Can you smell that smell?

[midiman]

Ahh...the sweet perfume of my shrimp doing its job in my sump on a 4" bed of live sand. I gave the shrimp a three-day head start using clear ammonia. I got my first light pink positive nitrite reading today. It seems like the shrimp is ready and willing to take over the ammonia production job. Time to light the incense in this room for a while!

Depending on how fast this "precycling" process goes, I will be adding live rock this week. I'm using a bio medium as part of the precycling phase, which I will gradually withdraw as the LR becomes dominant. I'll use it to set up a bio filter base in my quarantine tank.

I hope it all works according to plan. I'm going for record cycling time!! I need to have it all past the worst part of the phase in two weeks. I'm buying quality live rock from lr.com, which will be added post-ammonia spike. I hope the plans works...I mean, it can't be any worse than cycling uncured live rock in a new tank, can it?

 

[dwish8990]

Ahh...the sweet perfume of my shrimp doing its job in my sump on a 4" bed of live sand. I gave the shrimp a three-day head start using clear ammonia. I got my first light pink positive nitrite reading today. It seems like the shrimp is ready and willing to take over the ammonia production job. Time to light the incense in this room for a while!

Depending on how fast this "precycling" process goes, I will be adding live rock this week. I'm using a bio medium as part of the precycling phase, which I will gradually withdraw as the LR becomes dominant. I'll use it to set up a bio filter base in my quarantine tank.

I hope it all works according to plan. I'm going for record cycling time!! I need to have it all past the worst part of the phase in two weeks. I'm buying quality live rock from lr.com, which will be added post-ammonia spike. I hope the plans works...I mean, it can't be any worse than cycling uncured live rock in a new tank, can it?

Hmm... I put my 40lbs of live rock in along with 3 damsels. The fish seem to be doing okay (day 2) and my ammonia is 0.25.

 

[midiman]

Hmm... I put my 40lbs of live rock in along with 3 damsels. The fish seem to be doing okay (day 2) and my ammonia is 0.25.

Hey, you might be fine with that. I am staying away from damsels, though, because they are aggressive as h#ll, and hard to catch to get rid of. Also, I want to move as quickly as possible, because I'm going away in three weeks, and don't want to leave my tanksitter with too many responsibilities. That means I need to start with relatively high ammonia levels.

I used clear ammonia to put my level at .5. Others have gone as high as 3-5 ppm( ), but I don't want to risk killing my live sand. Again, from what I've read, ammonia is extremely toxic at our pH and temp levels, and anything above .25 puts the fish at some risk. Damsels are tough, though. I've been attacked by damselfish many times while scuba diving , so I know they can kick a#$ when necessary!

Keep me posted on how you're doing. We newbies need to stick together!

 

[WhiteCloud]

Congrats on starting the process!! Glad you are precycling. That is what I did and my now that I put my live rock in...not even a little spike of ammonia as of yet!

The Shrimp did cause quite a smell...what is worse is when you get a mouthful of the foul water when try to siphon some water out...that was nasty!

If you wanted to speed things up...you could get a cupful of substrate from an already established tank...or my LFS sold me some Pre-seeded Bio Media ceramic rings from her sump to help add some beneficial bacteria. I got 1 ring for each 5 gallons...so I got 8 of them for my 40 gallon...for $1 each.

I did both of these and my cycle took 14 days. I thought that was pretty fast for a cycle. I am sure I may have shaved a week or 2 off.

Good luck and keep me posted!

WC

 

[sango]

That sucks about the water in your mouth.. Sorry to hear that, im glad I bought a pre drilled tank so i dont have to do that. I just started my cycle 6 days ago and my ammonia is down but my nitrites are way too high. Good luck w/ your tank

 

[lando]

Looks like you are well on your way. Once your nitrites start to go down and your nitrates climb, I would do a water change before adding the cured LR. Where are you getting the rock from?

 

[midiman]

I did both of these and my cycle took 14 days. I thought that was pretty fast for a cycle. I am sure I may have shaved a week or 2 off.

I'm trying to match (or beat ) your time using an elevated initial ammonia level and higher temp, but I don't have access to filter material. SInce I'm going to get my lr from lr.com, I think I will (sadly) have to wait until I'm back from my trip to order it (I'm leaving for a week-long trip on Feb 18th, and I'm BARELY reading positive for nitrites as I type this). If by some miracle I could get nitrites to peak and withdraw in the next few days ( ), I might add the LR before I go, since I'll have a tank sitter in-house who can top off water and empty the skimmer.

Realistically and sadly, though, it looks like a delay. Ironically, the use of an accelerated cycle may require me to "rent a damsel" or two to maintain the ammonia load in my absence. At least they won't have to suffer the cycle!

 

[dwish8990]

I did both of these and my cycle took 14 days. I thought that was pretty fast for a cycle. I am sure I may have shaved a week or 2 off.

I'm trying to match (or beat ) your time using an elevated initial ammonia level and higher temp, but I don't have access to filter material. SInce I'm going to get my lr from lr.com, I think I will (sadly) have to wait until I'm back from my trip to order it (I'm leaving for a week-long trip on Feb 18th, and I'm BARELY reading positive for nitrites as I type this). If by some miracle I could get nitrites to peak and withdraw in the next few days ( ), I might add the LR before I go, since I'll have a tank sitter in-house who can top off water and empty the skimmer.

Realistically and sadly, though, it looks like a delay. Ironically, the use of an accelerated cycle may require me to "rent a damsel" or two to maintain the ammonia load in my absence. At least they won't have to suffer the cycle!

For those who believe fish can feel pain here's an article on it:
http://www.cotrout.org/do_fish_feel_pain.htm

 

[midiman]

That's a nice theoretical exercise, but based on the simple reaction of a fish to ich or external parasites (i.e., rubbing on rocks, gravel), it is obvious that fish can feel a sensation that is unpleasant and needs relief. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that fish are capable of perceiving unpleasant sensations: PAIN.

I think that reasonable doubt would have us err on the side of caution and spare the fish from needless suffering if it is in our power to do so.

 

[peterac]

Is adding pure ammonia to a tank considered normal practice for cycling? I belive my tank is fully cycled but I do not yet want to add fish. I have some other things to deal with first. I thought some ammonia added every other day will keep the bacteria happy?

Thanks,
Pete R.

 

[midiman]

Is adding pure ammonia to a tank considered normal practice for cycling?

No, it definitely is not. I'm using it as an attempt to speed up the process. I am NOT recommending it. I may or may not be successful. However, unlike our current government, I will report the TRUTH about my experience ( ).

There is probably nothing better than to let nature take its course, no matter how slowly. Nature knows best when it comes to these things.

I'm only into this cycle only a few days. My sump shrimp is stinking nicely, so I'll probably back off the added ammonia. I have no appreciable nitrite readings at this point, so I can't report real success in terms of a speeding of the process.

However, I can report that no fish are suffering as a result of this cycling method, and that I plan to wait until the nitrates retreat before adding any livestock.

Theoretically, adding a small amount of ammonia will keep the bacteria happy. However, once my cycle is complete, I am going to "rent" some damsels to maintain the cycle until I am able to finish my tank with the addition of LR and clean-up critters.

Once my LR is in, I'll put my bio medium in my quarantine tank with a damsel to keep it busy for use when I'm ready to add some serious fish.

Good luck to you (and to me, too!!!)

 

[peterac]

Thanks. I think I may add the pure ammonia to "test" the bio-filtration and see how fast the ammonia is oxidized. Good luck to you too.

Pete R.

 

[sango]

All I did was put 2 jumbo raw shrimp and removed the bio balls from my wet/dry and put lr in the bottom. That seems to work pretty damn good...(so far)

 

[Brad]

I really like the plan, Midi. Mostly the part about pre-cycling before the LR arrives. With LR.com rock, I bet you don't even get a blip when you put it in and as much will survive as possible.

I think the only risk to your plan is trying to force the tank to conform to your travel schedule. Besides...you're going to want to be around in the immediate time after the LR arrives because it is so much fun. Everyday is a new discovery!

If you need to keep your bacteria happy while you're gone, just drop another shrimp in before you leave. If things go really well, you'll have a supercharged bacteria load when you return.

 

[midiman]

I think the only risk to your plan is trying to force the tank to conform to your travel schedule. Besides...you're going to want to be around in the immediate time after the LR arrives because it is so much fun. Everyday is a new discovery!

You're right. I have decided to wait. Having to return to cold, snowy NY after a week in Sicily will be made considerably brighter by resuming my aquatic pursuits. I hadn't really given enough consideration to the observation part of the new LR. After doing all of this research and prep, of course I want to be around for it to unfold - thanks for the point in the right direction.

(I still want to see if my efforts to speed the cycle will work - I tossed a second shrimp in this morning. One in the sump, one in the tank itself).