Is my LR too clean?

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spinman

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
238
Location
Cherry Hill New Jersey
All,

Since adding the LR 6 days ago, I've seen no real change in the tank. No gunk in the skimmer, no ammonia spike, no funky smells, and no percievable die off. So given this, can this LR really finish cycling my tank?

I get the sense that this LR is pretty fresh. Or could it be that 50 lbs of LR in a 120 gal tank with 150 lbs of base rock is not that significant to cause a spike?

Question: Should I continue feeding the tank with ammoniom chloride given that the LR is not adding any ammonia to the tank?

Thx

Mike
Cherry Hlll NJ
 
Where did you get the LR? I would just throw in a couple of cocktail shrimp from the grocery store and call it good. Let your tank cycle for a couple of weeks and go from there.
No gunk in the skimmer, no ammonia spike, no funky smells, and no percievable die off. So given this, can this LR really finish cycling my tank?
The skimmer will remove DOC from the water, there are just not any in there yet. You can leave your skimmer running during the cycle, it will not hurt anything, but it will be of little benefit. There is likely not enough "food" in the tank to drive the cycle currently.
 
Was that LR cured already? If so you may not see a cycle.. Running the skimmer during the cycle with LR that has die off IMO is needed to help clean the tank. I was dumping my skimmer cup almost every day when my tank cycled with LR.
So 2 things may have happened
1 the lr is cured or had no die off yet
2 what lando says.. not enough "food" for the cycle.

you say no spike, do you have any ammonia at all? How about nitrite, nitrate?
 
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