Cycle time with skimmer

steelerguy · 08/06/2007, 10:01 PM

This is my second saltwater cycle. My first was on a 12 gallon nano with uncured rock and it took about 6 weeks for the ammonia and nitrite to drop to 0. I learned a little lesson from this, scrub the dead and or dying crap off the rock before cycling. If you don't it is just more stuff to rot and extend cycle time.

This time I gave the rock a rinsing and picked the dead sponges off. It was my lunch break so I couldn't spend a long time on it. The next day I pulled each piece and scrubbed them lightly with a brush to remove the black dying stuff off of them. At this time the ammonia was very high as expected, but so were nitrites, and even some nitrates.

Now, three days after putting uncured rock in the tank, ammonia is almost down to zero, nitrites are still off the chart, and nitrates and climbing. This seems to be go really fast, so fast it is making me a bit uncomfortable!

The big difference here is that I am running an AquaC EV-120 skimmer. Does a skimmer make a cycle go this much faster? I did also use that bagged live sand stuff...could it have provided a kick start? Just trying to figure out how my ammonia dropped from off the charts to less than .25 ppm in a couple days.

bertoni · 08/06/2007, 10:03 PM

The rock might have been cleaner, or the skimmer might have helped a lot. Either way, the tank should be fine, in my opinion.

Mavrk · 08/06/2007, 10:08 PM

Everything you did helped. The live sand is helps a lot to speed the process. Running the skimmer is a good way to help things out. Of course, less dead stuff on the rocks is good too. In short, each of these would shorten the cycle time, so together they shorten it even more.

08/06/2007, 10:01 PM	#1
steelerguy Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Stony Brook, NY Posts: 263	Cycle time with skimmer This is my second saltwater cycle. My first was on a 12 gallon nano with uncured rock and it took about 6 weeks for the ammonia and nitrite to drop to 0. I learned a little lesson from this, scrub the dead and or dying crap off the rock before cycling. If you don't it is just more stuff to rot and extend cycle time. This time I gave the rock a rinsing and picked the dead sponges off. It was my lunch break so I couldn't spend a long time on it. The next day I pulled each piece and scrubbed them lightly with a brush to remove the black dying stuff off of them. At this time the ammonia was very high as expected, but so were nitrites, and even some nitrates. Now, three days after putting uncured rock in the tank, ammonia is almost down to zero, nitrites are still off the chart, and nitrates and climbing. This seems to be go really fast, so fast it is making me a bit uncomfortable! The big difference here is that I am running an AquaC EV-120 skimmer. Does a skimmer make a cycle go this much faster? I did also use that bagged live sand stuff...could it have provided a kick start? Just trying to figure out how my ammonia dropped from off the charts to less than .25 ppm in a couple days.

08/06/2007, 10:03 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The rock might have been cleaner, or the skimmer might have helped a lot. Either way, the tank should be fine, in my opinion. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/06/2007, 10:08 PM	#3
Mavrk Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: California - South Bay Area Posts: 2,775	Everything you did helped. The live sand is helps a lot to speed the process. Running the skimmer is a good way to help things out. Of course, less dead stuff on the rocks is good too. In short, each of these would shorten the cycle time, so together they shorten it even more.