Cycling levels high, do i need to change water?

[tenny]

I have a quick question in regards to the levels in my tank.

I am currently on day 6 since I setup my 25 gallon salt water tank.

I checked the levels last night and the PH was 8.9 and ammonia was 1.3, a friend said this is way to high and to do a 20% water change but i've read that doing a water change only slows down the cycling process.

any opinions/advice would be appreciated!

 

[mjvincent]

How are you cycling? With damsels? Typically a pwc does slow down the cycle, and if you are doing it without fish you don't need to worry. If there are fish you might want to use some prime to help neutralize some of that ammonia (it isn't supposed to hurt the cycling of the tank).

 

[tenny]

yes, with damsels. What is prime?

 

[lando]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com!!!
I would consider taking the fish back to the LFS and continuing your cycle using a cocktail shrimp from the grocery store. This will help cycle your tank more quickly. If you decide to keep the fish, you will need to manage the NH3 and NO2 spikes with water changes to keep the fish alive. It will lenghten your cycle. Prime is a pump-starting product for cycling. Do not waste your money on it. Buy some LR for your tank instead.

 

[mjvincent]

Prime is a pump-starting product for cycling. Do not waste your money on it. Buy some LR for your tank instead.

Actually Prime is a water conditioner...
Prime™ is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels.Prime™ also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. Prime™ is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime™ will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Prime.html

 

[tenny]

I picked up a bottle of a product called "cycle" is this any good?

and any advice on if I should do a water change or not?

 

[lando]

mjvincent is correct, Prime is a water conditioner. However, it is often times used in a newly cycling tank to convert NH3 and NO2 to safe levels for fish. Make not mistake, it is intened to use during the cycle to speed things up. Any "miracle in a bottle" cycle jump-starters are too good to be true. Like I said, don't waste your money on these products. Spend it on LR and let your tank cycle naturally. This just takes time...

 

[tenny]

the guy at the pet store told me not to get live rock until it had been set up for 6 months or else i'd just kill the rock? was I given bad information?

 

[lando]

Time to find a new pet store

 

[mjvincent]

Well the lfs was right and wrong (depending on your point of view). LR will have some die off from cycling a tank, however most of the delicate life on the lr will have already died during the curing process (probably done a the lfs). I have never heard them state to wait six months (unless it had some sort of sensitive coral on it). LR is a great way of boosting your beneficial bacteria in your tank and you can dramatically shorten your cycle time by using a good quantity of it.

Cycle is a mixture of nitrosomonas and nitrobacter which are the bacteria that are needed in the tank to break down ammonia and nitrites. There are mixed reviews as to the effectiveness of these products (in general). I wouldn't use the product myself and given a choice I would add mor lr as lando said and use the Prime to help the fish out if you can't get them out. I cycled with damsels and they are still in my tank. You have to remember though that damsels are aggressive and you will be limited as to what you can put in there later.

 

[tenny]

wow is LR ever expensive! I picked up 4lbs chunk of it, is htat suitable for a 25 gallon tank?

 

[lando]

You are correct about it being expensive. check out www.liverocks.com for some nicely priced off the hook LR. It is some of the best out there. The general rule of thumb is 1.5-2lbs/gal of LR for biological filtration. 38-50lbs for your 25gal tank. It does not all need to be added at once. In fact, you can use a combination of LR and dead base rock to save some money. Over time the LR will seed the BR and it will all be LR. Check out www.hirocks.com for base rock. People here have had great success with them. Try 20lb of LR and 20lbs of BR to get started.

 

[tenny]

Would I sitll need to use that much if I have a filter? I have a Fluval Filter on the tank I just want to use it to help cycle the tank, and of course because it looks good.

 

[adacaro]

I cycle mine with lf rock at the same time took about 3 months to be able to put fish.

 

[mjvincent]

Like Lando said, the rule of thumb is 1.5 to 2 lbs per gallon. The fluval filter you have (cannister) does not have as much bio filtering capabilities as a piece of live rock. Buy a bunch of base rock (relatively cheap) and then buy a couple of pounds of LR at a time. I bought around half live rock and the rest base and it is all considered living now.