Cycling??

[mpjmeyer]

Tank has been up and running for about 36 hours so far. When I added water, my LFS gave me "artifical fish poop" to help cycle. Should I be adding anything else or no? I plan on taking them a water sample on Wednesday but also have test kits at my house available.

 

[Frop]

Tank has been up and running for about 36 hours so far. When I added water, my LFS gave me "artifical fish poop" to help cycle. Should I be adding anything else or no? I plan on taking them a water sample on Wednesday but also have test kits at my house available.

Artificial fish poop... want to buy some artificial poop? lol sorry concept would seem so strange outside of saltwater.

I used bio-spira which is bacteria in a bottle. I also had live sand so the bacteria was feeding off of that.

 

[fishkeeper2]

Use Dr. Tim's live nitrifying bacteria blend. I have had fantastic results with it. Order it online if LFS does not carry it.

I once had to move my aquarium from one house to another. Product worked great to cycle fast. All fish survived.

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/saltwater-aquarium-products#one

 

[mpjmeyer]

Went to my LFS today to get something to help cycle and they seemed kinda confused on what I should use so I didn't buy anything. They are usually more knowledgable but the girl I usually deal with was off today so I'll go back Wednesday and talk to her. When I'm testing my water, whatare the main components I want to test and what should their readings be?

 

[Frop]

Went to my LFS today to get something to help cycle and they seemed kinda confused on what I should use so I didn't buy anything. They are usually more knowledgable but the girl I usually deal with was off today so I'll go back Wednesday and talk to her. When I'm testing my water, whatare the main components I want to test and what should their readings be?

Right now just look at ammonia, nitrite, nitrate to see how the cycle is doing. They should preferably be 0. Maybe a tiny bit of nitrate.

 

[mpjmeyer]

Will my cycling be complete when they all read 0?

 

[Frop]

What do I want them to read?

Preferably

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5

Imo. I added my first fish when the nitrate was at 20 and the rest zero but 20 was suppose to be on the high side of things. My system never ran that high again after the tank cycled.

 

[mpjmeyer]

Just waiting for game to start, decided to test for ammonia just to see where I'm at. Don't think I've ever seen such a dark shade of green before. Still have weeks to go

 

[Frop]

Just waiting for game to start, decided to test for ammonia just to see where I'm at. Don't think I've ever seen such a dark shade of green before. Still have weeks to go

I'm thinking the artificial fish poop is going to boost that. And if anything dies in the tank from the high ammonia it will add to it.

 

[mpjmeyer]

I figured it would be crazy high since I just started my aquarium for first time 2 days ago. Still weeks away from adding any livestock

 

[Frop]

I figured it would be crazy high since I just started my aquarium for first time 2 days ago. Still weeks away from adding any livestock

Woops, actually I got your post mixed with someone else who just started and added a couple of things.

 

[mpjmeyer]

Oh no. I'm taking as much time as I can.

 

[fishkeeper2]

Preferably

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5

Imo. I added my first fish when the nitrate was at 20 and the rest zero but 20 was suppose to be on the high side of things. My system never ran that high again after the tank cycled.

And pH 8.3. As the tank accumulates toxins this includes acids, which may make your pH go down. Keep an eye on it to see how well your tank buffers it.

 

[brandon429]

cool trick here: cycling any sw aquarium using only the ammonia portion measured and not any other param needed to know. we made this thread because we think single param cycling is easier, and presents an exact start date all based on the type of rock you used.

having an exact start date is handy, we found most cycling threads to be arbitrary and full of testing errors. that brand of kit you are using is pretty good for these purposes.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

 

[mpjmeyer]

I haven't added anything to my tank except what my lfs gave me. Will my tank cycle by itself or should I add shrimps

 

[brandon429]

check out that thread its awesome examples based solely on the type of rock you have. if you have group A rock, shrimp works equal to fish poo, and ammonium chloride is better we show.

the exact nature of the fish poo in a bottle is its a fine cycle additive among many. I wouldn't use it because the organics it provides beyond ammonia can provide algae feed but algae is coming regardless, and we already have a fine system to deal with it. Additives aren't even needed to cycle, both the feed and the bacteria get in naturally, but boosting them in the various was saves time for sure. it can turn a 60 day cycle into a two week one, if that speed is needed.

collecting fish poo for bottling/cycle boosting will requisitely take in nitrifying bacteria along with the poo because its impossible to collect fish poo without collecting nitrifying bacteria, they exist in the environment simultaneously and never apart. nothing will cycle a group A aquarium faster than liquid ammonia and a bottle bac, they're both concentrated. fish poo and shrimp will work as well, slower.

I noticed in your thread we never found out what kind of rock you have, the cycle approach is polar opposite based on the type of rock we start out with. (group A gets ammonia, group B has ammonia withheld from it)

 

[mpjmeyer]

 

[mpjmeyer]

I have Fiji dry live rock from BRS

 

[brandon429]

that's good detail, its needing a full cycle and you can't go wrong any way you approach. as soon as you add water, the cycle begins. a neat way to summarize expected times from that 6 page link:

fastest possible cycle for group A rocks: 2 weeks typically. that's making sure ammonia is at 1 ppm through any means, and adding a few rounds of bottle bac. when you can test for zero ammonia, then spike it just once more to 1ppm then see that zero in 24 hours, done. about two weeks cuz bottle bac is so concentrated.

poo/shrimp degredation method: this ranges. the variability is when people choose the one above for your kind of rock. average time is about 30 days. in nearly every case, if some form of ammonia was added to the tank and kept in place + water, in 30 days the tank will pass a 1 ppm ammonia digestion test.

 

[mpjmeyer]

When should i do the 1st water change and how much should it be? 50%?