My 10g Nano

[KantGetRite]

Ok, if my tank cycles in the few days....can I add a CUC? Will they add enough ammonia to keep it cycled while I'm gone?

 

[Lloydxmas]

Ok, if my tank cycles in the few days....can I add a CUC? Will they add enough ammonia to keep it cycled while I'm gone?

I wouldn't be worried about adding a cuc until you have fish. The cuc need something to eat. Yes the will create waste for you but in that case you mine as well just leave the shrimp in to feed the tank.

 

[Maridia]

I cycled my 10 gallon by feeding it 5 drops of ammonia once every 24 hours, until one day both the ammonia and nitrites were at 0. At this point the nitrates were sky high 160 by the API test.....
I fed the tank 5 drops a day for another 3 days and each one of them, 24 hours later the ammonia & nitrites were again at 0. I then did a huge water change and left it for 4 hours, tested and made sure nitrates were less than 10 (they were at 5) - I got my clown fish the next day!
IF my nitrates had not been at less than 10 after the huge water change and the 4 hour wait, I would have done another water change! As it turned out, I didn't need to but each tank is different.

How many days did it take to complete your cycle?

 

[KantGetRite]

Broke my large rock up and did some changing to the aquascape.

 

[Oscarr19]

I like that rock work a lot better. Good work!

 

[KantGetRite]

Yeah, I think long term it provides for some fun exploring when I get inverts and fish. No I just need to figure out what I want to stock with.

 

[Tmar]

How many days did it take to complete your cycle?

For my tank, it took exactly 3 weeks (21 days) and I made darn sure that ammonia and nitrites both read 0 for 3 days in a row (i added 3 drops of ammonia every day and checked 24 hours later) and I had a very light smattering of brown diatoms before adding my fish

 

[KantGetRite]

Ammonia and Nitrites have finally hit 0 ppm sadly out of the next 6 weeks i'm gone 13 days (4, 4, and 5) so I cant stock anything but i'll be ready for January.


So if I dose until Monday (just to be sure) then my cycle took 16 days or so.

 

[KantGetRite]

Alright so I'm in my office Sunday - Friday. When I left Friday, everything seemed to be doing well. Ammonia and Nitrite levels had hit 0 ppm so I dose again with ammonia on Friday and Sunday. This morning I noticed substanial brown hair-like algae (which I believe is diatoms).

Here are my test results:

Ammonia:0 ppm
NO2:0 ppm
NO3: 5.0 ppm
pH: 8.4

I don't plan on adding fish until January. Can I add a CUC until then to keep algae under control? Also, I know alot of people do a massive water change to get their nitrates under control after finishing the cycle but mine are at 5.0. Should I still do one?

 

[Oscarr19]

Yup, you can go ahead and add a CUC in the meantime. My only concern is why your nitrates are so low. How high were you dosing ammonia? I would expect your nitrates to be a lot higher.

 

[KantGetRite]

I keep ammonia at 4.0 ppm until a saw 5.0 of nitrites then I just dosed 5-10 for last 5 days except for Saturday until 0 ppm.

 

[Oscarr19]

I keep ammonia at 4.0 ppm until a saw 5.0 of nitrites then I just dosed 5-10 for last 5 days except for Saturday until 0 ppm.

That's odd. What test kit are you using?

 

[KantGetRite]

API Master Test Kit

 

[Oscarr19]

API Master Test Kit

Are you shaking the nitrate bottle a lot? It should be shaken so if it isn't it might give you false readings.

 

[Criptix]

Are you shaking the nitrate bottle a lot? It should be shaken so if it isn't it might give you false readings.

Oscarr has a good point.I was getting no reading on my trates until I noticed I was doing the test wrong.I wasn't mixing the water after adding bottle 1 and I wasn't shaking bottle 2 before adding it to the tube.Now I get results for nitrates.
I love what you did with the aquascape!

 

[KantGetRite]

Thanks for the compliment on the aquascape and yeah I shake the bottles before and such. It was showing alot of Nitrates last week and then just dropped off so I dunno. I added 10 drops of ammonia yesterday and by today it was gone so I'm confident its cycled.

 

[Tmar]

Gratz on getting the tank cycled
I would go ahead and do the 20% water change prior to acclimating anything and adding it to the tank, just to be safer. Tank is looking a lot like mine with the brown ugly diatoms covering it! I just added my own CuC on Friday so you really are right behind me

 

[Oscarr19]

As long as ammonia and nitrite are at 0, you're good to go. Just keep up on water changes. Any idea what CUC you want?

 

[KantGetRite]

Something similar to Tmar's CUC which is:

5x blue legged hermit crab
1x red scarlet hermit crab
3x astrea snail
2x cerith snails
2x peppermint shrimp

So I didn't want to get all of that so I went and just got:

2x Nassarius Snails
2x Red Cortez Hermit Crabs

 

[KantGetRite]

Would this be good lighting for my corals?

BeamsWork Reef Bright LED Light Fixture 18"