New 55g

[FlyTekk]

Hey so ive got a 55g lookn to set up a fowlr.*

I picked up about 44 lbs of rock over the weekend from a manhattan reef member.*

Have 25 more pounds of marco rocks.*

After picking up the live rock i drove for about an hour and put them in my half full tank immediately.*

The rock came from a fowlr/predator tank. Not a reef. And doesnt seem to be teeming with life.

The rock seems to have a lil brown algae as well as a lil purple.*

Im noticing some debris being blown around. Even what looks to be floating shrimp or pod carcus. Maybe 1/10th of an inch big. Very small.*

I test 0 amonia 0 nitrites but am getting a light reading of nitrates.*

The rocks been in the tank for 2 days now.*

Does this mean that there wont be a cycle cause i am getting nitrate readings and 0 amonia/nitrites?*

Or will there be a cycle.... If so when? Should i add a frozen shrimp to kick start the process? Or is the debris currently in the tank enough?

Or should i assume there wont be much of a cycle and the rock has enough bacterial life to convert waste to nitrates? There for i can order my clean up crew?*

[reefvilla]

Is the tank filled full with water now?
Are you using a sump?
What filtration?
Livesand? Dry sand?

You will have a cycle... The biggest thing I've learned in the last 15yrs. is that saltwater is very slow and you (or at least I) have to resist the urge to jump in quickly. Give it a few more days, then test. I cycle with pure Ammonia and it usually takes 2-3 weeks to complete.

[FlyTekk]

Is the tank filled full with water now?
Are you using a sump?
What filtration?
Livesand? Dry sand?

You will have a cycle...

The tank is only filled half way. This is because i am aquascaping tonight. So i figured it would be easier with half water. Will fill up tonight or tomorow night.

No sump. Wish i could but i cant.

Had a fluval 405 lying around so am using that loaded with chemi pure, purigen, floss and maybe something for phosphates. Will put cheato in tank some where. And have DSB and live rock. I know canisters become nitrate factories but i have surface skimmer which gets waterfrom surface (not as much debris up there as opposed to water column) and i have a spong prefikter on the inlet in the water column which i clean everyday.

So hopefully junk never makes it into the canister. Sp its basically just a water polisher/ phosphate reactor.

The filter is not plugged in yet cause im worried about it effectong the natural cycle that should occur.

Currently in the tank I have dry sand (not dry any more) about 4-6 inches all around. And about 800gph flow from 2 pumps (and the fluval should add more when that get turned on.)

U say there will be a cycle..... So i dont need to add a cocktail shrimp? Just let it do its thing?

Also if the cycle is yet to come..... How did i get nitrates already without a trace of amonia and nitrite.

Thank you.

[travis32]

I got rock from an established tank also and some of the rock was out of the water for maybe 45 minutes, some of rock was in that tank's water the entire time. Most of it remained wet.

I tested weekly nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, and never saw a single spike in any of them. I added a little food each week, but never saw any spikes.

I did have a spike of .2 in ammonia once when I had my salinity too high and when my lightfoot crab died. But, it was gone in less than 24 hours.

I Would think after 2 to 4 weeks just getting things setup and to monitor for any spikes from die off. You should be fine. Could throw a small piece of shrimp in there just to make sure. That way you know it's ready for fish.

[FlyTekk]

Thanx travis! Thats was really helpful!

[FlyTekk]

Ok so i have an update.... I still read 0 amonia, 0 nitrites.... But my nitrates have increased from last night.

So if nitrates are steadily increasing but no signs of nitrites and amonia....

Doesnt that mean im done cycling. Like... Isnt that what i want?