I am trying to cycle my tank (80 Gallon Display + Sum ~15). I started the tank with 80lbs of live sand on April 1st. I added ~75lbs of cured Fiji rock on the 3rd and shortly after a blue damsel. I have checked the water once or twice a week since then and I have never seen an ammonia or nitrite spike, I did however see 5-10 ppm of Nitrate last week and added a mix of hermit crabs, various snails and an emerald green crab. The livestock is all looking good and I retested yesterday and now my Nitrate is <5ppm Ammonia and Nitrate still at zero with a PH of 8.4. Its been over 3 weeks, did I somehow miss the spike? how did my Nitrate go down?
Cycle Question - Confusion
- Thread starter LSBEES
- Start date
Civicman86
New member
If the rock you put in was live from an established system (another tank or LFS) then it could be that there was enough bacteria on them to quickly convert the ammonia. Don't add stuff to quickly though as you will want to watch your parameters as the load increases on the tank.
You will also want to quarantine any new fish - believe me. Don't want any parasites or diseases infecting the entire tank and killing off livestock.
You will also want to quarantine any new fish - believe me. Don't want any parasites or diseases infecting the entire tank and killing off livestock.
mcgyvr
New member
yes as stated if your live sand and live rock was kept moist,etc.. with little to no bacterial die off then you didn't/won't have a cycle..
Cycling is the process of taking a tank and building up a large colony of bacteria inside it to allow that bacteria to process toxic ammonia to less toxic nitrites to even less toxic nitrates as fast as possible to avoid creatures living in a "toxic" environment..
If a large bacterial population is brought in on live rock,etc... and is still alive and kicking all over that rock then there is no cycle as the bacteria is already in place..
Cycling is the process of taking a tank and building up a large colony of bacteria inside it to allow that bacteria to process toxic ammonia to less toxic nitrites to even less toxic nitrates as fast as possible to avoid creatures living in a "toxic" environment..
If a large bacterial population is brought in on live rock,etc... and is still alive and kicking all over that rock then there is no cycle as the bacteria is already in place..
BigBlueTang
Active member
Yup.
If your rock truly was "cured" then you're unlikely to see any spike at all.
Most of the "live rock" people get nowadays used to be cured but was shipped in wet newspaper, leading to a massive dieoff and ammonia spike.
Your tank is cycled
