cycling question

[skratchiechan]

the NH3 hasnt gone up yet, still at 1.0 (was .5 the day before it was 1) and its been 3 days so far. should i add one more shrimp? (have 2 in right now). i know patience patience but i want that Nh3 spike!!!

 

[abdhalim2]

2 should be fine...just let it be there....as u said before, u had cured LR in your tank right now...your nh3 will not have much rises....just let it do its job....u just need to sit and wait....

 

[skratchiechan]

just noticed this inside the tube of my skimmer, can anyone identify this?

 

[skratchiechan]

just took the skimmer apart and looked inside the tubing. nothing there... hmmm just discoloration?

water parameters (update)
SG 1.026
ammonia 1.0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
water temp 79

do CUC need light?

 

[skratchiechan]

updated water parameters
SG 1.026
ammonia 0 to .25 (in between the two)
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
temp 77.9

seems like by tomorrow the tank will be done cycling. what are you guys' opioions? I guess the lfs indeed sold me some cured LR. thinking about putting in a hermit crab and a few snails in, if the ammonia is at 0. I just got the tank running on the 17th the cycle seems too fast IMO. should I throw another shrimp in there and see what happens? merry Christmas Guys

 

[abdhalim2]

no..its shud be fine....just let the cycle finish.....do some PWC and u are good to go to add hermit crabs and snails...some said u may test the water by throw pinch of fish food to and do the water test after couple of hours to see the results...its depends on u....from my experience...after get those nitrite and ammonia = 0, i do 30% PWC and add some fish.....they do fined til now...

 

[mr_X]

i would skip the hermit and just add snails if you like. there is a good chance the hermit will kill the snails. plus, i haven't seen the benefit of having hermits in the tank, other than watching them climb on the rocks. if you are set on crabs, i like the emerald crabs better. at least they don't kill the snails.

as for the picture above, what are you referring to, the pump itself? i went to the aqua euro website and it seems like either that pump is from their european line, or it's been discontinued. can you take a shot of the skimmer itself?

 

[skratchiechan]

Isnt the emerald crab too big for my tank?
Also I was talking about the tubing of the skimmer , you can see that reddish/pink inside the tubing. I will definitely take a picture of my skimmer. Thanks

 

[mr_X]

no. an emerald crab isn't too big for your tank. you could get a few of them if you so desired. they seem to stay small- at least all but one stay small. one seems to get large. i guess taking on the role of female. not too big though...like silver dollar sized at best.
as far as i can tell, that line is the air supply line. it's necessary.

 

[skratchiechan]

but doyou see that reddish part?

anywho here is my skimmer Doug

 

[mr_X]

yeah, i don't know what that discoloration is though.