I am confused!!!

Sowmithrichandr · 09/11/2013, 01:23 AM

Hi guys i am new to this forum. My name is sowmithri and i am from india.

I had a 25 gallon marine aqaurium with sump from 1 year, its fish only with live rock.
Recently i got a leak so i try to fix it and one side of the glass broke so i gave my fish to my friend. They were happy in his tank. But the live rock was with me, cause his tank was having enough live rock. I gave other equipment to some other friends. I planned to keep the live rock with me cause it was damn expensive and live rock wont be available whenever we ask. We cannot find cycled rock also. The LFS was still cycling from three year. They wont listen to us they dont even do a google search. If we order rock or any fish they take 2to3 weeks and they will deliver us with the packing they got. The available rock here is dry only. So back to the tank i removed everything a gave them to somebody and bought a small 10 gallon tank without sump this time cause recently i bought a washing machine and a new bed so i did not have room for a big tank or sump. I bought the tank after 10 days in the mean time my rock was in normal bag. After 10 days i got some free time a planned to start from beginning(its foolish right). So i washed my live rock with ro water and mixed red sea coral reef pro salt to 35ppm and bought aragonite for sand bed of 1 inch. I ran the tank with a power head. 1000l per hour, a cooling fan, hang on filter and leds 10x3w: 4blue, 4coolwhite,2 natural white.
After running tank for 2 days i started adding flake food to the tank to start the cycling process. Every other day i add flake and the next day i take the tests. After 8days i started seeing nitrates at 40ppm and ammonia at 0.25 and nitrites 0, ph 8.2, temperature 28-29c. So i performed a water change of 30%. Nitrates are down to 20ppm and i started adding flakes. I use api test kit and a refractometer.
My questions are
1. Is my tank completed cycling?
2. If completed how can it be within a short period of time?
3. Why my ammonia is not getting to 0?
4. What are the next steps i have to take?
5. How often do i have to add food to tank?
6. Is my equipment is enough or do i have to change or buy anything?
7. Is my parameters are right or do i have to change anything?
8. Is there a chance that my rock can survive in a bag for ten days?

Thanks in advance everybody.

saltwater808 · 09/11/2013, 01:40 AM

Sounds like your tank is just starting to cycle. I would not touch it for 4 weeks. No water changes. Your rock is will be fine in a month. Being in the bag won't matter 30 days from now. Your Nitrite needs to spike before your ammonia will go down. Can you get raw table shrimp? This is much better than goust feeding. Don't worry about your nitrates till your done cycling. Your equipment will work if you keep up with wc once you have fish.

Reeferz412 · 09/11/2013, 07:03 AM

Saltwater88 is correct. Throw a shrimp from any market in for about a day or so. It will stink which means its working. Your ammonia will spike, then nitrites, then lastly.. nitrates. Perform a water change when you see nitrates up, ammonia and nitrites at 0. There is not set time for when this happens as all tanks are different. Just test daily.

In the mean time, plan out what you will do when your cycle finishes. Ask questions here about future purchases, we are here to help.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/11/2013, 08:03 AM

Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry to say that i cannot get the shirmp and pure ammonia source i our area. That is why i am adding flakes to the tank. I have dried tublex worms, tetra bits and flakes. Kindly suggest me with any other source or dosage of the fish foods that i have. And suggest me with the best CUC if i order now i can get them in 3to4 weeks.

FTDelta · 09/11/2013, 08:10 AM

He meant getting raw shrimp from your local supermarket. No need to add ammonia additive. You'll get the spike as it cycles.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/11/2013, 11:03 AM

Hmm i cant get both guys. I our area you cant get anything.

orteh22 · 09/11/2013, 03:40 PM

good to know raw shrimp works to spike amonia

Texass2323 · 09/11/2013, 03:55 PM

I have heard about the raw shrimp thing but I have never used it.. All the tanks I've set up have taken 3-4 weeks to cycle anyway.. I had 40lb's of live rock and put it together with 65lb's of base rock in a big plastic container for 2 months.. It had a powerhead and heater in container.. Had a MH light over it for only about 3-4 hours a day.. The cycle in my 100g was very very minimal..

Texass2323 · 09/11/2013, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reeferz412

Saltwater88 is correct. Throw a shrimp from any market in for about a day or so. It will stink which means its working. Your ammonia will spike, then nitrites, then lastly.. nitrates. Perform a water change when you see nitrates up, ammonia and nitrites at 0. There is not set time for when this happens as all tanks are different. Just test daily.

In the mean time, plan out what you will do when your cycle finishes. Ask questions here about future purchases, we are here to help.

Absolutely correct!! Plan plan plan and ask questions.. Be patient!!!

Reeferz412 · 09/11/2013, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sowmithrichandr

Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry to say that i cannot get the shirmp and pure ammonia source i our area. That is why i am adding flakes to the tank. I have dried tublex worms, tetra bits and flakes. Kindly suggest me with any other source or dosage of the fish foods that i have. And suggest me with the best CUC if i order now i can get them in 3to4 weeks.

as FTDelta said, the shrimp (bought at any market) will decay and cause your ammonia to spike, no additives necessary. Idk where you buy your cuc but buy hardy livestock. I suggest snails only since hermits are more sensitive imo when it comes to shipping, i always get some dead on arrival when I order hermits. 3-4 weeks is rough for anything though not to mention pricey.

jinks · 09/11/2013, 06:24 PM

Urine can be used as an ammonia sorce. If you can't find that you have more issues then your cycle. Nothing wrong with fish food though. Anything that rots could be use. Shrimp, fish, pork, chicken, skim aid, fish food, algae, pure ammonia, urine would all give you the same end game.

Whiterabbitrage · 09/11/2013, 06:41 PM

Jinks is right. Before all these chemicals were available, back in the 1970's you could start tanks using urine as a source of ammonia. It works. ;-)
Just add a little to the tank, not much, 20 mL or so. That will kick start that cycling process!
It sounds gross, but. Honestly it works.
And welcome to Reef Central by the way. Hello! Welcome Sowmithri! :-)

disc1 · 09/11/2013, 07:28 PM

.You can start a cycle with the urea in your urine, but it isn't quite the same.

If you have any appreciable amount of ammonia in your urine when it is fresh out of your body then you seriously need to see a doctor. Getting ammonia from urine involves letting it sit in a bucket for a few days.

jinks · 09/11/2013, 08:02 PM

Cool that gives me a use for that bucket of urine I have been saving!

Are you saying that the clean up crew would be in the mail for 3-4 weeks? If so adding that would give you that ammonia you are looking for. That's really long shipping time and I would not trust it to live.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/11/2013, 11:33 PM

Hahaha thanks alot love you guys. My hobby is very enjoyable now with all of you. I ll find pure ammonia and i ll let you know.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/12/2013, 03:22 AM

Guys i got ammonia hydroxide 25%. I added 0.3ml now my tanks ammonia is 2ppm. So, now i just have to wait right?

Sowmithrichandr · 09/12/2013, 03:24 AM

CUC will not be in packing for 3week. They will respond and send them in 3 weeks. That how guys work here. They very very actively late.

jinks · 09/12/2013, 05:14 AM

Yes now you get to play the waiting game. Once everything levels out add the clean up crew and you'll be off and running.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/12/2013, 07:22 AM

So no water changes. Just topping of freah water and water tests. Thats it.

FTDelta · 09/12/2013, 08:48 AM

Top off using saltwater - not fresh water.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/12/2013, 10:02 AM

If we top off saltwater then we will increase salinty. Am i right or i am wrong?

jinks · 09/12/2013, 02:31 PM

Yes top off the evaporated water with fresh. Don't do a water change till the cycle is done. Run tests to see how things are moving along. You'll be good to go in no time.

Stolireef · 09/12/2013, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sowmithrichandr

If we top off saltwater then we will increase salinty. Am i right or i am wrong?

Nope. Top off with freshwater. If you topoff with salt water, you will increase your salinity.

Sowmithrichandr · 09/13/2013, 07:17 AM

Guys ammonia drops to zero. Do i have to dose ammonia again or not.

Fizz71 · 09/13/2013, 10:48 AM

It wouldn't hurt since you have nothing else to do.

..but it sounds to me like you've got decent live rock already cycled.

09/11/2013, 01:23 AM	#1
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	I am confused!!! Hi guys i am new to this forum. My name is sowmithri and i am from india. I had a 25 gallon marine aqaurium with sump from 1 year, its fish only with live rock. Recently i got a leak so i try to fix it and one side of the glass broke so i gave my fish to my friend. They were happy in his tank. But the live rock was with me, cause his tank was having enough live rock. I gave other equipment to some other friends. I planned to keep the live rock with me cause it was damn expensive and live rock wont be available whenever we ask. We cannot find cycled rock also. The LFS was still cycling from three year. They wont listen to us they dont even do a google search. If we order rock or any fish they take 2to3 weeks and they will deliver us with the packing they got. The available rock here is dry only. So back to the tank i removed everything a gave them to somebody and bought a small 10 gallon tank without sump this time cause recently i bought a washing machine and a new bed so i did not have room for a big tank or sump. I bought the tank after 10 days in the mean time my rock was in normal bag. After 10 days i got some free time a planned to start from beginning(its foolish right). So i washed my live rock with ro water and mixed red sea coral reef pro salt to 35ppm and bought aragonite for sand bed of 1 inch. I ran the tank with a power head. 1000l per hour, a cooling fan, hang on filter and leds 10x3w: 4blue, 4coolwhite,2 natural white. After running tank for 2 days i started adding flake food to the tank to start the cycling process. Every other day i add flake and the next day i take the tests. After 8days i started seeing nitrates at 40ppm and ammonia at 0.25 and nitrites 0, ph 8.2, temperature 28-29c. So i performed a water change of 30%. Nitrates are down to 20ppm and i started adding flakes. I use api test kit and a refractometer. My questions are 1. Is my tank completed cycling? 2. If completed how can it be within a short period of time? 3. Why my ammonia is not getting to 0? 4. What are the next steps i have to take? 5. How often do i have to add food to tank? 6. Is my equipment is enough or do i have to change or buy anything? 7. Is my parameters are right or do i have to change anything? 8. Is there a chance that my rock can survive in a bag for ten days? Thanks in advance everybody.

09/11/2013, 07:03 AM	#3
Reeferz412 Coral Hoarder Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,247	Saltwater88 is correct. Throw a shrimp from any market in for about a day or so. It will stink which means its working. Your ammonia will spike, then nitrites, then lastly.. nitrates. Perform a water change when you see nitrates up, ammonia and nitrites at 0. There is not set time for when this happens as all tanks are different. Just test daily. In the mean time, plan out what you will do when your cycle finishes. Ask questions here about future purchases, we are here to help. __________________ Alex FMAS Member Current Tank Info: 400 Gallons of frags... 30 gallon Deep Blue mixed reef ... 70 other tanks throughout south FL

09/11/2013, 03:55 PM	#8
Texass2323 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Corpus Christi Texass Posts: 105	I have heard about the raw shrimp thing but I have never used it.. All the tanks I've set up have taken 3-4 weeks to cycle anyway.. I had 40lb's of live rock and put it together with 65lb's of base rock in a big plastic container for 2 months.. It had a powerhead and heater in container.. Had a MH light over it for only about 3-4 hours a day.. The cycle in my 100g was very very minimal.. __________________ 100 Gallons Of Salty Goodness.. Current Tank Info: 100 gallon Reef Tank

09/11/2013, 06:41 PM	#12
Whiterabbitrage Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 1,338 Blog Entries: 1	Jinks is right. Before all these chemicals were available, back in the 1970's you could start tanks using urine as a source of ammonia. It works. ;-) Just add a little to the tank, not much, 20 mL or so. That will kick start that cycling process! It sounds gross, but. Honestly it works. And welcome to Reef Central by the way. Hello! Welcome Sowmithri! :-) __________________ ~Morgan Current Tank Info: 150 gall, 30 gall sump; 30 gall refugium

09/11/2013, 07:28 PM	#13
disc1 -RT * ln(k) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock Posts: 9,705	.You can start a cycle with the urea in your urine, but it isn't quite the same. If you have any appreciable amount of ammonia in your urine when it is fresh out of your body then you seriously need to see a doctor. Getting ammonia from urine involves letting it sit in a bucket for a few days. __________________ David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction...

09/11/2013, 01:40 AM	#2
saltwater808 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Lihue, Kauai Posts: 135	Sounds like your tank is just starting to cycle. I would not touch it for 4 weeks. No water changes. Your rock is will be fine in a month. Being in the bag won't matter 30 days from now. Your Nitrite needs to spike before your ammonia will go down. Can you get raw table shrimp? This is much better than goust feeding. Don't worry about your nitrates till your done cycling. Your equipment will work if you keep up with wc once you have fish.

09/11/2013, 08:03 AM	#4
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry to say that i cannot get the shirmp and pure ammonia source i our area. That is why i am adding flakes to the tank. I have dried tublex worms, tetra bits and flakes. Kindly suggest me with any other source or dosage of the fish foods that i have. And suggest me with the best CUC if i order now i can get them in 3to4 weeks.

09/11/2013, 08:10 AM	#5
FTDelta Moved On Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Central NY Posts: 1,124	He meant getting raw shrimp from your local supermarket. No need to add ammonia additive. You'll get the spike as it cycles.

09/11/2013, 11:03 AM	#6
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	Hmm i cant get both guys. I our area you cant get anything.

09/11/2013, 03:40 PM	#7
orteh22 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 54	good to know raw shrimp works to spike amonia

09/11/2013, 06:24 PM	#11
jinks Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 581	Urine can be used as an ammonia sorce. If you can't find that you have more issues then your cycle. Nothing wrong with fish food though. Anything that rots could be use. Shrimp, fish, pork, chicken, skim aid, fish food, algae, pure ammonia, urine would all give you the same end game.

09/11/2013, 08:02 PM	#14
jinks Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 581	Cool that gives me a use for that bucket of urine I have been saving! Are you saying that the clean up crew would be in the mail for 3-4 weeks? If so adding that would give you that ammonia you are looking for. That's really long shipping time and I would not trust it to live.

09/11/2013, 11:33 PM	#15
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	Hahaha thanks alot love you guys. My hobby is very enjoyable now with all of you. I ll find pure ammonia and i ll let you know.

09/12/2013, 03:22 AM	#16
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	Guys i got ammonia hydroxide 25%. I added 0.3ml now my tanks ammonia is 2ppm. So, now i just have to wait right?

09/12/2013, 03:24 AM	#17
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	CUC will not be in packing for 3week. They will respond and send them in 3 weeks. That how guys work here. They very very actively late.

09/12/2013, 05:14 AM	#18
jinks Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 581	Yes now you get to play the waiting game. Once everything levels out add the clean up crew and you'll be off and running.

09/12/2013, 07:22 AM	#19
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	So no water changes. Just topping of freah water and water tests. Thats it.

09/12/2013, 08:48 AM	#20
FTDelta Moved On Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Central NY Posts: 1,124	Top off using saltwater - not fresh water.

09/12/2013, 10:02 AM	#21
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	If we top off saltwater then we will increase salinty. Am i right or i am wrong?

09/12/2013, 02:31 PM	#22
jinks Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 581	Yes top off the evaporated water with fresh. Don't do a water change till the cycle is done. Run tests to see how things are moving along. You'll be good to go in no time.

09/13/2013, 07:17 AM	#24
Sowmithrichandr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 24	Guys ammonia drops to zero. Do i have to dose ammonia again or not.

09/13/2013, 10:48 AM	#25
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	It wouldn't hurt since you have nothing else to do. ..but it sounds to me like you've got decent live rock already cycled. __________________ --Fizz Current Tank Info: Current system is 8x2x2 240g peninsula setup with a single "chamber" 100g sump in the basement with an RDSB. All corals are 100% home grown from frags of fellow reefers (low natural reef impact).