Tank cycling

Irishman360

Irishman360

New member
My tank is currently going through a cycle and I have 45lbs of live rock in and 1-1.5" of DS. There is ammonia in it as well as nitrite but no nitrate, is that common? My other question is that not enough live rock? I bought the 45lbs from my LFS and it was all cured. Also I've visited 3 LFS and they said I do not need a heater in my tank since it is cycling, what are your opinions on that? I also plan on setting up a QT in a couple of days as well. I've read that you don't need to put the CUC through it, is that true as well? Also my salinity is about 1.022 should I be raising it and if so would I just do a water change with the water going in at a higher salinity? Inputs will be greatly appreciated. I also have some questions about my bottom tank for filter but will post later when I get better pictures for it. Was thinking about throwing a skimmer in it but don't know if I have enough room or space to do a sump tank if I can't.
 
I'll take a shot at some of these but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in too.
The nitrogen cycle is ammonia>nitrite>nitrate so ammonia and nitrite are normal. Eventually you should get no ammonia but a high level of nitrite. Then no nitrite but your nitrates will rise. Searching for tank cyclin will get you a more in depth description including ways to test to see if your cycle is finished.
Most folks say anywhere from 1.25-.2 lbs of rock per gallon but the type of rock matters. Also, sand/substrate is usually the same pounds per gallon rule.You don't have your tank size listed so it may or may not be enough. And just fyi, you don't need to buy the whole amount as live rock (and IMHO, your LFS should have told you). You can buy the bulk of the rock dry and just buy a few pounds (5-10) of live rock to seed the tank.
As for the heater, i have a tank cycling now and everything I need for it is running. Again, just my opinion but I want to know if my heater is big enough and that my skimmer, reactor and everything work and connections don't leak. I would leave the heater and if you have other equipment, run it at least for a couple days to make sure.
Cleanup crews don't generally get QT but I don't know why. Maybe the diseases don't transfer?
1.022 sinity isn't horrible but, corals supposedly do better with higher, about 1.024-1.025. Don't worry about what the fish need if you want to keep corals. Make the tank a coral heaven and the fish will adapt as long as they are acclimated properly.
Hope all this helps.
 
Chuckd76 said:
I'll take a shot at some of these but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in too.
The nitrogen cycle is ammonia>nitrite>nitrate so ammonia and nitrite are normal. Eventually you should get no ammonia but a high level of nitrite. Then no nitrite but your nitrates will rise. Searching for tank cyclin will get you a more in depth description including ways to test to see if your cycle is finished.
Most folks say anywhere from 1.25-.2 lbs of rock per gallon but the type of rock matters. Also, sand/substrate is usually the same pounds per gallon rule.You don't have your tank size listed so it may or may not be enough. And just fyi, you don't need to buy the whole amount as live rock (and IMHO, your LFS should have told you). You can buy the bulk of the rock dry and just buy a few pounds (5-10) of live rock to seed the tank.
As for the heater, i have a tank cycling now and everything I need for it is running. Again, just my opinion but I want to know if my heater is big enough and that my skimmer, reactor and everything work and connections don't leak. I would leave the heater and if you have other equipment, run it at least for a couple days to make sure.
Cleanup crews don't generally get QT but I don't know why. Maybe the diseases don't transfer?
1.022 sinity isn't horrible but, corals supposedly do better with higher, about 1.024-1.025. Don't worry about what the fish need if you want to keep corals. Make the tank a coral heaven and the fish will adapt as long as they are acclimated properly.
Hope all this helps.
Click to expand...

That does shed some light on it. I didn't post any of my info since I was doing this post from work on my phone. I have a 60 Gal cube tank. I think I will go out and get a heater to run in the tank. After reading post I see that most people are running heaters while cycling.
 
I am off the opinion the bacteria do better at normal tank temps, so I would put the heater in.

Depending on the rock it may be enough. I have had some very light porous rock that never came close to the 1-2 lb rule but was plenty of rock.

Eventually you will see some nitrate forming until then relax and let nature do her thing. Good luck.
 
I have recently started up the same size tank and have had heaters keeping it at about 78F for the last three weeks. It is cycling nicely (I had live rock and sand). I don't know if the heaters helped or not but I also made sure to have good water flow the whole time.
 
Throw a shrimp in or some type of food source for bacteria to feast/multiply with. It should help speed the whole process.
 
I agree with everything said ^^^. On the CUC portion, quarantine everything wet, some don't some do. It is possible for a parasite to hitchhike a ride on a shell of a crab or snail. Now if you know your LFS keeps all there crabs and snails in a tank by themselves, then I would say you would be safe to add straight to your display tank. Now what I did was the first set of CUC I brought I just stuck them in the display tank, knowing I wasn't going to add fish or corals for 6-8 weeks while they were being quarantine. My second set of CUC, I quarantine in a 10 gallon for 6 weeks.
 
It's very easy to raise salinity. Just top off with salt water instead of rodi or distilled until you hit 1.025 and then switch back to rodi/distilled.
 
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