cycle question??

[tinman]

Ok this is day 12 for my new tank. I have 2 damsels in a 10ga with 3 lbs of LR, 1 pound of LS(from established tank) over CC bed, 10 pounds of base rock, skilter 250 filter, and 2 snails that hitch hiked with the sand.The first day I set it up and added the substrate and base rock I put a filter(no charcoal been running in FW tank for over a month) from my barb FW tank in the skilter to get some bacteria going. then day 2 I added the LR, LS, and fish. At that point I took the FW filter back out. EVERYTHING seems great, crystal clear water, Brown algae has taken over the live and base rock and even some of the substrate....I was told this was normal for a new tank. I have been checking the AM, PH, NI, NA every night.
PH- 8.2
AM- 0
NI - 0
NA - 25
Salinity - 32
Gravity - 1.023-024

My question is why have I yet to see ammonia spike. It went up to 2 but fell back down 2 days ago.


thanks in advance ,
KRIS 8O

[fishfreek]

A cycled FW filter wont do much for SW as the salt in the water will almost instantly kill the bactera thats established in the FW filter.

The brown algae is diatoms. Very normal for a new tank. So you did see ammonia rise to a level of 2.0 and then fall back down. That was your ammonia spike. Not sure what you where expecting. One reason it went away so quickly is probably the result of having LR and LS in the tank from day 2. Have you not seen an nitrite increase at all? Has the nitrates always been 25 sine adding the rock or has it gone up slightly?

[midiman]

I envy you and your little spike!!! My ammonia was over 8 for a few DAYS before coming down, and nitrites were, well.....quite high.

It was a full month before everything went to 0, and after adding my LR, I had a mini spike of ammonia .25, and nitrite .3. MY nitrates seem to stay between 10 and 20, and I've just added some cheato to my sump to see if I can tweak it lower that way.

I have a second growth of diatoms (first one went away and/or was eaten by my cleaup guys) on the sand and a few spots on the glass, but it's no worse than the first one. I'm just keeping my eye on things and monitoring water conditions. I've become a test-a-holic, with little test vials near every sink in my house.

[midiman]

I envy you and your little spike!!! My ammonia was over 8 for a few DAYS before coming down, and nitrites were, well.....quite high.

It was a full month before everything went to 0, and after adding my LR, I had a mini spike of ammonia .25, and nitrite .3. MY nitrates seem to stay between 10 and 20, and I've just added some cheato to my sump to see if I can tweak it lower that way.

I have a second growth of diatoms (first one went away and/or was eaten by my cleaup guys) on the sand and a few spots on the glass, but it's no worse than the first one. I'm just keeping my eye on things and monitoring water conditions. I've become a test-a-holic, with little test vials near every sink in my house.

[tinman]

Originally Posted by fishfreek

A cycled FW filter wont do much for SW as the salt in the water will almost instantly kill the bactera thats established in the FW filter.

I wasn't sure if it would help or not.

Originally Posted by fishfreek

The brown algae is diatoms. Very normal for a new tank. So you did see ammonia rise to a level of 2.0 and then fall back down. That was your ammonia spike. Not sure what you where expecting. One reason it went away so quickly is probably the result of having LR and LS in the tank from day 2. Have you not seen an nitrite increase at all? Has the nitrates always been 25 sine adding the rock or has it gone up slightly?

the nitrates have been rising over the past few days, from almost non existant to what they were last night (25). I almost did a small water change last night but I didn't want to stunt the cycle cause I figure it has gotta be still cycling. No way it does it in 12 days. I guess I expected Ammonia levels to jump to 5-8 then fall, same for nitrates, but they both leveled at about 2 then fell back down. I haven't added any chemicals, and I haven't changed any water, just put back the evaporated. The 2 damsels never looked stressed, well other than the one picking on the other most of the time. I want to take one back to the LFS due to his bad temperment, but want to get the tank going good first.

here is a pic



the yellow one is a real A-hole to the blue one.

[midiman]

the yellow one is a real A-hole to the blue one.

I can't believe you got away with that A-word!!! I used an expression like that and got a HUGE reprimand by the computerized censor that monitors our posts.

[tinman]

Originally Posted by midiman

I can't believe you got away with that A-word!!! I used an expression like that and got a HUGE reprimand by the computerized censor that monitors our posts.

hahaha....good thing I didn't put what I was really thinking..lol. The blue damsel is kinda cool laid back and freindly never hides. The yellow one is always hiding and darting around like he's spastic. He kinda reminds me of that tang on NEMO that went nutz over the bubbles...lol