat it and expels nitrite waste. this type of bactira doubles roughly once every 12 hours.
food source nitrite. nitrite type bactira eats the nitrite and expels nitrate waste. this type of bactira doubles roughly once every 8 hours.
thats the reason nitrites show up after ammonia. takes awile for the ammonia type of bactira to produce enough food(nitrites) to substain the nitrite type bactira.
the way we do a cycle it produces a small amount of these bactira's which is why you have to add a small bioload to the tank and let the bactira catch up. technically you should be able to feed the tank enough you could do a full bioload instantly. but it would take a much longer cycle cause you have to feed it more, and more offen to keep enough food source to feed the bactira and wait for it to double enough.
but without some kind of food source to keep it alive they die.
this is the basics of it
food source = ammonia. ammonia type bactira eat it and expels nitrite waste. this type of bactira doubles roughly once every 12 hours.
food source nitrite. nitrite type bactira eats the nitrite and expels nitrate waste. this type of bactira doubles roughly once every 8 hours.
thats the reason nitrites show up after ammonia. takes awile for the ammonia type of bactira to produce enough food(nitrites) to substain the nitrite type bactira.
the way we do a cycle it produces a small amount of these bactira's which is why you have to add a small bioload to the tank and let the bactira catch up. technically you should be able to feed the tank enough you could do a full bioload instantly. but it would take a much longer cycle cause you have to feed it more, and more offen to keep enough food source to feed the bactira and wait for it to double enough.
but without some kind of food source to keep it alive they die.
thincat
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You both are correct. The bacteria will not die off immediately in a day or so if not fed. zer0 is waiting for his Nitrates to show up. That is the sign that the cycle is done. then and only then does he need to feed the tank or add fish, cuc etc. He only has to feed the tank once a week to maintain the cycle.
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Alright so the consensus is, i need to wait until my nitrates show up, then i can start feeding the tank once a week to keep the nitrifying bacteria alive? I'm not completely screwed, and i don't have to start a cycle again?
My readings go, 0ppm of Ammonia, .50ppm of Nitrites, and 0ppm of Nitrates.
Oh yah.. and small update.
I got my metal halide pendant, and the shimmering effect it has on the water is unlike anything i've ever seen before lol. it's so freakin awesome. Pictures when my mom gets home with the camera. I still need to hang it too..
My readings go, 0ppm of Ammonia, .50ppm of Nitrites, and 0ppm of Nitrates.
Oh yah.. and small update.
I got my metal halide pendant, and the shimmering effect it has on the water is unlike anything i've ever seen before lol. it's so freakin awesome. Pictures when my mom gets home with the camera. I still need to hang it too..
this doesnt make alot of sense to me. he has nitrites right now. but he took out his ammonia source so he has nothing feeding the ammonia or nitrites anymore. if there is no food source how is it goign to convert? if you have no ammonia you have nothing to convert to nitrites anymore . which means you have nothing to convert to nitrates. with nothing feeding the cycle you have no cycle going on.
