cycling tank

[reisy00]

So I have my tank filled with live rock, live sand, and water. I added a raw shrimp to the tank to start off my cycle. My ammonia went to 1 but remained there for the last couple days, no increased no decrease. Am I on the right track?

 

[nicolea]

So I have my tank filled with live rock, live sand, and water. I added a raw shrimp to the tank to start off my cycle. My ammonia went to 1 but remained there for the last couple days, no increased no decrease. Am I on the right track?

I'm just starting my tank, I plateaued at 2, a day later it spiked to 8. I took the shrimp out and 1 day later the ammonia dropped to 0.25. If you read the threads that I had going a lot of people gave me some great feedback. Just search some keywords. Good luck

 

[daney90]

You are on the right track. Give it a week more and you will see ammonia spike

 

[Phranque]

What size tank is it?

 

[reisy00]

55 gallon.

 

[Phranque]

1ppm is enough to get your cycle going, just might take a little longer. With that size tank, you may need a second shrimp to get your ammo up to 3-4ppm.

 

[reisy00]

Ill be getting some pictures up for everyone of my progress.

 

[LaWoWee]

How big was the shrimp you added? Give it time and let it decay and your ammonia will spike.

 

[reisy00]

So i checked my levels again

ammonia~0.25
Nitrites~>1
Nitrates~20

I still never seen a true ammonia spike never got over 1.

 

[reisy00]

How big was the shrimp you added? Give it time and let it decay and your ammonia will spike.

It was a larger shrimp.

 

[LaWoWee]

So i checked my levels again

ammonia~0.25
Nitrites~>1
Nitrates~20

I still never seen a true ammonia spike never got over 1.

Looks like you good bacterias are doing its job. Thats why your ammonia is low and your nitrates are at 20. Leave the shrimp in and when you ammonia and nitrite hit 0, then your good to go.

 

[reisy00]

Ok I left the shrimp in. I will be testing the water first thing in the AM I will keep everyone up to date. Thank you.

 

[nicolea]

Little off topic, my water readings are about the same... But my pH has been 7.8 and has stayed there for 2 weeks now. I've used a buffer to increase with no changes for 3 days .... Any suggestions how to raise? I did crack a window today heard that helps diffuse c02 in the air.

 

[reisy00]

Little off topic, my water readings are about the same... But my pH has been 7.8 and has stayed there for 2 weeks now. I've used a buffer to increase with no changes for 3 days .... Any suggestions how to raise? I did crack a window today heard that helps diffuse c02 in the air.

I did not have any PH problems my PH been holding around 8.2. I would love to find out some anwswers to your question. Any feed back on my tank? I hate aquascaping changed it 40 times. took me a day to build that stand and its taking me weeks to aquascape .

 

[nicolea]

I did not have any PH problems my PH been holding around 8.2. I would love to find out some anwswers to your question. Any feed back on my tank? I hate aquascaping changed it 40 times. took me a day to build that stand and its taking me weeks to aquascape .

Your tank sounds exactly like mine ... I took the shrimp out as it wouldn't go over two. I ended up putting it back In the same day and in 2 days spiked to 8 than I took it out. My trites and trates have been high for few days so I did a 30% WC and my readings are getting there. My trates are still a bit high. But I'll be Adding some snails soon.
I love how your tank has one side built up. It looks great!!! That stand is beautiful, good work! Once I get another bigger tank I'd love to do some stonework!!! Unfortunately for cycling it sounds to me like every tank will be different. Really every LR and filter systems are always different... So it's hard to kno what will work for each tank. Yours sounds like how mine went and I'm starting to think mines finally on the right track!

 

[reisy00]

Your tank sounds exactly like mine ... I took the shrimp out as it wouldn't go over two. I ended up putting it back In the same day and in 2 days spiked to 8 than I took it out. My trites and trates have been high for few days so I did a 30% WC and my readings are getting there. My trates are still a bit high. But I'll be Adding some snails soon.
I love how your tank has one side built up. It looks great!!! That stand is beautiful, good work! Once I get another bigger tank I'd love to do some stonework!!! Unfortunately for cycling it sounds to me like every tank will be different. Really every LR and filter systems are always different... So it's hard to kno what will work for each tank. Yours sounds like how mine went and I'm starting to think mines finally on the right track!

 

[Beengirl]

Your tank looks really great! Love the rockwork and the caves you made!!! My 55g took a month to cycle, so you probably have a little while left.

 

[Pizza101]

I just love the stonework under your tank! It looks great!

 

[Pizza101]

Also as far as your cycle goes, it takes usually about a month do complete! When I did mine about 4 years ago, I left the shrimp in the tank after I did my first perm test for about a five days! Two days later I got a spike in ammonia to about 7.5. About five days later and adding some pods and beneficial bacteria all my perms started dropping but it was a month before I was getting zero readings! I would get some buffer for your PH and add it daily until it levels off at 8.2! But just be patient because your prolly gonna have to wait about a solid month before you can really get this show on the road!

 

[reisy00]

Update
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites >1
Nitrates 20