Cycling question(s)

[Splitcane]

I filled my 50g with ro/di water and mixed in the appropriate amount of Instant Ocean, added about 1.5-2 inches of a CaribSea Aragonite seafloor and live sand combination. I purchased 5lbs of live rock from my LFS and added 40-50 lbs of cleaned dry rock that was once live. I dropped in a raw shrimp and 50 gallons worth of BIO-Spira Start up (I know it says it makes the water safe for fish INSTANTLY but I'm not buying it) I added a heater and a protein skimmer and after 9 days, my specs are as follows. (according to a standard API test kit)
Salinity 1.024
Ammonia 3.0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Nitrite 3.0
Alkalinity is between 180-300 KH based on test strip result
PH 8.4
Temp 78

I have a few questions and if anyone has any ideas, answers or thoughts, they would be appreciated.

Should I run my skimmer during this process?
Should the shrimp carcass be removed after 2-3 days? ( read that somewhere)
Do I just keep regular testing until the ammonia level drops?
Should I be doing anything else?

I plan to add some clowns and maybe small reef-safe wrasses, blennies, gobies, clean up crew and possibly some softies at some point but obviously not right away.

Again, any answers, thoughts or advice will be appreciated.

 

[gunther13mt]

You should test about every other day. And add nothing untill all ammonia nitrites and nitrates are at 0. Also running the tank at full set up is most beneficial as itll gove everything a chance to set up so yes run your skimmer and powerheads. The only thing that should be off is the lights this helps the bacteria grow and reduces chances of algae growth until cycle is complete. Welcome to the hobby its defently worth every dime

Sent from my VS880 using Tapatalk

 

[jwd]

i left my raw shrimp in for as long as possible. I figured it could only help to build up more beneficial bacteria vs removing after 3 days. Mine was in for about 3 weeks and i removed the little that was left of the carcass just because. *shrugs* guess i got impatient at that point.

 

[DePinchGonze]

The longer you leave the shrimp the higher the ammonia in the start and higher the nitrate in the end, I would pull the shrimp and wait till your ammonia and nitrites are zero and your reading high nitrates. Then dose will bottled ammonia to 2.0 and see if your biological filter can convert to nitrate in 24 hours. I don't let a cycle remove all the nitrates, that would take an eternity, I do a couple large water changes. Nitrate is as toxic to fish as nitrite and even worse ammonia. Just add fish very slow, so you don't overload your bilological filter and get an ammonia spike.

 

[gone fishin]

I filled my 50g with ro/di water and mixed in the appropriate amount of Instant Ocean, added about 1.5-2 inches of a CaribSea Aragonite seafloor and live sand combination. I purchased 5lbs of live rock from my LFS and added 40-50 lbs of cleaned dry rock that was once live. I dropped in a raw shrimp and 50 gallons worth of BIO-Spira Start up (I know it says it makes the water safe for fish INSTANTLY but I'm not buying it) I added a heater and a protein skimmer and after 9 days, my specs are as follows. (according to a standard API test kit)
Salinity 1.024
Ammonia 3.0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Nitrite 3.0
Alkalinity is between 180-300 KH based on test strip result
PH 8.4
Temp 78

I have a few questions and if anyone has any ideas, answers or thoughts, they would be appreciated.

Should I run my skimmer during this process?you can if you want, it may not do much since there is not much there. Either way it will not affect the cycle.
Should the shrimp carcass be removed after 2-3 days? ( read that somewhere) you can if you want, at this point it may fall apart and be difficult to get out now.
Do I just keep regular testing until the ammonia level drops? Test for ammonia and nitrite, testing for nitrate now will most likely give you a false number since the nitrite can influence the nitrate test.
Should I be doing anything else? If you want to give yourelf the best chance you could look into QT and Tank transfer method(TTM)There is a sticky above the big red arrow on the forum page.

I plan to add some clowns and maybe small reef-safe wrasses, blennies, gobies, clean up crew and possibly some softies at some point but obviously not right away.

Again, any answers, thoughts or advice will be appreciated.

 

[agiacosa]

Hi,

I recently finished my cycle (it took 2 months!). Here are my suggestions:

Should I run my skimmer during this process?

I would if simply for the aeration and to get the feel for running/cleaning it while you wait.

Should the shrimp carcass be removed after 2-3 days? ( read that somewhere)

I used the liquid ammonia way that I find to be easier to control things. You want to maintain 2 ppm ammonia in there at the start so that you don't stall the cycle later on. However, with a shrimp, I would put it into a filter bag so it's easy to remove when it decomposes. I would remove it once I saw ammonia in the water.

Do I just keep regular testing until the ammonia level drops?

I tested every few days until ammonia was zero. Then I tested nitrites every few days to see if they were present. Once they started dropping, I tested for nitrates to see if they were increasing.

Once I saw nitrates climbing and nitrites low, I would add ammonia to reach 2 ppm and see how fast the tank converted it into nitrates. Once you can convert it to NO3 in 24 hours, you're done.

Should I be doing anything else?

Read, read, read as recommended above.

Good luck.

 

[Splitcane]

Ok, when I pulled the shrimp the ammonia level was pretty high. It's now come down to zero but I believe my nitrates and nitrites are high. According to the test strip, my nitrates are almost zero but my nitrites are way up there. The liquid test kit has high readings for both. I am inclined to believe the liquid test is more accurate than the strip so where does that leave me?
Should I perform a water change (say 30%) and give it a day or two in hopes of the nitrites coming down?
If and when they come down, is that when I should does with ammonia?
When it comes to dosing with ammonia, any idea how many cap fulls to get a 50 gallon tank reading 2ppm? I'm guessing 1 or 2, then test and slowly add until it reaches 2ppm? Just wondering how others may have done it.
I am in no hurry and will take as much time as necessary to get it right. The last time I did this, I took over an established tank. This time I am starting from scratch and appreciate the advice received thus far.

 

[agiacosa]

Hi,

I would highly recommend for you to read Dr. Tim's fishless cycling instructions. You don't have to use his One and Only Bacteria but it does outline exactly how to cycle using liquid ammonia.

Just Google Dr. Tim's fishless cycling.

 

[mcgyvr]

There is nothing wrong with doing water changes during cycling.. In fact is very beneficial as it can keep nitrate levels from getting sky high and just making it harder to get them down after cycling..

Very little of the beneficial bacteria is actually in the water column itself but instead attached to rocks/surfaces..

Take the shrimp carcass out and just give it another 3 weeks or so.. and perform water changes as needed to keep nitrate levels low..
No need to add anything else..
Run that skimmer..
Perform water changes..
Keep lights off or minimal schedule...
Keep heater going if needed...

Good luck.. You are on your way..