am I cycled??

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Tipton34

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
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I have been testing may tank for the past few days. Its been up and running for about a week. I never saw a spike in ammonia or nitrite. But I had a spike in nitrate.what's up with this??
 
I used live rock that was dryed out, and sand from Florida beach. I put beneficial bacteria additive.but nothing from another tank
 
If it was dried out then it was no longer live rock. I hate those bacteria starters, I hear more bad than good about them. So if you had no ammonia source, then no you aren't cycled.
 
Dose your tank with pure ammonia to 4 ppm if converts it in 24 hrs your cycled I think your nitrAte spike came from the bacteria additive as it may have been dead
 
I have had a piece of raw shrimp in it for probably 5-6 days! And I've had two mollies in it
 
Ahh so you're doing a fish in cycle. You didn't say that. Why are you putting shrimp in if you have fish? I wouldn't do that, if you have fish then you need to be doing water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites down below .25
Mollies? Is this tank salt or fresh?
 
I have two mollies. I still wouldn't consider it a fish in cycle. It is saltwater. Mollies can live in either fresh or salt. They are cheap thats why I put them in there. And I haven't had anything but nitrate spike
 
I don't think two mollies will make much of a difference!
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-20
Temp-78
Salinity-1.0235
 
This is why I like to use ammonia. You can dose to a specific quality (4ppm) and watch how long it takes to process to nitrAtes. It looks like you might be cycled, but unless you can dose to a specific level and watch it go to 0ppm, you really dont know for sure.
 
Tipton34 said:
I don't think two mollies will make much of a difference!
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-20
Temp-78
Salinity-1.0235

It's still a fish in cycle tho. Either get rid of those fish and do a fishless cycle, or put in a couple more maybe and do a fish less cycle. But since you have fish in there at all, you can't let ammonia or nitrites get or stay above .25
 
Well I'm going to leave the raw shrimp and fish in there. I'm leaving for Colorado for three weeks. If it's not cycled now it will be then
 
Tipton34 said:
Well I'm going to leave the raw shrimp and fish in there. I'm leaving for Colorado for three weeks. If it's not cycled now it will be then

No, then the fish will be dead and you still won't be cycled.
 
Poor mollies. 3 weeks in a tank with a dead shrimp, an uncycled tank, and no fresh water.
By the time you get back in 3 weeks you will probly have to tear apart the tank sanitize every thing and start all over again because the dead shrimp and dead mollies you return to will make the tank unfit to use for any live fish along with probly a very stinky house for you to return to.
Mollies can live in salt water but they still need to be taken care of not just treated like your dead shrimp.
 
So nitrates are at 20 and this tank is going to be left for three weeks with no monitoring, decaying shrimp, two live fish (which are obviously adding waste to the mix) and no water changes? Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but wouldn't taking the shrimp out be a good idea to help the nitrates not climb so high over that time period? Still seems like they are going to be sky high when he returns.
 
TheTodd said:
So nitrates are at 20 and this tank is going to be left for three weeks with no monitoring, decaying shrimp, two live fish (which are obviously adding waste to the mix) and no water changes? Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but wouldn't taking the shrimp out be a good idea to help the nitrates not climb so high over that time period? Still seems like they are going to be sky high when he returns.

From reading this thread the owner of the tank don't care about the living fish in the tank. If leaving for 3 weeks could at least take the living fish out and return them to the store, or at very least humanly put them down do they don't suffer from the ammonia spike that will happen and the nitrite spike that will follow that is if they live thru the ammonia that will burn their gills out.
 
I see where y'all are coming from. A little over dramatic though. I'll take the shrimp out. I don't believe the tank is cycled. It will take some time before the bacteria is ample enough to convert the nitrite into nitrate.by then ill be back. Two mollies don't produce enough waste to destroy a 70gallon tank
 
Tipton34 said:
I see where y'all are coming from. A little over dramatic though. I'll take the shrimp out. I don't believe the tank is cycled. It will take some time before the bacteria is ample enough to convert the nitrite into nitrate.by then ill be back. Two mollies don't produce enough waste to destroy a 70gallon tank

No, we're right. Even if you take the shrimp out, the mollies will still be dead and very very nasty when you return. When fish are placed in an uncycled tank, they need at least one water change daily to keep toxins down.
 
The are hardly any toxins. That's the problem. I've been trying to get a spike in ammonium or nitrite. But its not happening. All your taking about is how bad a fish in cycle is. I'm alright with the mollies being dead, as long as the tank is cycled. If I wanted mollies as my show fish then I would of stuck to freshwater
 
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