Cycling an Aquarium

[Brew12]

@Brew12, i've heard many people say not to use an airpump due to salt creep and what not. what do you think the benefits are of using one? i ask this as I have an extra airpump lying around collecting dust...and was told not to use it! i also have a lid for my tank as well

addditionally, if I'm doing a fish only tank, do I need tests for phosphate, alk or calcium? I have the API test kit and didn't want to get more tubes if i didn't need to!

I wouldn't use an air pump in my display unless I had a solid lid for the sump section I was running it in. He was talking about using it in a brute trash can to cycle rock. Salt creep won't be an issue. If you run a skimmer there is no reason to use an air pump.

 

[Kasey]

My new tank is currently reading 0 ammonia, .2 nitrites (dropping by half daily) and nitrates around 100. I used some live rock and live sand along with dry, nitrifying bacteria and just a bit of ammonium chloride... will I be ready for the water change soon? How much should I do? I plan to use water from that tank with an aged sponge filter for my quarantine tank

 

[lapin]

My new tank is currently reading 0 ammonia, .2 nitrites (dropping by half daily) and nitrates around 100. I used some live rock and live sand along with dry, nitrifying bacteria and just a bit of ammonium chloride... will I be ready for the water change soon? How much should I do? I plan to use water from that tank with an aged sponge filter for my quarantine tank

Wait until you hit "0" nitrite. Then I would do 2 large changes. A few days apart. If you have nitrites then your nitrate test might be a bit off. I like to start out with 5 to 10 on the nitrate scale. This will help keep unwanted algae from taking over. As you feed your tank over time the nitrates will rise. No need to give them a head start.

 

[Kasey]

Wait until you hit "0" nitrite. Then I would do 2 large changes. A few days apart. If you have nitrites then your nitrate test might be a bit off. I like to start out with 5 to 10 on the nitrate scale. This will help keep unwanted algae from taking over. As you feed your tank over time the nitrates will rise. No need to give them a head start.

Thanks for your reply, I believe you’ve given me advice on another thread or two and it’s so appreciated! We live a 2 hours drive from our closest LFS so I really only have the Internet for help at the moment. We will be traveling to pick out our cleaning crew and fish in person, we’ve got a great selection of like 8 stores so when we’re ready we have a good fish source.

Would you recommend I start the water change today or wait until nitrites are zero? Nitrites were at .4 two days ago and then .2 yesterday, I have not tested today yet.

How much of a water change should I perform?

I’m running a 55 gallon with an Aqua Tech 30-60, a Macro Aqua mini HOB skimmer, and a Hydor wavemaker with two Koralia Evolution 750-850 powerheads. Lights just went up yesterday, and I’m going to tweak the live rock during the water change

 

[lapin]

We will be traveling to pick out our cleaning crew and fish in person, we’ve got a great selection of like 8 stores so when we’re ready we have a good fish source.

Great to have that many LFS.

Would you recommend I start the water change today or wait until nitrites are zero? Nitrites were at .4 two days ago and then .2 yesterday, I have not tested today yet.
How much of a water change should I perform?

If its down to .1 today I think you can do a water change. If you can swing it do a 25 to 30 gallon today. Not sure what sort of mixing barrel you have. Some salt comes in 25 gallon pkg and the common rubbermaid trash cans are 32 gallon. If you have 100 nitrate and remove 1/2 that leaves you with around 50. Another change will bring you down to around 25. It should drop on its own a bit unless you feed the tank food or more ammonia. Thats not really needed since you had some live rock plus bac in a bottle, you have a good population already going.

 

[Kasey]

Great to have that many LFS.


If its down to .1 today I think you can do a water change. If you can swing it do a 25 to 30 gallon today. Not sure what sort of mixing barrel you have. Some salt comes in 25 gallon pkg and the common rubbermaid trash cans are 32 gallon. If you have 100 nitrate and remove 1/2 that leaves you with around 50. Another change will bring you down to around 25. It should drop on its own a bit unless you feed the tank food or more ammonia. Thats not really needed since you had some live rock plus bac in a bottle, you have a good population already going.

My salinity is running a bit high at 1.029, should I:

* add a little RODI freshwater to the tank and let it sit for a half hour and retest with a refractometer until I have it exactly where I want and then add the same salinity new water

* Mix a lower salinity new water, and play with it that way

I’m just not sure which is the right way to handle controlling salinity while doing water changes. I know as I continue to practice it will become second nature, I’d rather ask lots of questions now than regret it later

 

[Brew12]

Mix a lower salinity new water, and play with it that way

This is how I typically make adjustments but I'm not sure its the right answer for your situation.

Do you use an automatic top off system to account for evaporation? Or do you manually compensate for it?

 

[Kasey]

This is how I typically make adjustments but I'm not sure its the right answer for your situation.

Do you use an automatic top off system to account for evaporation? Or do you manually compensate for it?

At the moment I’m doing it manually, but I’ve got my husband looking at DIY auto top off. No sump, we don’t want to do one until we eventually upgrade to a much larger tank.

 

[Brew12]

At the moment I’m doing it manually, but I’ve got my husband looking at DIY auto top off. No sump, we don’t want to do one until we eventually upgrade to a much larger tank.

Do you have a normal fill line marked on your tank? If so, use RODI to get level back to the fill line like normal and then do water changes with a salinity below where it currently is. How far below depends on your current salinity, the size of the water change, and where you want to end up.

 

[lapin]

Since you are going to be doing 2 large water changes just mix the new water to 1.025 or 6 and change it out. After your second change you can adjust with rodi or add a bit of salt . Note do not add salt if you have livestock in the tank

 

[OutsideBrian]

So my ammonia levels have fallen to zero. Nitrite is still up high on the color spectrum.
Should I add more ammonia back to 2ppm or let it be and see if my nitrites fall?

 

[Brew12]

So my ammonia levels have fallen to zero. Nitrite is still up high on the color spectrum.
Should I add more ammonia back to 2ppm or let it be and see if my nitrites fall?

I would let the nitrites fall before adding more ammonia. You can do it either way.

 

[stanleo]

Cycling a 120 gallon reef with a five inch deep live sand bed and 70 lbs of live rock. Come Tuesday it will be setup for four weeks. I started by going by what the LFS said so I didn’t dose ammonia till 6 days ago. At that time I seeded Dr Tim’s. There is a photo of my chart to show progression of the cycle. It seems like it’s taking longer than it should. Ammonia is slowly decreasing and I only had elevated nitrite for 3 days and it’s back down to zero. I started with 30ml of ammonia to get it to 1 ppm. It should have been 2 but I figured there was already enough bacteria to cut it in half but now I’m not sure. I have not added any ammonia since. I have been doing 2 part calcium/alkalinity dosing daily but I think I will stop that for fear that it’s hindering the process and the calcium isn’t rising anyway. I have noticed green hair algae the last couple days and I had a diatom bloom the first week I put the light on but that’s almost all gone. Is this a normal progression or is there something more I should do?

 

[Brew12]

Cycling a 120 gallon reef with a five inch deep live sand bed and 70 lbs of live rock. Come Tuesday it will be setup for four weeks. I started by going by what the LFS said so I didn’t dose ammonia till 6 days ago. At that time I seeded Dr Tim’s. There is a photo of my chart to show progression of the cycle. It seems like it’s taking longer than it should. Ammonia is slowly decreasing and I only had elevated nitrite for 3 days and it’s back down to zero. I started with 30ml of ammonia to get it to 1 ppm. It should have been 2 but I figured there was already enough bacteria to cut it in half but now I’m not sure. I have not added any ammonia since. I have been doing 2 part calcium/alkalinity dosing daily but I think I will stop that for fear that it’s hindering the process and the calcium isn’t rising anyway. I have noticed green hair algae the last couple days and I had a diatom bloom the first week I put the light on but that’s almost all gone. Is this a normal progression or is there something more I should do?

I'd question the ammonia test. It is unusual to have ammonia and algae in a tank since algae will consume it directly.

Otherwise, yes, it is a normal progression other than that you shouldn't be seeing ammonia when starting a tank with live rock. The diatoms and algae are normal parts of starting up a tank. The wonderful "ugly" stage.

 

[stanleo]

I'd question the ammonia test. It is unusual to have ammonia and algae in a tank since algae will consume it directly.

Otherwise, yes, it is a normal progression other than that you shouldn't be seeing ammonia when starting a tank with live rock. The diatoms and algae are normal parts of starting up a tank. The wonderful "ugly" stage.

The algae is a small amount and located on just one rock. So I should just give more time? Thanks for your reply.

 

[Brew12]

The algae is a small amount and located on just one rock. So I should just give more time? Thanks for your reply.

Unless you can verify a bad ammonia test I would give it more time.

 

[CaptainsReef]

The general consensus seems to be that my tank is cycling. It's been running since June and never went through this phase until now.

There are currently 4 fish in the tank, 1 had been in since November the other 3 I dropped in from QT the day after I saw the algae, thinking the tang would help clean it up. I know now that was probably not the greatest idea.

Is there something I should do or just let it ride?

 

[Brew12]

I don't see anything abnormal. I'd say you are well on your way.

 

[CaptainsReef]

I don't see anything abnormal. I'd say you are well on your way.

Why did it take 8 months to do this? Is it going to hurt the fish that are in there? Is there anything I should do? Will it clear up on it's own?

 

[Brew12]

Why did it take 8 months to do this? Is it going to hurt the fish that are in there? Is there anything I should do? Will it clear up on it's own?

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking about. The green on the rock? The film algae?
The green on the rock looks like a coralline algae to me. Film algae is a sign of a healthy tank. Most people need to clean the glass of their aquariums every few days. My guess is that you didn't see this earlier because you haven't added much to your system.
It's probably time to add a CuC which will help with some of the film algae but you can expect to have stuff to clean the glass and have that "crud" along the sand line for as long as you run the tank.