Frustrated with rock/cycle . . . .

[dsp78213]

I got my 1st shipment of rock late Wed. night.

The ammonia level has stayed steady between .5 and 1 ppm.

I changed water like carzy a couple of nights ago to keep it under 1ppm.

Still have 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. I don't think I have had a lot of die off but I just don't get it.

I am doing everything I am supposed to and the darn cycle isn't going anywhere . . . .

starting to get pretty frustrated with myself and this darn rock.

I have been blowing the junk of the rock with a turkey baster and checking the rock for dead spots.

still no cycle.

aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Anybody have a similar experience.

Its gonna be a loooooooooooong two weeks with no Richard or Mark to help me.

dsp

 

[dcoufal]

My rock (from gulf-view) came in last Thur morning.

My ammonia peaked @ 1.0 on Sat and Sunday. This AM it was at 0.25 and the nitrites were @ 1.5. Based on my previous cycling of tanks, I'd say it should be complete at the end of this week -- under 10 days! SWEET!

Also - I've done NO water changes.... Algae has started to grow on the sand - On the live rock, many anenomes have "come out to play", tube corals are open, hitch-hiker crabs/snails are roaming around, etc.

Good Luck!

(My first freshwater tank took over 6 weeks to cycle....every tank since that has cycled progressively faster. Odd.....)

 

[dsp78213]

My rock (from gulf-view) came in last Thur morning.

should be complete at the end of this week -- under 10 days! SWEET!

Also - I've done NO water changes.... Good Luck!

I think I read another of your posts. Needless to say I am jealous.

I think I know what my problems are:

1) can't seem to get the skimmer operating well
2) far too many water changes far too soon - I have slowed this down.

Still it is frustrating.

dsp

 

[dcoufal]

I think I read another of your posts. Needless to say I am jealous.

If you couldn't tell - I'm a little exicted about the speed of my cycle... :dance:

I think I know what my problems are:

1) can't seem to get the skimmer operating well

I've read that many commercial skimmers require several days before they begin to form skimmate. My DIY skimmer produced skimmate a couple of hours after being added to the tank....

Still it is frustrating.

Stick in there. It's only been a few days... But, I know how you feel. That 6 weeks of cycling with my first freshwater tank was a royal PITA!

 

[hdtran]

Jim,

On my cycle, the water slowly went up to between 0.5 and 1 ppm ammonia (no water change), and stayed stuck there (no water change) for several days, then, one day, poof!

Just hang in there. It could take 7-14 days for the first half to cycle.

Hy

 

[dsp78213]

Jim,

On my cycle, the water slowly went up to between 0.5 and 1 ppm ammonia (no water change), and stayed stuck there (no water change) for several days, then, one day, poof!

Just hang in there. It could take 7-14 days for the first half to cycle.

Hy

I think my main problem is that I went crazy with the water changes right out of the box. I was sooooo worried about letting the ammonia get above 1 ppm that I never let it get close enough to 1ppm. I have basically left it alone for the past couple of days.

Did a 5g water change last night because the water got pretty close to 1ppm; this morning it was at .5ppm again.

Problem seems to be worse at night.

thanks

Jim

 

[banditfl]

I got the 10 gal package. on my first half had trouble with the ammonia but was able to keep it under 1ppm. I took quite a few days with lots of water changes early in the cycle. I did have dead/rotting sponge on one rock, but than it stablized just under 1ppm. Real tempting to do a water change but resisted since it wasn't over 1pp. after a couple days like that it just dropped to 0ppm. I used about 18 gal water in a 10 gal tank. Just added second (Sat) shipment. only needed two 2gal water changes in the first 24 hours now it. Now at almost 0ppm. Hang in there and sniff your rocks for dead stuff.

 

[hopkinkm]

got my package last thursday

Fri: ammo 1 , did a 5 gallon change
checked it twice that day with same results and did the same change.

Sat: ammo 1, 5 gallon change
Mon: ammo 1 nitrite 1, 5 gallon change
Tues: ammo .5 nitrite 1.5, 7 gallon change

I have not been running a skimmer as it has not arrived yet but the system is 65 gallons total volume.

Bear in mind I already had 2 inches of southdown in the tank and about a pound of rubble from another tank which had sat there for in the water for about 2 months while I saved up for the package. By the time I put the rock in I was growing algae. So that may account for the relatively quick pace it is currently cycling.

But I still havent gotten that freakin mantis out!

Kory

 

[banditfl]

I got lucky as far as the mantis goes. I was moving rocks to inspect them and he moved from under one to a spot next to another. put my net in and lifted the rock and he swam right in. As far as I can tell there is no mantis in mt second bacth, but I have a couple gorilla crabs to get out.

 

[jbergwerff]

am I correct in understanding that water changes are most necessary to keep the ammonia at or below 1ppm during the cycle.
So if it is at 1 it's ok when the cycle starts, but if it's above 1 do a change?

 

[dsp78213]

am I correct in understanding that water changes are most necessary to keep the ammonia at or below 1ppm during the cycle.
So if it is at 1 it's ok when the cycle starts, but if it's above 1 do a change?

Yep . . . I spent so much time keeping it well below 1ppm that it never got close for the first couple of days.

That's what NOT to do. Let it get to 1ppm before changing any water . . . then just change a little like 5-10%. Then wait and test . . . if its not at 1ppm, then wait some more.

I found out what is causing my looooong cycle . . . I turned over the rocks last night and found two black stinking areas . . I got as much of as I could and will go at them with steel wool tonight.

Got to get all of that stuff off of the rock.

dsp

 

[dcoufal]

I got as much of as I could and will go at them with steel wool tonight.

DON'T USE STEEL WOOL!! If you must scrub something, use a nylon bristle brush. (e.g. toothbrush, fingernail scrub brush, potato/carrot/etc. cleaning brush, etc.)

 

[MiddletonMark]

And personally, the only thing that I've seen come out of a large Ammonia spike is more dead stuff.

I change water early, often, and consistently through `cycling' as I paid all that money for those critters.

The bacteria doesn't need a giant ammonia spike to start up or take off ... or not in my experience.

When you're stocking a month or a few from now ... there should be fine levels for gradual stocking. Whether you do a 25% water change daily or bi-weekly.

 

[dsp78213]

DON'T USE STEEL WOOL!! If you must scrub something, use a nylon bristle brush. (e.g. toothbrush, fingernail scrub brush, potato/carrot/etc. cleaning brush, etc.)

I wondered about that. Thanks for the warning.

I used my algae scrubber last night and it didn't touch it. It couldn't get the black off . . . I have to get that stuff off of the rock ASAP, its the reason for my ammonia issues . . . . or at least, that's what I think it is.

dsp

 

[dsp78213]

And personally, the only thing that I've seen come out of a large Ammonia spike is more dead stuff.

I change water early, often, and consistently through `cycling' as I paid all that money for those critters.

The bacteria doesn't need a giant ammonia spike to start up or take off ... or not in my experience.

When you're stocking a month or a few from now ... there should be fine levels for gradual stocking. Whether you do a 25% water change daily or bi-weekly.

I was just going by others experience with TBS rock. Richard says to only do enough water changes to keep the level under 1 ppm. I think I was over zealous with my changes at the beginning but have slowed them down a bit.

For the past several days, I have been changing water about every other day. The level has stayed pretty steady at .5ppm total ammonia, with 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates.

dsp