Ammonia Level in a new tank

[byronious]

I have a newbie question to ask.
125gallon w a 25g sump
20lbs of live rock with 80 lbs dry rock (approx)
20lbs of live sand with 75lbs of dry sand

running my protein skimmer from the start.

Ammonia after 4 days is still reading 0 same as Friday

should I not be running the protein skimmer?
Should I toss a piece of shrimp into the sump?

I thought I was looking for a spike and then a drop in ammonia. oh:

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[ritter6788]

If you used already cured live rock you may not see any ammonia spike. What kind of rock is it and where did you get it?

 

[Stray32]

Pee in your tank.... seriously.

 

[H2O]

Yeah turn of the skimmer during the cycle period I would get some dead fish from your local pet store and throw them in the tank .
You need the amonia spike to start the good bacteria growth .

 

[fishgeek12]

what are the nitrite and nitrate levels?

 

[byronious]

Okay still no ammonia reading. StI'll have the piece of shrimp in the sump in an area with high water flow. Turned of the skimmer this morning. It had some smelly skimmate in it. I am guessing it was removing all the ammonia. ??

I have 30 gallons of water ready which would be about 25% water change.
Should I proceed with a water change or hold on until after the tank cycles?

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[byronious]

If you used already used cured live rock you may not see any ammonia spike. What kind of rock is it and where did you get it?

The vast majority when I bought the tank. He claimed it was live, but I don't think so. Too clean and no smell at all. I added about 20lbs live rock from a very good LFS along with 20lbs live sand.

 

[impur]

Yep shut off the skimmer

Toss in a shrimp or add some ammonia chloride to a concentration of 3-5ppm, don't go over 5.

 

[byronious]

Should I proceed with a water change or hold on until after the tank cycles?

 

[Nemoose]

I would hold off on the water change. Let the ammonia spike to get your bacteria started first. No need to do a water change until the tank is fully cycled. Then change enough to get the nitrates down to near 0 and you should be good to go. Sounds like you got all dead rock or some that was very well cured and little or no die off to start the cycle.

 

[byronious]

I would hold off on the water change. Let the ammonia spike to get your bacteria started first. No need to do a water change until the tank is fully cycled. Then change enough to get the nitrates down to near 0 and you should be good to go. Sounds like you got all dead rock or some that was very well cured and little or no die off to start the cycle.

Yes I am sure it was all dead rock. Bought the whole setup from a LFS that was going out of business. He used water right out of the faucet to do water changes. Then he would add salt mix directly to the tank. Said he had a hard time keeping his fish & corals alive. No wonder. He said algae would get out of hand, so he periodically removed rock and scrubbed it with a brush.

So after setting it up, I added some live rock and sand.

 

[Nemoose]

Wow can't believe he actually opened a store when he didn;t know anymore than that , lol.

 

[byronious]

Still reading 0 on an API ammonia test. But now on most of the dry rock I have a light brownish red algae starting to grow.
Too soon to order a first wave (1 of 3 or 4 waves) of CUC? Skimmer is still off for now.
Thanks

 

[impur]

You will need to provide ammonia daily so the process continues, and you may not get readings as it will be consumed within about 12 hours of dosing. What are your nitrites and nitrates at? You won't need a CUC until the cycle is over.

 

[byronious]

Added 3 more raw shrimp to the sump Monday evening. Skimmer is still off. Received my new API saltwater test kit today.
Ammonia still 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 7 or 8
Ph 8.4
Brownish Algae starting to spread.

Will keep waiting. :squigglemouth:

 

[impur]

Getting close!

 

[byronious]

It just concerns me that I have never seen any reading for ammonia. Nitrite either, however, I have only tested for nitrite a couple of times.

 

[beaslbob]

with enough plant life (algae) in the tank (like on live rock) the algae will consume the ammonia and no spike is noticed. Meanwhile you can also get an initial nitrate spike.

my .02

 

[byronious]

with enough plant life (algae) in the tank (like on live rock) the algae will consume the ammonia and no spike is noticed. Meanwhile you can also get an initial nitrate spike.

my .02

Thanks for your input. Btw your .02 is probably worth more than my $20 worth. :angel: