Halfway thru cycle

[duddi]

Hi,
This is my first post to this forum.
I have set up a 55 gallon sw tank. Right now I have 15lbs of live rock and 40lbs of live sand. Its been four weeks. I got tired of waiting so 4 days ago I dropped a shrimp from the grocery store in. Right now I have a 3ppm reading of ammonia and a 1ppm of nitrite. I'm pretty sure that I didn't miss the ammonia spike, but ammonia read the same yesterday and I'm not sure how quick the spike happens. Should I take the shrimp out of the aquarium or let it rot a little longer?

I am wanting more live rock and a cleanup crew to start out. I know that I'm not quite ready for the cleanup crew yet. If I wait till the cycle completes then put 20 more pounds of live rock and a cleanup crew (10 blue legged hermits, 5 snails, 1 cleaner shrimp) is this going to overload my bio and spike ammonia again?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Hi duddi. Welcome to AA.

15 lbs of LR in 55 gallons is likely why you saw no ammonia spike. I'd leave the shrimp in, or just add more uncured liverock. Yes, it's possible that you'll see another ammonia spike after you add more LR.

Wait to add your clean up crew until you see no ammonia or nitrite. If you need to add LR in "shifts" just monitor water quality (if you have animals in the tank).

HTH

 

[roka64]

WELCOME TO AA!!!

Props for doing a fishless cycle!!

I agree with Devilishturtles. Eventually you will want to get about 1.5-2LBs of LR per gallon.

is this going to overload my bio and spike ammonia again?

Generally the inverts help with the bio load, so you should be good there. I would go for more snails. Make sure you get empty shells for the hermits to move into as they grow. The cleaner shrimp generally cleans the fish and will eat leftovers in the tank (unless you over feed him, like I did and he becomes lazy).

 

[duddi]

Thanks for the info.
My plan is to add 20lbs live rock this weekend and wait till the cycle completes to add the cleanup crew. Is this OK?

Also if I add 20 more pounds of live sand on top of the existing sand is this going to screw up anything?

 

[roka64]

wait till the cycle completes to add the cleanup crew. Is this OK?

That sounds like the best thing to do. Inverts tend to be more sensetive to poor water quality.

Also if I add 20 more pounds of live sand on top of the existing sand is this going to screw up anything?

No you should be ok.

 

[melosu58]

IMO I would spend the money and buy more LR with it. I think you have enough sand and you definitely need more LR. Good Luck