cycling

[dwint]

i made a mistake by using my filter media from fresh to salt water and it's cycling after 6 days.I have three fish in there and my ammonia is0.25 and nitrites 0.25 and nitrates at 20 ppm.i put prime in but i have three fish coming in the mail tuesday.I could set up another tank and let this go fishless oe should i go another route?

 

[Aiken Drum]

The microbes that cycle a tank in freshwater are completely different microbes to the ones that cycle a saltwater tank. Using filter media from a FW aquarium won't do anything to help cycle a SW aquarium.

If you are receiving fish in a few days they have to go somewhere. Either the uncycled tank you are discussing, or another tank that will also be uncycled. Probably best to put them in whichever is the larger tank.

 

[dwint]

they are in a 55 but i have a 30 and 20 so i guess ill set it up and buy some bacteria

 

[dwint]

i decided to use prime.my test results are the same today.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Im not a SW guy, but the nitrate is really high for SW. Do you have any live rock in the aquarium?

 

[dwint]

no live rock and nitrates are zero today.I don't see how that could happen unless the prime messed with test.i'm going to try quick start tomorrow since i have ammonia and that's how it works.

 

[Andy Sager]

no live rock and nitrates are zero today.I don't see how that could happen unless the prime messed with test.i'm going to try quick start tomorrow since i have ammonia and that's how it works.

As Aiken said, the microbes for freshwater are different than salt. Using prime is a 24-48 hour fix only as that's how long PRIME lasts. I suggest getting Fritz Turbo 900( for saltwater) because you have so many fish. Make sure you are getting a bottle that is not close to it's expiration date and that it's coming from a refrigerator. If it isn't stored in a fridge, I'd get the Fritzyme #9 since that doesn't require refrigeration and has a longer shelf life. ( The turbo start is a more concentrated amount of microbes which is why you are better off with it if it was stored correctly.

The BEST thing you can get is some cured live rock ( the more the better) which has the microbes already present and they will multiply to catch up with your ammonia and nitrite levels. Second best would would be some filter material from a running saltwater tank that is disease free. These microbes will multiply rather quickly so should cycle your tank fairly quickly. If the ammonia or nitrite levels reach .5 PPM, forget the prime and do water changes. That's the best way to keep your fish alive until you tank cycles.

 

[Aiken Drum]

For your 50 gallon marine aquarium you want about 50lb of live rock. In addition to cycling out ammonia and nitrite, live rock supports anaerobic nitrifying bacteria that will consume nitrate. This is important as marine fish are much less tolerant of nitrate than freshwater fish, and you want to keep the nitrate much lower than would be the case for a freshwater aquarium. Zero nitrate is really the goal, whereas in a freshwater aquarium 20ppm + is usually acceptable.

Are you keeping any coral?

Also, due to the nature of ammonia toxicity, (ammonia is more toxic at higher pH), you have to be really careful of ammonia as the pH of a marine aquarium will be up above 8. Even 0.5ppm ammonia is pushing the limits of where ammonia gets toxic in marine aquariums.

 

[Andy Sager]

For your 50 gallon marine aquarium you want about 50lb of live rock. In addition to cycling out ammonia and nitrite, live rock supports anaerobic nitrifying bacteria that will consume nitrate. This is important as marine fish are much less tolerant of nitrate than freshwater fish, and you want to keep the nitrate much lower than would be the case for a freshwater aquarium. Zero nitrate is really the goal, whereas in a freshwater aquarium 20ppm + is usually acceptable.

Are you keeping any coral?

Also, due to the nature of ammonia toxicity, (ammonia is more toxic at higher pH), you have to be really careful of ammonia as the pH of a marine aquarium will be up above 8. Even 0.5ppm ammonia is pushing the limits of where ammonia gets toxic in marine aquariums.

Thanks for the input. I see there was a typo in my response. The line should have read " If the ammonia or nitrite levels reach above .25 PPM... "
Unless things have changed, the use of live rock has been more for the aerobic bacteria it holds vs the anaerobic ones. Nitrates are best handled through water changes or other nitrate removing means. ( i.e. Polyfilters, refugiums, Protein skimmers, etc. ) The best way to keep them low is to keep the ammonia levels low to start with or keep it from becoming part of the nitrogen cycle. This is why protein skimmers play such an important role in marine tanks.