Tank cycle?

[chrisgold]

So i added water to my tank Thursday night last week with dr tims one and only
Saturday i added ammonia
Wednesday added a snail its fine
When should i add a fish and do a water change ?

 

[CMMorgan]

Are you checking your parameters? What is your ammonia? What is your nitrite / nitrate? You are definitely not ready to add fish a week in.

 

[FBAA]

Definitely track your ammonia and nitrites. Once they drop start slow because every fish you add is going to cause the bacteria to have to re-adjust. Dosing ammonia might be problematic for your snail so be careful. I have used fish to cycle a tank but I've always started with a lionfish because in my experience they are pretty tough.

There is nothing fast with saltwater especially with inverts.

Did you start with any kind of rock/sand. Filtration, sump. etc?

 

[chrisgold]

Definitely track your ammonia and nitrites. Once they drop start slow because every fish you add is going to cause the bacteria to have to re-adjust. Dosing ammonia might be problematic for your snail so be careful. I have used fish to cycle a tank but I've always started with a lionfish because in my experience they are pretty tough.

There is nothing fast with saltwater especially with inverts.

Did you start with any kind of rock/sand. Filtration, sump. etc?

I have tested them they seem to be dropping off really i wish i had done rhe cycle with a fish to start as it worked for me before. The tank has been set up with aquaforest dry rock and live carib sea sand. Tank is an aio waterbox 35.2. Its running filter sox no media i have a skimmer set ip but not running as i am unsure ifnit will be bad for the bacteria i want to grow

 

[FBAA]

I think the live sand was an excellent choice. One thing you want to account for is your filter socks. Change them often to make sure the bacteria you need is growing in the tank not on the socks. If it's on the sock and you pull it out you lose that bacterial activity.

Being this is such a new tank I would dose ammonia and test it the same day. Then test it every subsequent day to make sure it is truly dropping. You should see your nitrites rise then fall and nitrates slowly rise afterwards. Without actually making sure a system is stable you could create problems down the road. IMHO the ammonia cycle will take ~4 weeks with regular feeding. It's worth the wait. Be patient.

Growing corals can take 4-6 months for a tank to cycle before you have success.

 

[Brady4000]

If your testing what’s the numbers?

 

[chrisgold]

I think the live sand was an excellent choice. One thing you want to account for is your filter socks. Change them often to make sure the bacteria you need is growing in the tank not on the socks. If it's on the sock and you pull it out you lose that bacterial activity.

Being this is such a new tank I would dose ammonia and test it the same day. Then test it every subsequent day to make sure it is truly dropping. You should see your nitrites rise then fall and nitrates slowly rise afterwards. Without actually making sure a system is stable you could create problems down the road. IMHO the ammonia cycle will take ~4 weeks with regular feeding. It's worth the wait. Be patient.

Growing corals can take 4-6 months for a tank to cycle before you have success.

I only added th filter sox a few days after adding the bacteria i ran it with no filter at all for a few days just boi media.
when i got the ammonia the guy told me timo just add the lot and that would be enough to feed the bacteria? I hqve another tank just had bad ugly stage with it so trying to get new tips on this new setup to avoid past mistakes so thanks for the feedback pal

 

[chrisgold]

If your testing what’s the numbers?

A haven’t tested today and cant remeber last test wil test tomorow

 

[chrisgold]

I think the live sand was an excellent choice. One thing you want to account for is your filter socks. Change them often to make sure the bacteria you need is growing in the tank not on the socks. If it's on the sock and you pull it out you lose that bacterial activity.

Being this is such a new tank I would dose ammonia and test it the same day. Then test it every subsequent day to make sure it is truly dropping. You should see your nitrites rise then fall and nitrates slowly rise afterwards. Without actually making sure a system is stable you could create problems down the road. IMHO the ammonia cycle will take ~4 weeks with regular feeding. It's worth the wait. Be patient.

Growing corals can take 4-6 months for a tank to cycle before you have success.

Should i top up on the cycle also? Should i have my ato running?

 

[FBAA]

I would top it off to keep your salinity stable. For the most part it won't affect the bacteria but it's good practice.