Tank cycled??

Torresj9

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ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1458872132.191251.jpg
would you say my tank is cycled?? I had it set up for 4 weeks now.. Now about a week ago I start having a diatom bloom. Not that big mostly on sand and little on rock but it's actually about 85%-90% gone. You can still see it in the sand bed but it's very light. I also started noting like green algae of the back of the aquarium.. Is this normal process for a new establish tank.??
Thanks. Junior.
 

brandon429

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http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/


That tells when each kind of cycle is completed

For your reading above to tell, it's not the one off reading that would indicate completion, it's a set of readings. First is 2 ppm free ammonia. Second is the follow up ammonia test in 24 hours

Of your three readings we only need to know what ammonia does, the type of rock you have, and the number of weeks as stated to know if you are complete. Some cycles are complete the very same instant the rocks come home from the store. The thread covers algae too

It is optional at all stages and isn't tied to cycling, only bacteria is implicated in cycling. The fact that many people allow stages of algae to show up is merely exercising that option to grow algae it's not part of the cycle proper
 
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Torresj9

Torresj9

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For the ammonia it's actually little lighter green then what it shows in the picture.
And okay thanks I'll be checking on my ammonia .
And while looking at the tank I also notice little white hairs at the back as well.. And yeah I'm going to check that thread right now.
 

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Show us pics of your rock either they are group a or b can't wait to see~
 

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I'm about to complete the remotest ID ever done :) Hail Mary pass I could be off

Are those two whiskers from a lysmata cleaner shrimp on the right
 

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Group a rocks, tiny spots of coralline possibly I see and some snails and life in the tank, it means you can't do the test I mentioned so we'd have to go off the known underwater time frame portion and make a guess

Can't do a real ammonia test with snails in the tank per the thread. If it's been setup a month, how long have the animals been in
 
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Torresj9

Torresj9

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Good eye lol and Yup sure is... I was not planning on having him (as I previously said on different post I always been fascinated about those little creatures and my girlfriend actually surprised me and found it when I got home from work) but the shrimp has been very ACTIVE he swims around and sometime he even likes to get on my finger. The snails are pretty active too they are all over the tank.
 

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I just incurred a rotator cuff injury from self back patting

I'm poor at ID usually lol but those guys we have to watch out for like a hawk in the big peroxide threads, they die instantly usually if any peroxide is in the tank

Your algae is normal not due to a cycle but because the grazers to remove it naturally aren't set yet...it should be hand removed cleaned and siphoned out as needed until natural balances set in. The tank looks great and those animals are in no harm, you have enough dilution to simply do it like you did at no big deal. A quick fish purchase would have been too much, but not a few snails and a Shrimp that's harmless and better than watching a barren tank. Since we can't ammonia digest test, and the two part reading is the only way to know if your cycle can manage fish, what I'd do with your tank is wait 5 weeks before adding a fish and go buy some corals and frags tomorrow as long as the lighting is good, get to reefin



If you bought four zoanthid frags, two candy canes some acans and a round of rhodactis corals, your tank params would change by zero factor. The color factor would rise. Ergo get some frags just a few to up the fun, frags don't count as bioloading. The very light feeding to accompany them and the current animals and the five extra weeks all times out nice and safe to add a clownfish then in my experience
 
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Torresj9

Torresj9

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This might sound dumb but actually never herd of it... What is peroxide??
Yeah the shrimp he is a very interesting little creature haha like I said he swims and I feed him and he likes to get on my finger. the snail and crabs came from a live rock I bought off from a guy (Craigslist) and he had his rocks already in a set up tank and they came with the rock.
 

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That peroxide is just the medical disinfectant stuff that some people like to use in the tank to battle algae. Many odd ways of battling algae exist we get desperate at times lol
 
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Torresj9

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Ahhh okay I see ha thanks.. So would you recommend getting the algae cleaned instead???
And I will be looking at the frags you mentioned and just wait and see how my water gets before I can add any fish.
 

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It looks like you still have ammonia, if you read any you have too much.
Are you running lights? If you are id recommend turning off. They're not necessary for cycling process.
 
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Torresj9

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The green on the glass container looks a lot like the green in the chart. The one in picture it seems a bit off but I'm going to keep testing. And maybe take some to my lfs and have them tested to.
And yeah I do not all day.
 

brandon429

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The opening paragraph of the example thread above nulls your ammonia test :) go salifert or gauge it another way...it's really a let down I know that at this level your API cannot be used reliably, so we wouldn't base anything worth money on its readings. If you were measuring 8ppm ammonia it could be reliable, but not low levels. .25 can never ever be relied on by api

Yes the initial algae, the interim algae, and any algae coming after tank maturity must be cleaned and hand removed but only if you choose to. Many choose to purposefully leave it in, and see what happens
 
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Torresj9

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Is there a better test you recommend other then API because that one it's a hard to read.
 

brandon429

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Yep only salifert, it costs $ the thread shows how to measure ammonia with no test kit. Your shrimp would be dead long ago. Lysmata are wonderful ammonia test kits. Be sure check out the thread it covers all aspects of your cycle
 
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Torresj9

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I'm going to look for it and see.
So do you think my tank is doing pretty good so far?? Any other stuff I need to do and if I do add corals do you think they'll be okay?
 

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This is the point you have to make educated guesses since your ammonia can't be gauged off the tests, and you can't do a digestion test to see how ammonia behaves when spiked due to live animals. Since a few frags doesn't cause ammonia they are OK to add, and your tank doesn't have free ammonia now or your animals would be dead. You can wait arbitrary weeks longer, or put in a test frag and enjoy. Fish need to wait another month or two they contribute highest ammonia. You should stock only low waste producers since you can't test the digestion abilities in the tank.

Buy more group b rocks, that'll solidify your cycle
 

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