cycled?

ahmer1781 · 05/15/2013, 11:50 AM

My 90 gallon has been up for 3 weeks, added a bunch of live and dead rock. Readings this week have been stable:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 20-40 ppm

my readings over time were:

ammonia -- 4.0 -> 2.0 -> 0.5 -> 0.25 -> 0 -> 0.25
nitrite -- 0 -> 0.5 -> 1.0 -> 5.0 -> 1.0 -> 0.25 -> 0.0
nitrate -- 5 -> 10 -> 20 -> 80 -> 40 -> 20

Here is some of the life I'm seeing:
Some kind of pods, clear in color walking around the rock, kinda oval body, also some tiny ones
Mini feather dusters, at least 20 on the rock I got
Vermitid snails? I notice this straight thin white string and some spider webs
At least 3 mini starfish
Some kind of slug, 2 antenna, brown short body
And of course the aiptasia, I've got one really large one and at least 8 small ones

Last week I added 10 hermits, 8 snails and a reef crab. Yesterday I added 3 peppermint shrimp, only $4 at Petco right now.

The reason I added the Peppermint shrimp right now is because I wanted to add them before I add any fish. I'm not really feeding anything in the tank, so I figured when the shrimp have no food, they MAY want to eat the Aiptasia.

Any suggestions folks?

bnumair · 05/15/2013, 11:54 AM

judging from the reading of ur tests i am sure tank cycled. if Live rock is well established and loaded with bacteria then some time people dont see cycle at all or some like u just see it as a mini cycle.
if ur cuc is doing well and ammonia and nitrites are still 0 ur tank is ready for fish.
pic on snail will help id better.

tommyhrs · 05/15/2013, 12:25 PM

Pics are important for ID... Just go slow, 3 weeks is a fast cycle, it will take awhile for the dead rock to become well established.

Sounds like you're off to a great start.

05/15/2013, 11:50 AM	#1
ahmer1781 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Quincy, MA but work in Tewksbury, MA Posts: 71	cycled? My 90 gallon has been up for 3 weeks, added a bunch of live and dead rock. Readings this week have been stable: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrates 20-40 ppm my readings over time were: ammonia -- 4.0 -> 2.0 -> 0.5 -> 0.25 -> 0 -> 0.25 nitrite -- 0 -> 0.5 -> 1.0 -> 5.0 -> 1.0 -> 0.25 -> 0.0 nitrate -- 5 -> 10 -> 20 -> 80 -> 40 -> 20 Here is some of the life I'm seeing: Some kind of pods, clear in color walking around the rock, kinda oval body, also some tiny ones Mini feather dusters, at least 20 on the rock I got Vermitid snails? I notice this straight thin white string and some spider webs At least 3 mini starfish Some kind of slug, 2 antenna, brown short body And of course the aiptasia, I've got one really large one and at least 8 small ones Last week I added 10 hermits, 8 snails and a reef crab. Yesterday I added 3 peppermint shrimp, only $4 at Petco right now. The reason I added the Peppermint shrimp right now is because I wanted to add them before I add any fish. I'm not really feeding anything in the tank, so I figured when the shrimp have no food, they MAY want to eat the Aiptasia. Any suggestions folks? __________________ starting up a 90 gallon with a 30 gallon sump

05/15/2013, 11:54 AM	#2
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	judging from the reading of ur tests i am sure tank cycled. if Live rock is well established and loaded with bacteria then some time people dont see cycle at all or some like u just see it as a mini cycle. if ur cuc is doing well and ammonia and nitrites are still 0 ur tank is ready for fish. pic on snail will help id better. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

05/15/2013, 12:25 PM	#3
tommyhrs Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Illinois Posts: 81	Pics are important for ID... Just go slow, 3 weeks is a fast cycle, it will take awhile for the dead rock to become well established. Sounds like you're off to a great start. __________________ Of all the things I've lost... I forgot the rest. Current Tank Info: 40B RDSB/Fuge/T5HO 4 bulb/SCA 65 Skimmer