New tank cycle question

[jthompson0555]

Hi guys, first of . Tank is 54g corner with 20g sump thst Rinna just over 10g. Skimmer heater and power heads running during cycle. I've roughly 40 pounds of dry rock and 40 pounds live sand. Started filling tank last saturday. Due to schedule and allons per hr on rodi it was not full until am tuesday. On thursday am i threw in a raw shrimp. Sunday i was able to get a ammonia and nitrite kit (api) ammonia at .25 or under no noticable nitrite or nitrate. Now tuesday am ive approx .3-.4 ammonia approx 1 ppm nitrite and appox 2ppm notrate. Is it normal to see all 3 rise together? My understanding is it would be ammonia first then it would fall as nitrite rose and so on. Do these params seem spot on for a week in? Also now that shrimp was taken out should i start ghost feeding flake food until cycle is complete? Second question is i olan this weekend to set up qt and obtain fish so they will be ready to leave qt as or just after tank is cycled. Would a biowheel hob filter and airstone be sufficient for qt system? I ask as this is the equipment i have on hand tank will be a 10g for no . First planned fish will be a pair of clowns and a citron goby. All small will this be to much of a bioload starting out? Thank you all for your contributions to this forum, i spent roughly a month scouring the forums prior to tank start upand i must say the knowledge here has helped tremendously.

 

[AboutAcans]

You got a ways to go, bud. When there's no real dominant number in the cycle it means it's trying, but not even close. Even across the board means that it's trying to start the cycle of nitrification, but still has a ways to go. You should see your nitrites go a little higher, then your nitrates, but you're also looking at 2-3 weeks. Also the bacteria is what you want. And no, the two clowns and goby won't be too much for a 54g. But, you still do have a ways to go. If it were me I would dig up some dead stuff from the local fish store and throw it in. Saltwater stuff that is lol

 

[jthompson0555]

Woukd you think another raw shrimp dose woukd do well? Also that puts me in the qt timeline if my equipment is good for the task that is.

 

[scooter31707]

Just be patient right now and I would test each day and log the results each day to see the progress and then determine the course of action. When you say live sand, do you mean you got it from an established tank or from the bag? If it was from an established tank, then it could be totally possible that you will see a short-mini cycle.

 

[AboutAcans]

Woukd you think another raw shrimp dose woukd do well? Also that puts me in the qt timeline if my equipment is good for the task that is.

What Scooter said and I hate using raw shrimp because they can introduce parasites that shouldn't be there. Call LFS and look for DOAs they might have or even any dead fish.

 

[pisanoal]

What Scooter said and I hate using raw shrimp because they can introduce parasites that shouldn't be there. Call LFS and look for DOAs they might have or even any dead fish.

Why would you want to put a doa to cycle when it could be diseased? Unless you want to start off your tank with having to do a fallow period. Why not just ghost feed instead?

 

[ssick92]

I agree with the others, just keep testing and be patient. Rather than put in another raw shrimp I would suggest to just dose pure ammonia. It is easier to understand the levels that you are putting into the tank, and therefore easier to determine the rate at which it is being consumed by the nitrifying bacteria.

Once you put 2ppm of ammonia in the tank and test 24 hours later and read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, then you are good to go. It will be another couple weeks before that time though.

 

[lg2725]

It's easier to measure dosing with pure ammonia but you are on your way. I used live sand, dead "live" rock, dosed with ammonia and it still took 4 weeks. EVERY tank is different. Just keep checking ammonia and nitrites, then when they read zero after 24 hours of whatever method you are using, check nitrates. Get those respectable and you are good to add inverts/CUC/etc..Have fun

 

[AboutAcans]

Why would you want to put a doa to cycle when it could be diseased? Unless you want to start off your tank with having to do a fallow period. Why not just ghost feed instead?

One reason is diseases don't usually survive as well on dead organisms. Bacteria does, but not diseases. Parasites feed off of the organisms ability to transport nutrients around in it's endo system. A dead fish doesn't have a functional endo system.

 

[jthompson0555]

Little update. I did a water change shortly after last post. At the time my ammonia was at .5 nitrite at 1 and nitrate at 30. Now 3 days later ammonia is solid at 0 nitrite is up at 2or3 and nitrate up to 80. I am now 3 weeks into cycle i would think once nitrite is down do a large water change to reduce nitrate then start adding livestock. What are rc's thoughts? I currently have 4 clowns a zoa and a clove polyps in a temporary tank waiting to go in.

 

[thegrun]

I would not make any more water changes until the cycle is complete. Yes, if your nitrates are high at the end of the cycle make a large % water change before you stock the tank with livestock. On a side note you are going to have issues with 4 clownfish in a tank, as they mature the dominate pair is going to kill the other two. If at all possible trade in two of the clowns for other fish.

 

[jthompson0555]

Little update. Nitrate is back down to .25 ammonia is at 0 nitrate is at approx 20to30. Do i absolutely have to wait to get nitrite down to zero or can i commece with fish after a wc tomorrow? This would bring both nitrite and nitrate closer to zero but not quite.

 

[domb54]

your moving way too fast and theres a chance that with adding four fish at once in a new tank you may shock the tank and end up killing all of them. Plus its really not a great idea to add coral until its established and you have a better understanding of your tank. To answer your question no your not ready to add anything if nitrite is showing at all wait for that to be zero do a 100% water vhange it wont hurt anything if you dont have anything in there wait 2 more days check levels and if all 0 add 2 fish max. We have all been there but if you go too fast bad things happen it happened to me on my first tank as well.

 

[jthompson0555]

My plan was to start with just 2 and wait at least a week. The zoa nor clove have done well in quarantine i wandered why until i noticed the clowns randomly attempting to host at times. They do not appear gone yet but algae is growing over the zoa. I will be waiting until Sunday at earliest to add anyone to main tank. In a side note anyone experience a skimmer pulling straight water after cleaning the cup and a water change?

 

[jthompson0555]

At this point my nitrites have bottomed out to zero and ammonia has stayed zero. One of my clowns went tile surfing while i was out of town for the weekend so im down to 3. Considering their size, all are 1in. Would it be too much to move them all at once? Also tank has hit one month running empty no lights at all as they were on the quarantine tank for the fish and zoa. I was just topping up display tank and noticed a few purple/red spots on the rock work here and there that was definately not present a couple days ago any guesses what this coukd be? My assumption woukd be cyano as i can't see were coraline would have come from. All rock was added dry but with live sand. How long after the clown addition should i wait for cuc? As its the first bioload addition im not sure as i fo not know how much more of a load cuc would also add and i do not want to rush into too much at once.

 

[ReeferNtraining]

I too am starting the cycle on a new setup. 29g with a 13g sump, arag-alive, mixed dry rock and cured live rock. I have been following this thread and have a chemistry question. I have 2 jumbo shrimp and a bottle of ammonia. I am a little reserved about letting the shrimp rot in my sump...and when i look at the ingredients on the ammonia, it says ammonium hydroxide, surfactant. I do not know what suractant is and therefore i am reserved about it as well. Which one should i add to the tank??

 

[AK707]

im pretty sure the suractant in no bueno....shake the bottle of ammonia, if NO bubbles form its pure and good to go

 

[ReeferNtraining]

I did as you suggested. Its got a head on it like a beer.... So I am guessing i need to drop the shrimp in....