3rd week cycling... Readings???

[carey]

As a backup plan I dont see the harm in adding the ammonia detoxifer, but only if there is a rise in ammonia that is totally unexpected. I keep a bottle of prime on hand just in case myself. From dosing to 8ppm ammonia I've been lucky and have never had any ammonia spikes after setting a tank up. But I tend to err on the side of caution when stocking so I dont have any surprises. lol

I added I think 7 fish at once a few years ago and never had even a blip in parameters. I dont recommend adding that many fish of course, it could have gone badly but I bought a small school of blue reef chromis (5) that I ordered from liveaquaria and with their shipping rates it would have been crazy to break the order into pieces for less than $100 worth of shipping. lol

 

[neeker4]

I only plan on having a fire fish, a black clown, and maybe a bi-color blennie in the tank, but being as its only 14g minus rocks roughly 10g, i font want to act too fast and harm any of the animals...

 

[kurtyboh]

There should be no spike but if by chance there is after the tank cycled because he added an extra fish too soon it would be small and short. Better to leave it alone than be forced to rely on chemical treatment for a while because it messed up your cycle

 

[neeker4]

Would a bag of chemipure (pro) do anything to help keep ammonia, trates, and trites down long term, or is that a ploy by my LFS to sell me stuff I don't really need?

 

[carey]

Chemipure elite is basically a carbon substitute and gfo. They will not help with parameters really. I run chemipure in my biocube and it does last several months but it's more for cleaning up the waters appearance and to remove odors, just like carbon. The gfo is helpful for phosphates as it will remove those.

I have found that when you leave the chemipure in it actually traps nitrates and causes high readings of it unless you rinse the bag off at water changes. I was doing massive water changes and my nitrates never went down a bit until i changed out the chemipure. The bag itself will let debris and orgnaic matter accumulate.

 

[neeker4]

Thank you Carey!!! The ppl at my lfs said its a must have for all saltwater tanks and i was a little skeptical... Is it recommended to remove all non live rock filters during a pwc and rinse them?

 

[kurtyboh]

I run good for a week once a month, it does help clear the water a bit, and when fighting cyano I "think" it would come back a bit slower.

The filters are really your choice, most people leave them in as bacteria builds on the material quite well, however some argue that it traps and slowly releases nitrates, both are right, so imo it becomes a personal choice. I change my filters once a month, I'm not in the camp of the bacteria, I didn't always go this route but it was something I could do to possibly alleviate my cyano. I personally didn't notice a difference at all.

 

[neeker4]

So neither is a better option than the other... Just change the filters ever few months and it should be ok?

 

[neeker4]

My readings on my new test kit are as follows... I did a water change two days ago...
Ph 8.4
No3 10ppm
No2 5ppm
Ammonia 0ppm

Is this normal???

 

[kurtyboh]

Yep, you're on the right track, what's happening is that while ammonia is constantly being released by the decaying shrimp, it's being used just as quickly by the beneficial bacteria. The same will happen with nitrite and then your cycle is complete. You're almost there

 

[neeker4]

Cool thanks for the clarification!!!

 

[Jonnypro]

I am on my mid 3rd week and these are my readings. Is this on the right track.. Almost done?



I used uncured live rock for my cycle. It gave off this foul smell around the first week. It is a 20g salt tank.

 

[Tkey3425]

Johnnypro: It has a way to go. Not sure how close but its definitely cycling. How much rock did you use?

 

[Jonnypro]

Johnnypro: It has a way to go. Not sure how close but its definitely cycling. How much rock did you use?

The first week the ammonia was off the charts. It's Has went down A lot. I have about 25 pounds of uncured rock. I got the rock when I was down in Florida in May. I got it off the beach. It was sitting until three weeks ago In my garage. I have about another 50 pounds more of The rock. I'm going to be doing 135 gallon salt tank. But figured I'd start small and then go bigger.

 

[Tkey3425]

The first week the ammonia was off the charts. It's Has went down A lot. I have about 25 pounds of uncured rock. I got the rock when I was down in Florida in May. I got it off the beach. It was sitting until three weeks ago In my garage. I have about another 50 pounds more of The rock. I'm going to be doing 135 gallon salt tank. But figured I'd start small and then go bigger.

135 would be more stable water conditions. When your ammonia and nitrite read zero you're done. I would do a large water change to lower nitrates and then give it a week or so after all zeros to ensure you're cycle completed

 

[Tkey3425]

The first week the ammonia was off the charts. It's Has went down A lot. I have about 25 pounds of uncured rock. I got the rock when I was down in Florida in May. I got it off the beach. It was sitting until three weeks ago In my garage. I have about another 50 pounds more of The rock. I'm going to be doing 135 gallon salt tank. But figured I'd start small and then go bigger.

135 will have more stable water conditions. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero at the end of the cycle. Nitrates will be high so when you get zeros do a large water change. Then wait a week to ensure your cycle is completed. Test the water. If you're ammonia and nitrite are 0 and you nitrate is ideally less than 20ppm. You should be fine. Check your PH and phosphates if you have the kit as well.

 

[kurtyboh]

Great advice from tkey

 

[Jonnypro]

135 will have more stable water conditions. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero at the end of the cycle. Nitrates will be high so when you get zeros do a large water change. Then wait a week to ensure your cycle is completed. Test the water. If you're ammonia and nitrite are 0 and you nitrate is ideally less than 20ppm. You should be fine. Check your PH and phosphates if you have the kit as well.

This is my reading from this morning. The ammonia looks like it is up but it is zero and ph look a like its a higher then it is it's just the pic




Now I did go to the bay with my son and we got some of those little crabs that hide under the rocks and some small plants.







What do you guys think as far as what my cycle is doing and will those plants be beneficial to the tank? Also what should I give Rhodes little crabs. I know there scavengers so I crushed up some algae wafers. Lmk thank you all.

 

[Jonnypro]

Ammonia 0 rates and rites 5.0 rates 160. What's going on with this. Still no change.

 

[kurtyboh]

Sometimes a cycle stalls for a bit, it'll work itself out,