Fishless Cycle

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Mr. FishMan

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
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348
so I found a really great deal on a 100 gallon show tank about 2 moths ago on craigslist and brought it home. I filled up the tank immediately and let the water sit in the tank for several weeks without filtration because I heard by doing so it realeases all toxic chemicals from the water without using more chemicals. After about a good 2-3 weeks later I started the filter, added kordons novaqua plus and the next day I added the salt (I'm setting up a sw aquarium.) Its been about a month since I started the filter so I tested my water and here's the results :

GH-180
KH- between 180 and 240
PH- between 8.0 and 8.5
NO2- 0
NO3- 20

I used testing strips so I dont know what the ammonia levels are at, sorry for that. My question is, Is my tank completely cycled?
 
Hard to tell without monitoring the spike in ammonia. Did you add an ammonia source? Pure or raw shrimp? Do you have any live rock or sand? I would recommend investing in liquid test kits, they are far more accurate...
 
Also not sure about the letting water sit to release chemicals? I have never heard of that. What chemicals? Your water should ideally be ro-di and have no chemicals at all in it...
 
I added some AquaBac-T (beneficial bacteria and enzyme) I had on hand. There's no sand or live rock in my tank as I was thinking of doing bare bottom..
 
letting the water sit will stagnate it and by chemicals I just mean any chlorine that may be In the water.
 
I strongly suggest picking up some live rock from a trustworthy established owner. Pending how many lbs you add it will significantly cut down your cycle time.
 
Is this your first salt water tank? Bare bottom is ok (reefers choice) what are you using for filtration? Live rock provides the best filtration for a tank, if you plan on a reef it is a must in my opinion. Beneficial bacteria needs to live somewhere (not in the water column) If you are using tap water that will lead to all sorts of problems down the track. Ro-Di is prefered or distilled of you have to.
 
Yes this is my first saltwater tank. I have a fluval 406 and a fluval 306 canister running and I don't plan on a reef tank. I was thinking of adding some live rock but i don't have the funds for it right now..
 
I am not a big fan of canister filters for a salt tank but I believe some people use them. Make sure you are cleaning them weekly with your water changes or the nitrates will build up. The more rock the merrier and it is much much easier to put it all in when you set it up, adding later can be tricky but not impossible. What's your plans for this tank? Do you have a stock list in mind?
 
the few fish I have in mind are
3-5 clownfish
1 yellow longhorn boxfish
1 emperor angel
and maybe a snowflake eel
 
Check out liveaquaria.com for fish compatibility and recommended tank size. Clowns are only generally kept in pairs, in some cases 2 pairs can be kept if they are mated but it is with caution. They are aggressive so 3 generally won't work, they will kill the third. The eel may eat the clowns too. They require plenty of rock to hide in and will escape if you don't have a tight lid on the tank. The emperor is a massive fish that requires a 220g minimum as does the box fish. Box fish, although they are truly awesome are an expert care fish that can wipe out your tank with a poison they excrete when stressed. Best to check the website out, there are plenty of other fish options for your 100g!
Have you thought about a sump instead of the canisters? That would be the best option for a tank that size ;) I would also definitely run a skimmer...
 
I have looked at liveaquaria.com before and that's where I got my stock list from.. you say clowns can't be kept together unless they're a pair, but how can you be sure about it when purchasing them? are you saying 4 would be a better choice than 5? and I just purchased these filters about a month ago and they were quite expensive so im going to run my tank with these for a while before making any big decisions.. I don't think id need a sump since I'm not doing a reef system but I know they are great. how would the snowflake eel eat the clowns? I would get the eel at about 5 inches and the clowns get to be about 3.5 inches. I wouldn't be getting the eel unless I decided on getting live rock as well and that wouldn't be for a while. I have a 20 inch fire eel in my freshwater aquarium with several small species off fish it could easily devour but he doesn't. could this be the same wiith a snowflake?
 
Yeah cool. That's the tricky thing with clowns, I have 2 and can only assume when I got them they were both male being that they were so small. They fought it out and now I have a large female and a small male. I know you can buy mated pairs but they are expensive. I would start with two and see how you go, they are very territorial. Eels can eat small fish so it's not certain that will but they have been known to so just be cautious! Good idea holding off on that til you have some rock :) I meant to ask what's your salinity at?
 
Base rock is cheaper than LR. You could add it as you go, though, it doesn't have to be all at once. One rock a week here and there will work. Just don't add dry LR rock after the cycle is done. It'll need to be base rock or wet, cured LR that you add after the cycle. The BB should grow in your canister filter in the meantime.
You might have not had a strong cycle with only 20 ppm of nitrates at the end of the cycle. You'll need to start slowly with fish; add 1 at a time and space them out by 2-3 weeks to give the BB time to catch up.
The canister will be okay, as log as you rinse everything well every week. I have a Fluval 406 on my reef tank and its been fine. But I clean it regularly and only have 2 sponges, chemipure and purigen in it. And Fluval recommends changing the large black sponges every 6 months, but I change them every 2-3 months. And I squeeze/ rinse them well eery week. Those sponges are pretty cheap on amazon.com.
 
Yeah cool. That's the tricky thing with clowns, I have 2 and can only assume when I got them they were both male being that they were so small. They fought it out and now I have a large female and a small male. I know you can buy mated pairs but they are expensive. I would start with two and see how you go, they are very territorial. Eels can eat small fish so it's not certain that will but they have been known to so just be cautious! Good idea holding off on that til you have some rock :) I meant to ask what's your salinity at?

Ill take a better look at liveaquaria.com and check out what might be better stocking list for my tank and update you with that later. Im also going to talk to the guys at my lfs about having more than two clowns in a tank this size. I know they can be very territorial but maybe in a bigger space with tons of hiding places they can work things out? the salinity of the tank is 1.022 I made sure I added less than the directed amount of salt at first and then slowly mixed in more as needed.
 
Base rock is cheaper than LR. You could add it as you go, though, it doesn't have to be all at once. One rock a week here and there will work. Just don't add dry LR rock after the cycle is done. It'll need to be base rock or wet, cured LR that you add after the cycle. The BB should grow in your canister filter in the meantime.
You might have not had a strong cycle with only 20 ppm of nitrates at the end of the cycle. You'll need to start slowly with fish; add 1 at a time and space them out by 2-3 weeks to give the BB time to catch up.
The canister will be okay, as log as you rinse everything well every week. I have a Fluval 406 on my reef tank and its been fine. But I clean it regularly and i have 2 sponges, chemipure and purigen in it. And Fluval recommends changing the large black sponges every 6 months, but I change them every 2-3 months. And I squeeze/ rinse them well eery week. Those sponges are pretty cheap on amazon.com.

Im going to order some base rock this weekend, hopefully 80lbs. I found sound really nice carribean base rock for 40lbs at $60 rather than paying $8.99 a lb at my lfs for some live rock. but How can I make the base rock live? Will this happpen by itself or should I add some critters to help the process get started? also Ive decided to keep the tank bare bottom for anyone who was wondering..
 
Im going to order some base rock this weekend, hopefully 80lbs. I found sound really nice carribean base rock for 40lbs at $60 rather than paying $8.99 a lb at my lfs for some live rock. but How can I make the base rock live? Will this happpen by itself or should I add some critters to help the process get started? also Ive decided to keep the tank bare bottom for anyone who was wondering..

That's a great deal. The rock will become live over the course of a couple months while in your tank. Usually it's live by the end of the cycle, but unless you want to do another cycle, it'll just take some time. If you want to have a good strong cycle, then you could put in a piece of raw shrimp or raw fish and let it rot. That'll cause a second, stronger cycle.
 
alright, ill just let it run its course when I get the rock. haha and I don't know if I want to do the raw shrimp.. I don't really want my bedroom smelling like rotting fish! haha gross
 
I have frozen bloodworms and frozen krill on hand. would that work?
 
That's a great deal. The rock will become live over the course of a couple months while in your tank. Usually it's live by the end of the cycle, but unless you want to do another cycle, it'll just take some time. If you want to have a good strong cycle, then you could put in a piece of raw shrimp or raw fish and let it rot. That'll cause a second, stronger cycle.

could I use frozen krill instead of fish or shrimp to act as an ammonia source?
 
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