Live sand. Clarity...

[Lane1223]

Hi. I set up my new 40 gl breeder and it has been cycling for about a day... It's still super cloudy... How long should it take for sand to settle? And should I keep my filter going? At first the sand had a slime like film on it when I first added water but now it feels like normal. What has changed?

[thominil]

By cycling, what do you mean? Did you add an ammonia source? Leave your filter going because it will help remove some of the unsettled dust particles. Depending on how well you rinsed your sand, it may take a few days. The slime may just be bacteria, or a by-product from the sand, I had it in my tank, too, and it went away as well, and I really have no clue what it was.

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by thominil

By cycling, what do you mean? Did you add an ammonia source? Leave your filter going because it will help remove some of the unsettled dust particles. Depending on how well you rinsed your sand, it may take a few days. The slime may just be bacteria, or a by-product from the sand, I had it in my tank, too, and it went away as well, and I really have no clue what it was.

I have added a dead shrimp and my ammonia levels are upward. I'm going tomorrow to the lfs and buying ammonia in the bottle. The shrimp was the best I could do for now....well in the process of opening my sand which was suppose to be in a bag which was inside a bigger bag, the inside bag busted and 40 pounds of sand when on the carpet. I got as much I could up and put it straight into the tank. Wasted probably ~3 pounds of sand.
( thank God for vacuums!) By cycling I mean like bio filter cycling.

[thominil]

The shrimp will do you good for a while. Do you have a liquid test kit by chance? If not, when you go to the LFS tomorrow, grab an API Saltwater Master Test kit, or another liquid test kit, just make sure it has ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, those are the 3 most important parameters right now. More than likely, your LFS won't carry bottled ammonia, and they will give you a strange look if you ask them for it. Best bet is to go to an ACE Hardware and grab a bottle of their "ACE Pure Ammonia" it will have no surfactants, no nothing, just ammonia.

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by thominil

The shrimp will do you good for a while. Do you have a liquid test kit by chance? If not, when you go to the LFS tomorrow, grab an API Saltwater Master Test kit, or another liquid test kit, just make sure it has ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, those are the 3 most important parameters right now. More than likely, your LFS won't carry bottled ammonia, and they will give you a strange look if you ask them for it. Best bet is to go to an ACE Hardware and grab a bottle of their "ACE Pure Ammonia" it will have no surfactants, no nothing, just ammonia.

I did buy a new one yesterday. And we don't have and ACE hardware store around here....any other suggestions?

[uh.oh...]

pee it in! nonono, just kidding

do you have any hardware stores around?

[thominil]

Stick with frozen shrimp then.

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by thominil

Stick with frozen shrimp then.

How long should I leave it? The whole time?

[thominil]

Depending on how big the shrimp was, it may be enough to cycle the whole tank. Have you been testing the water? When you see ammonia fall to 0 and nitrates rise as well as 0 nitrite, you are cycled.

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by thominil

Depending on how big the shrimp was, it may be enough to cycle the whole tank. Have you been testing the water? When you see ammonia fall to 0 and nitrates rise as well as 0 nitrite, you are cycled.

Yeah! My ammonia is going up. No nitra/ites yet, though.....

[jsmith]

Originally Posted by uh.oh...

pee it in! nonono, just kidding

do you have any hardware stores around?

Funny thing is poeole in this forum have told just that!

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by jsmith

Funny thing is poeole in this forum have told just that!

Wow...... Hahaha I would if it works. Haha

[jsmith]

Originally Posted by Lane1223

Wow...... Hahaha I would if it works. Haha

Im sure it does .. but why would u loss in you own tank

[dollabill420]

Lol peeing in it would make the process a lot more personal

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by dollabill420

Lol peeing in it would make the process a lot more personal

Hahahaha defiantly!!!! I don't think I would ever do that though.

[shadowstars123]

I personally buy it from my 99 cents store, they have a bunch of different bottles. Get the clear one and do the shake test

[Lane1223]

So what should I do if I added the bio-spira? Is that bad? did I mess up? I still have the shrimp in and water is flowing. Ammonia: ~.5 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
SG: 1.023
What do I do? #desperate <

[Dinodu]

Lol my best advice to you is to be patience, i think thats the best trick on this hobby.
Be patience and you will safe a lot of everything.

[Grizz]

The bio-spria may kick start the cycle just dont count on it it works for some and does nothing for others when i used it my tank (20g) cycled in 5 days Dont pee in the tank it has way more then ammonia in it. Patience is key only bad things happen fast in this hobby

[Lane1223]

Originally Posted by Grizz

The bio-spria may kick start the cycle just dont count on it it works for some and does nothing for others when i used it my tank (20g) cycled in 5 days Dont pee in the tank it has way more then ammonia in it. Patience is key only bad things happen fast in this hobby

Ok I just checked my levels.
Ammonia: .5 ppm
Nitrite: .25~.5 ppm (in between)
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Is this a good sign?