My cat & I

[amosora]

I really love to sit in front of my tank, i dont know if my cat share the same idea of the tank though. It is my 4th week cycle, still no ammonia, nitrate & nitrite. Did i had a silent cycle coz i really want to stuff it up with fish & corals this saturday. Stop me or else hahaha i just can't wait.

 

[thominil]

Did you end up adding an ammonia source when you started? If you did, you should be seeing at least some nitrates if you cycled. It is possible that your ammonia source was not enough to start a cycle if you added one.

 

[amosora]

Did you end up adding an ammonia source when you started? If you did, you should be seeing at least some nitrates if you cycled. It is possible that your ammonia source was not enough to start a cycle if you added one.

Just live rocks. But what i added was the "supper battle bacteria 8000". Did it affect somehow?

 

[thominil]

That would be your problem. No ammonia source means no cycle. The bacteria stuff you added was most likely just your typical bacteria in a bottle supplement. Some say the stuff works, others will tell you it's junk. Fact is, it's not doing you any good without and ammonia source anyway. Go grab a few raw, unseasoned shrimp from your grocery store and stick them in a sealable sandwich bag. Poke some holes, about the size of a pencil in the bag. Place the bag in the tank. Over the course of a few days to a week, the shrimp will decompose releasing ammonia, which then will start your cycle. This is the easy way. Depending on the size of tank, you may be able to just add a pair of clowns as long as you watch the parameters closely and are prepared to do a water change. What size tank do you have?

 

[amosora]

65g :-( okay i'll get dead shrimp later, but how about my shrimps, i don't want them to die.

 

[thominil]

You already have livestock in there? If that is the case, I would just go ahead and add a pair of clowns or something and watch the parameters closely. Unless you can hold the shrimp at your LFS for a while, you might as well go ahead and add a small, hardy fish or two. Clowns are pretty darn hardy.

 

[SHARPiE]

I agree with Thominil - If your LFS can't hold the shrimp, get your clowns and monitor the water params as often as you can. One thing for sure - PWC PWC PWC.

**Oh and my cat will spends ages watching my tank - even more than I do!

 

[amosora]

PWC stands for? Sorry newbie here

Do i still need the dead shrimp? Thanks thominil & sharpie

 

[SHARPiE]

Part Water Change

- If you decide to get the clownfish, don't put the dead shrimp in.

As soon as you see ammonia or nitrites change some water. Do some water changes. Have plenty of mixed up saltwater on hand - until your parameters settle and you start seeing nitrates and no nitrites or ammonia. Then you can settle into a normal maintenance routine.


- If you decide to return the "living" shrimp: use the dead shrimp until your cycle is complete. <--- Reccomended.

If you have any troubles these two articles could be helpful:

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

 

[amosora]

I guess i'll do cycling with fish coz i don't want to stress them of the long drive & besides don't know how to move them w/o oxygen.
Haaay.... Doing it the hard way :-(

 

[dollabill420]

My cat sleeps beside the tanks I think she's dreaming of getting ahold of a fish lol

 

[huma-huma]

I would recommend not getting clowns, what's the sense in spending a good bit of money on a pair of good looking clowns when they may die due to cycling?? Look into domino damsels or something like that, they are only a few bucks a piece and they generate enough of a bioload.

 

[carey]

I would recommend pure ammonia and an API master saltwater test kit.

Why put any fish through a cycle if you don't have to?

 

[Ricksreef]

I really love to sit in front of my tank, i dont know if my cat share the same idea of the tank though. It is my 4th week cycle, still no ammonia, nitrate & nitrite. Did i had a silent cycle coz i really want to stuff it up with fish & corals this saturday. Stop me or else hahaha i just can't wait.

How much live rock did you put in?
It is entirely possible that if you have one and a half to two lbs. of rock and some of it was live to start with you avoided the cycle if you had all your equipment circulating and filtering the water.Many people will disagree but my 75 gallon was set up that way with deep sand bed with a little seeded sand and 130 lbs of base rock and 35 live rock.Ran all equipment for three weeks with no lights and then one week with lights.It does work.I would just add a couple corals and fish and keep a check a few days to be sure.

 

[thominil]

The fact that the OP's tank is a 65G means that a pair of clowns wouldn't create enough ammonia to do themselves harm, yet there would still be enough to cycle the tank. In this case, why get something that you would need to get rid of down the road due to aggression issues, not to mention the fact that they are a pain to catch? I would be very cautious to add anything to a tank that has been sitting for four weeks with no ammonia source that would create a substantial bioload such as your typical damsels that are used for cycling. Just my opinion on the matter.

 

[huma-huma]

imo its better than spending decent money on clowns that are gonna have to go through a cycle.. But the fishless method is preferred

 

[thominil]

Please explain how that is better, I don't understand. I agree with you that fishless is preferred, but if the OP's LFS can't hold onto the shrimp, fishless is out of the question.

 

[huma-huma]

Place the living shrimp in a 5 gallon tank or bucket with an airstone, then fishless cycle the tank, perhaps its in a dorment state and an ammonia source will jumpstart it again. Imo I feel that spending 8 bucks on a damsel and then giving it back to the lfs is worth it over spending 70-100 bucks on a clown pair that may potentially die due to cycling. Again just my opinion. The shrimp generate next to no bioload so they shouldn't start a cycle in the 5 gallon. .. There ya go, fishless cycle

 

[amosora]

Wooh so much info. I know what i did was beyond exta ordinary, forgv me coz don't know yet what to do (actually till now) just following the orders of my set-up guy & i am not aware of this site before. Okay, this is the case, 65gal was set-up... 1st to 5 days we got 10kg of live rock let them sit in a saltwater that was below the required salinity. During that period i was not able to get the parameters. Then 5th day i adjusted the salinity added 30kg of live rock. Lights were on since day one. On the 7th day we bought 2 damsels & cbs. After 2 days checked the parameters everything 0. Then every 2 days took 5-10gal out and replaced by new water (saltwater u/v filtered) Then almost in its 2nd week a friend of mine gave 5 nassarius 5 turbo snails, 1 cleaner shrimp & 1 fire shrimp. Since then i added 5ml of super bacteria every 2 days coz i'm afraid of messing up (guess messed up already).
Now, i cannot do fishless cycle coz i dont want them to be stressed out of the long travel & i dont want to kill them just because i don't know how to transfer them w/0 oxygen.
Therefore what can i do to correct my mistakes. I am closely monitoring the parameters coz i'm so scared that my ammonia, nitrate, & nitrites will show up all at the same time.
Note: i'm using saltwater u/v filtered. But the initial water (1 week) was a saltwater mix by teco.
Glad i'm with AA now.

 

[SHARPiE]

You're definitley heading in the right direction!
Chin up and keep strong, ask plenty of questions!