Cycle question

[mbauma]

It's now day 6 and I'm not sure if the tank has cycled yet. I have a few small brown spots, but that is it.

Will a get a full bloom of diatoms using TBS sand and rock? Just not sure how to tell when I cycle with his stuff.

My ammonia this morning was about .3, salt was a little high, so I topped off with fresh RO/DI water.

Temp is 77 and PH is 8.2.

 

[chris.scang]

If you are still showing ammonia then you are still cycling. Your cycle is over when you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites.

 

[mbauma]

Ok, thanks.

Any thoughts on the diatom bloom?

 

[chris.scang]

I had a little diatom algae but it wasn't bad enough to call it a bloom. It is just part of the process with a new setup.

 

[mbauma]

Ammonia dropped to zero last thursday and has stayed at zero since then. Richard is in the bahamas until at least saturday which means I won't have part 2 until the 23rd at the earliest.

Do I need to add 1 small fish to keep the tank going until I get part 2 next week?

 

[ReefRehab]

I wouldn't worry too much about adding a fish to keep it going. Are you going to be quarantining your fish prior to entering the display tank? If so, you could be doing this while waiting for the tank to finish cycling with rock. You could always place a small amount of fish food in the tank to give the bacteria something more to work at.

I personally would just wait for the rest of the package at this point. Mini-cycles after initial cycle are far smaller and may or may not be noticeable (depending on die-off). Given the results of most TBS customers, I would not expect much die-off on the second round.

 

[mbauma]

My ammonia never got above .4 on part 1. I will have part on the 23rd.