Cycling?

gregburb · 05/09/2013, 07:20 AM

Hi, I am new to this hobby and am currently cycling my 90 gal Dt with the raw shrimp in the sump technique. It has been cycling for 3 1/2 weeks. The highest I saw my nh4 was .5, and highest no2 was 1 (testing around every 3 days.)
Curently, the NH4 is 0.
NH2 is 0.
NO3 is 0.
My questions: is the .5 ammonia enough of a spike?
should I add a CUC?
Greg

Biodork · 05/09/2013, 09:11 AM

Were you cycling with live rock in the system? I have found all my cycles with live rock to progress rapidly as there is already some bacteria living within the rock. I would say if all your levels are zero, then go for adding the CUC. Just continue to test you water and do changes as necessary.

thegrun · 05/09/2013, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biodork

Were you cycling with live rock in the system? I have found all my cycles with live rock to progress rapidly as there is already some bacteria living within the rock. I would say if all your levels are zero, then go for adding the CUC. Just continue to test you water and do changes as necessary.

+1. A 0.5 ammonia spike is low, but it was likely tempered by bacteria already present in your live rock. Add your clean-up crew but go slowly on fish additions.

bnumair · 05/09/2013, 02:00 PM

I agree if it was a good source of live rock (well established) then in some cases u may not see any spike to very little spike. It all depends on how much bacteria u imported.

05/09/2013, 07:20 AM	#1
gregburb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 19	Cycling? Hi, I am new to this hobby and am currently cycling my 90 gal Dt with the raw shrimp in the sump technique. It has been cycling for 3 1/2 weeks. The highest I saw my nh4 was .5, and highest no2 was 1 (testing around every 3 days.) Curently, the NH4 is 0. NH2 is 0. NO3 is 0. My questions: is the .5 ammonia enough of a spike? should I add a CUC? Greg

05/09/2013, 02:00 PM	#4
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	I agree if it was a good source of live rock (well established) then in some cases u may not see any spike to very little spike. It all depends on how much bacteria u imported. __________________ 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

05/09/2013, 09:11 AM	#2
Biodork Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Southern California Posts: 129	Were you cycling with live rock in the system? I have found all my cycles with live rock to progress rapidly as there is already some bacteria living within the rock. I would say if all your levels are zero, then go for adding the CUC. Just continue to test you water and do changes as necessary.