is it really cycled ?

[Derdy88]

ive had my tank up for just over two weeks now and i did some tests and they show zero for everything did it cycle already or did it even start yet? its a 36 gal with 30 pounds of LR (curred i do believe) 3 inches of sand and i added a bag of live sand with that substrate. i also used this additive called stability and the guy at the LFS all he does is saltwater fish told me with that stuff if used as directed you can add fish after 7 days. is this true or no. now i had bought hermits last week to put in there and they seem fine so if had the lights on 12 hours a day and i have all the filters and skimmer going aswell. tell me if im in the wrong i will take no offense.

 

[catmel]

Nope, I certainly wouldnt add fish after only a week. You may need to add some grocery store shrimp if you arnt noticing a ammonia spike. What are your levels currently? Ammonia, Nitrite , Nitrate?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If the rock was really cured, then you'd see no die off from the rock (which would create ammonia), so in theory your tank might be cycled.

BUT... I like to see something - anything - that tells me things are good. I'd throw in a pinch of fish food, or the cocktail shrimp, and see if you get any ammonia. If you do, then you need to cycle. If no ammonia, but instead you see nitrates after a week or so, then it means you have the good bacteria on your rocks processing that waste and you're good to go.

Stability is just "bottled bacteria" and you'll find debates all over the web as to whether or not these products work. While they might serve as a temporary "boost" to the tank, in my opinion, they don't really populate your tank with a good population of bacteria. Most of those products tell you to keep using their product with every water change. If you just cycle your tank normally, it may take a month or two longer, but you'll never be in doubt that your tank cycled and you'll never have to add any bacteria in a bottle with every water change.

 

[roka64]

I agree 100%, throw in a pinch of food and see if you get any ammonia reading. It should take about 4 days until you see it. Definitely get a liquid test kit.

 

[Derdy88]

i have a test kit amonia reads 0 nitrate 0 and nitrate 0 ph is 8.3 ive had hermits in there for a week and im feeding them pellets and shrimp daily my tank has been up for twoo weeks not one. its been 1 week since ive had hermits. a budy of mine has had SW tanks for 12 years now and he said he got his 135 gal tank to cycle in 6 days by usuing LR and LS which i did aswell. i also took 15 gallons of his cycled water when i first startedso really i only had to cycle 21gal

 

[Derdy88]

well i took more tests today in better light and discovered that my NITRATE lvl is in between 5 and 10 PPM does this mean it cycled since nitrite turns into nitrate

 

[melosu58]

If you used cured LR then you should not see much of a cycle. Where did you get your LR and what makes you think it was cured?

 

[Derdy88]

well i bought if from my local LFS and he said it was cured when he bought it so i take it its curred

 

[melosu58]

Most LFS get their LR uncured and they put it in a holding tank to be cured. Whether it stays in their long enough to cure is the question. I would hold off a week or two to be sure.

 

[Derdy88]

alrighty well ive been looking at the tank everyday and im noticing small things that are gowing on the rock i only have a florecent light on it right now nothing to support coral but i am seeing things getting larger on the rock looks like red sponge

 

[roka64]

It is totally possible that the cured LR and LS may have skipped the cycle. I you are already adding pellets and not seeing ammonia, I would say you are cycled.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

well i took more tests today in better light and discovered that my NITRATE lvl is in between 5 and 10 PPM does this mean it cycled since nitrite turns into nitrate

Assuming you started with water that had 0 ppm nitrates in it, yes... this means your tank is cycled. You got it... the ammonia turns to nitrites, and the nitrites turn to nitrates. So if your source water has NO nitrates in it, the nitrates have to be coming from the whole nitrogen cycle thing happening.

And just FYI, using "cycled" water really doesn't do anything. The bacteria live mostly on the rocks, glass, and sand and don't really hang out in the water. Regardless, it sounds like your tank is good to go!

 

[Derdy88]

alrighty guys thanks so much for your help muchly appreciated. getting my new ballast on monday so i will be throwing in some coral on tuesday and then prob go get my two clown next weekend ( just over a week from now ). so untill then i will be reading as much as i can about eveything possible. ill let you guys know how my coral goes im getting a couple mushrooms some kenyi trees and some waving fingers. then ill let you know how the clowns like their new home.
one more question about my skimmer i had alot of issues with it at first its only been running for a week now. at first it would keep overflowing because of air in the ruturn line to i shortenned the return line and that seemed to have fixed the problem. for only a short periode of time prob like an hour or so i was getting skimmate from the skimmer so that was a good sign but then it stopped producing it all of a sudden is this normal ? and i just put in a power head to move more water in the tank and now my skimmer is filling my entire tank with little bubbles? will this go away because i never see this in other SW tanks

 

[melosu58]

Usually skimmers need a week or two break in period IME

 

[Tank2379]

You should post a picture.... Maybe someone could tell you what it is exactly

 

[Fierro Nights]

i have a one gallon tank that i got from walmart when i first had freshwater fish, i have saltwater in it now and a small filter which i replaced the filter media w/ ceramic tube looking things that are used for fluval filters as the biological media in the tank i also have a limewood airator . my display tank only has one fish in it, a crab, shrimp and some snails.

in the one gallon, i started to add white ammonia to it, it took me a while to find one that didnt have crap mixed in w/ it but it was worth the find. ( only use pure ammonia w/out any additives ) i added 5ml of ammonia to the tank and waited, after a few days i started to get nitrite levels, indicating that i had bacteria that removed ammonia as my ammonia tests came out undetectable, i slowly started to add more and more ammonia to the water, and eventually 5ml a day which would be undetectable the next day. i had planned when i get a new fish each time to place more and more of the live ceramic media to my display tank to keep the bacteria levels high for the new load.

sadly im using my 1 gallon tank right now for some macro algae because it has a light after making my tank look nasty, and my sump is late in the mail still.

i think this would be a good idea for you because im sure you will later add some more live stock.

 

[lance]

You might not see any cycle from testing your nitrite and nitrate and ammonia ( assuming your doing the test yourself and correct ) this wont mean your cycled. Theres things going on that you cnat see or test for. Your beneficial bacteria population is growing. You want this population large and strong. This is your first defense for controlling bio loads. 4 to 6 weeks is best for this and then adding stock slow means your bacteria will adjust with growth.

 

[Derdy88]

that is why i put about 10 hermits in last week then 3 weeks after they were added i will be putting in 2 clowns
or is that still too soon thanks