Tank Cycle - advice would be appreciated.

Paul227 · 04/30/2011, 10:48 PM

Hey everyone,
i know it's a bit of reading, but if you can bear with me, i would really appreciate some feedback/advice.

so anyway i am setting up a 50L aquarium, and are intending of using no lights as i do not want corals at this stage.

I purchased 3.5kg of live rock and have started cycling the tank 10 days ago, in this time i have experienced the ammonia spike, and nitrite is also at a peak, however i thought it seemed weird that nitrite was peaking, without the drop in ammonia occurring first...after all, i thought the ammonia should be being converted into nitrite, therefore ammonia should drop and nitrite should increase at the same or similar rate??..however this was not the case..

i later realised that in fact i had seeded my filtration no worries with enough ammonia to kick off the cycle and get the nitrite reading, the reason the ammonia had not dropped however was because it was still being constantly produced by the rock!

the only explanation i can think is that there are multiple different plant life species on the live rock, and some are more tolerant than others, so if 90% of the plant life dies, thats no worries, however they are dieing at different stages.. ie; the weak plant life died off within 48 hours, and here i am 10 days later, and some species of plant life are only just getting affected now...

so with this being the case, i decided to syphon 50% from the tank (making sure i didn't touch any of my filtration as to not affect the bacteria/cycle process). scrubbed (with a toothbrush) any sponges, algae's etc..that looked like they are dieing or will die in the near future in the system water (again, intending to only remove the future ammonia producers - by doing so in the original system water, in theory the bacteria should not be shocked into dieing).

once the potential ammonia producers were removed and rinsed in the system water, they were put back in the tank, and the tank was topped up with new saltwater...

At this stage what do you suggest is the best way to reduce the ammonia and get the cycle complete, i have been thinking..

a) blast the live rock with a high pressure cleaner and remove any living stuff - given that their should already ammonia in the coral rubble (in my sump to cycle)

b) just keep waiting for the remainder of the plantlif to die off at their own pace, and accept the fact i will not see my nitrite go down for a while..

c) Any other suggestions

Thank you to all that bothered to read this massive post and give me feedback, very much appreciated.

Brwestern · 04/30/2011, 10:58 PM

I'd say just let it be... It'll fix itself.. I mean..if you're just going to high pressure wash the rock, why buy live rock in the first place? Just my .02

DrK33 · 04/30/2011, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brwestern

I'd say just let it be... It'll fix itself.. I mean..if you're just going to high pressure wash the rock, why buy live rock in the first place? Just my .02

Agreed...

Paul227 · 05/01/2011, 04:15 AM

yeah, thanks for the feedback guys.
yeah i was originally thinkinf of getting base rock but ended up coming home from work with live rock...has anyone else been in a similar situation, if so how long did you have to wait...

just because my fish is still on hold at work and i would love to free up the tank..
cheers.

1fishkeeper · 05/01/2011, 09:06 AM

I once set up a tank and it took close to 2 and half months for it to cycle. Just dont get into a rush that is when bad things happen. Or it takes twice as long as if you would have let it be in the first place.

tspors · 05/01/2011, 10:47 AM

Like the Beatles say.....Let it be.
In 2 months add your CUC.

Jim.mer · 05/01/2011, 10:54 AM

Let it go through the process, Time and patience. keep testing

04/30/2011, 10:48 PM	#1
Paul227 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 42	Tank Cycle - advice would be appreciated. Hey everyone, i know it's a bit of reading, but if you can bear with me, i would really appreciate some feedback/advice. so anyway i am setting up a 50L aquarium, and are intending of using no lights as i do not want corals at this stage. I purchased 3.5kg of live rock and have started cycling the tank 10 days ago, in this time i have experienced the ammonia spike, and nitrite is also at a peak, however i thought it seemed weird that nitrite was peaking, without the drop in ammonia occurring first...after all, i thought the ammonia should be being converted into nitrite, therefore ammonia should drop and nitrite should increase at the same or similar rate??..however this was not the case.. i later realised that in fact i had seeded my filtration no worries with enough ammonia to kick off the cycle and get the nitrite reading, the reason the ammonia had not dropped however was because it was still being constantly produced by the rock! the only explanation i can think is that there are multiple different plant life species on the live rock, and some are more tolerant than others, so if 90% of the plant life dies, thats no worries, however they are dieing at different stages.. ie; the weak plant life died off within 48 hours, and here i am 10 days later, and some species of plant life are only just getting affected now... so with this being the case, i decided to syphon 50% from the tank (making sure i didn't touch any of my filtration as to not affect the bacteria/cycle process). scrubbed (with a toothbrush) any sponges, algae's etc..that looked like they are dieing or will die in the near future in the system water (again, intending to only remove the future ammonia producers - by doing so in the original system water, in theory the bacteria should not be shocked into dieing). once the potential ammonia producers were removed and rinsed in the system water, they were put back in the tank, and the tank was topped up with new saltwater... At this stage what do you suggest is the best way to reduce the ammonia and get the cycle complete, i have been thinking.. a) blast the live rock with a high pressure cleaner and remove any living stuff - given that their should already ammonia in the coral rubble (in my sump to cycle) b) just keep waiting for the remainder of the plantlif to die off at their own pace, and accept the fact i will not see my nitrite go down for a while.. c) Any other suggestions Thank you to all that bothered to read this massive post and give me feedback, very much appreciated.

04/30/2011, 10:58 PM	#2
Brwestern Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Celebration, Fl Posts: 600	I'd say just let it be... It'll fix itself.. I mean..if you're just going to high pressure wash the rock, why buy live rock in the first place? Just my .02 __________________ 112g rimless 45x24\| pacific sun metis led \| SRO 2000int skimmer \| 2x mp40 \| 2 brs media reactors, gfo + carbon \| eheim 1262 \| Reef Keeper lite w/ NET

05/01/2011, 04:15 AM	#4
Paul227 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 42	yeah, thanks for the feedback guys. yeah i was originally thinkinf of getting base rock but ended up coming home from work with live rock...has anyone else been in a similar situation, if so how long did you have to wait... just because my fish is still on hold at work and i would love to free up the tank.. cheers. Last edited by Paul227; 05/01/2011 at 04:41 AM.

05/01/2011, 09:06 AM	#5
1fishkeeper Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Spanaway, WA Posts: 1,101	I once set up a tank and it took close to 2 and half months for it to cycle. Just dont get into a rush that is when bad things happen. Or it takes twice as long as if you would have let it be in the first place. __________________ "You can run but you will only die tired" U.S. Army Snipers

05/01/2011, 10:47 AM	#6
tspors Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Appleton, WI. USA Posts: 774	Like the Beatles say.....Let it be. In 2 months add your CUC. __________________ Everything is Good with Moderation. Current Tank Info: 150 Gal Oceanic, 30g Sump, Gen-X PCX-150 2250 gph, Red Sea Clasic Turbo Skimmer, 18w Turbo Twist UV, Ocean Clear Filter w/live rock, Several Buckets,

05/01/2011, 10:54 AM	#7
Jim.mer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: North Bay,Ont Posts: 235	Let it go through the process, Time and patience. keep testing __________________ JBJ 12 in the works, I said to my self, my self I said, Maybe i'll go LED No my self said No, MH all the way Current Tank Info: 12 jbj settin up soon, no fish, just inverts, hermits,softies,LPS

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