Cycle information?
- Thread starter FishFolk
- Start date
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
You don't need to add a starter fish, just add your fish slowly so that the substrate can acclimate to the bioload.
PRDubois
New member
Look at it this way:
Russan Rulette:
Go with the natural method - Dont see a spike - Buy Fish - Spike comes - Tank survives or Crashes- You start all over.
OR
Sure Method
Put in 3 raw shrimp - See the Cycle - Know it Cycled instead of guessing - You Stock your tank and everything is fine.
Call me stupid, but for 50 cent of shrimp my tanks have done fine.
Russan Rulette:
Go with the natural method - Dont see a spike - Buy Fish - Spike comes - Tank survives or Crashes- You start all over.
OR
Sure Method
Put in 3 raw shrimp - See the Cycle - Know it Cycled instead of guessing - You Stock your tank and everything is fine.
Call me stupid, but for 50 cent of shrimp my tanks have done fine.
drunkymunky
New member
+1 on the shrimp thing. i did it to mine too. oh and dont do a water change during cycle, just let it do its thing. dont interupt it.
so no water changes at all?? how bout topoff? I just filled my 30 gallon up with water and got the salinity of the water to 1.021. no rocks yet but i have cured rock that i'm gonna put into the tank. i was told i can wait bout 4-6 weeks prior to putting fish into the tank. so i think i have to look for the following signs, ammonia spike, then algae, then a nitrogen spike, and then nitrogen drop with algae, and then after the last algae bloom, add snails/crabs to clean and then a week after or so, add fish... is that about right?
drunkymunky
New member
top offs are fine. ill try to find a few links that i read that say not to do water changes during cycle.
There seems to be a lot of different opinions on this topic, some have said since my tank is so small that adding a fish right away would be fine. While other says to add the shrimp, but what if my tank is already done the ammonia stage and has already turned into nitrites? According to some people the ammonia spike wouldn't be to large so maybe i missed it with my tests? Adding a shrimp to my tank would just restart the entire thing.
Try testing for nitrates. If you have measurable nitrates, chances are you've already had (and missed) the ammonia spike. Two weeks with live rock should have been enough to start your cycle. The fact that you have algae growing supports the theory that your cycle is running. Try adding the first members of your cleanup crew (a couple of snails, or a snail and a hermit crab).
In the first few months of your tank's lifespan, you will go through a succession of different algae and bacteria blooms. It's annoying, but quite natural. Wait it out, don't overfeed the tank, and the algae should eventually subside to a manageable level.
In the first few months of your tank's lifespan, you will go through a succession of different algae and bacteria blooms. It's annoying, but quite natural. Wait it out, don't overfeed the tank, and the algae should eventually subside to a manageable level.
Red Firefish
New member
Not every tank experiences an "ammonia spike". Good cured live rock is worth the money and effort we spend on it because it is a ready-to-use biological filter source. Any ammonia produced in the aquarium through ordinary biological processes (incidental life on the live rock) is negligible until you begin adding animals, and won't show up on your test kit.
Once you add a fish (again, assuming your live rock was cured and handled properly) the bacteria are already there to process that fish's waste. The word "cycle" gets thrown around a lot, but essentially what people are trying to achieve is this: enough nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the aquarium to break down the waste produced by fish and other animals to keep the ammonia and nitrite at undectable levels. Live rock accomplishes this immediately, as it contains these bacteria on day one.
Once you add a fish (again, assuming your live rock was cured and handled properly) the bacteria are already there to process that fish's waste. The word "cycle" gets thrown around a lot, but essentially what people are trying to achieve is this: enough nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the aquarium to break down the waste produced by fish and other animals to keep the ammonia and nitrite at undectable levels. Live rock accomplishes this immediately, as it contains these bacteria on day one.
Red Firefish
New member
Sorry, a couple more thoughts...
With all of that being said, you really won't hurt much by putting a dead shrimp into your aquarium for however long you like. You will have excess nitrate at the end of that period (that's what ammonia and nitrite eventually become), so you will need to do a water change that you likely wouldn't have done otherwise. I can't really decide whether having a foul environment rich in ammonia and nitrite would be toxic to microfauna that would ordinarily populate as the aquarium develops. I guess if something survived the live rock curing process, it should probably survive a tank polluted with decomposing shrimp.
As for algae, your tank should have some algae growth- every productive ecosystem does. The right mix of clean up crew will help, and that's a good opportunity to get some bioload. Also algae wiping, water changes, and good feeding habits will keep it looking clean. Many people leave their lights on for too long. Corals only need about 4 hours of light to meet their photosynthetic needs (some people say even less!). Any more than 4 hrs just adds to your enjoyment, but it will cause more algae growth.
Sorry about the second post, good luck with your tank!
With all of that being said, you really won't hurt much by putting a dead shrimp into your aquarium for however long you like. You will have excess nitrate at the end of that period (that's what ammonia and nitrite eventually become), so you will need to do a water change that you likely wouldn't have done otherwise. I can't really decide whether having a foul environment rich in ammonia and nitrite would be toxic to microfauna that would ordinarily populate as the aquarium develops. I guess if something survived the live rock curing process, it should probably survive a tank polluted with decomposing shrimp.
As for algae, your tank should have some algae growth- every productive ecosystem does. The right mix of clean up crew will help, and that's a good opportunity to get some bioload. Also algae wiping, water changes, and good feeding habits will keep it looking clean. Many people leave their lights on for too long. Corals only need about 4 hours of light to meet their photosynthetic needs (some people say even less!). Any more than 4 hrs just adds to your enjoyment, but it will cause more algae growth.
Sorry about the second post, good luck with your tank!
Red Firefish
New member
I think a clean up crew would be great for you right now. Then you can watch for ammonia without risking a fish, even though I'm very confident you won't see any.
