Cycle almost done..now what?

[Picassoclown]

Hello everyone! It's been almost 7 weeks with a fish-less cycle and parameters are as follows: Ammonia between 0-0.2, nitrite 0.2, nitrate 50. I have a few questions about what to do next and looking for everyone's advice. I have my first 2 fish coming on 08 JUN. Should I be turning on the protein skimmer and adding a small bit of chaeto when I add the fish? Should I also be keeping the refugium light on for about 4 hours ever night and slowly ramping up over the course of a month? Lastly, when should I be doing my first water change and adding copepods? Thanks everyone!

 

[Spare time]

I would go ahead and do a big water change. You can add chaeto and pods whenever. I'm guessing you don't really have any nitrite or ammonia at this point, unless you never added bacteria or live rock.


You could have the chaeto lower nitrate by leaving the light light 24/7 till its where you want, but you may need to add phosphate to drop it that much since I cant imagine your tank having much phosphate at this point. The water changes is simpler at this point unless you have a massive tank


Btw if you don't have a qt (or the fish were not pre quarantined), this would be the best time to set that up

 

[BanjoBandito]

Ooooooooo what fish ya gettin?

 

[BanjoBandito]

I do weekly 10-15% water changes, but opinions and methods vary

 

[Picassoclown]

I would go ahead and do a big water change. You can add chaeto and pods whenever. I'm guessing you don't really have any nitrite or ammonia at this point, unless you never added bacteria or live rock.


You could have the chaeto lower nitrate by leaving the light light 24/7 till its where you want, but you may need to add phosphate to drop it that much since I cant imagine your tank having much phosphate at this point. The water changes is simpler at this point unless you have a massive tank


Btw if you don't have a qt (or the fish were not pre quarantined), this would be the best time to set that up

Hey Spare Time. So my tank is 215 display and another 60 gallons refugium/sump. I used live sand and dry rock with the cycle and used pure ammonia with Dr. Tims turbo start. With this information handy, would you still recommend a water change along with pods and chaeto? I was going to do a 20 gallon change this weekend and replace both of my filter socks over a 4 day period so I still have some bacteria left in the tank. Also, any time frame for adding in a snail and hermit crab? Thanks again!

 

[Picassoclown]

Ooooooooo what fish ya gettin?

Hey Banjo. I am getting a pair of bullet hole clownfish. They are about 2-3 inches in size

 

[Lavey29]

Hey Spare Time. So my tank is 215 display and another 60 gallons refugium/sump. I used live sand and dry rock with the cycle and used pure ammonia with Dr. Tims turbo start. With this information handy, would you still recommend a water change along with pods and chaeto? I was going to do a 20 gallon change this weekend and replace both of my filter socks over a 4 day period so I still have some bacteria left in the tank. Also, any time frame for adding in a snail and hermit crab? Thanks again!

I would do a water change so everything is ready for fish. As others stated add chaeto and pods when you want but they probably won't do well until some months have passed. Just put some rock in your sump too for bacteria to populate. You want nitrates down to 10 not 50.

 

[The Farmer]

You can add pods whenever you and supply them with phytoplankton once a week

 

[Picassoclown]

I would do a water change so everything is ready for fish. As others stated add chaeto and pods when you want but they probably won't do well until some months have passed. Just put some rock in your sump too for bacteria to populate. You want nitrates down to 10 not 50.

Lavey, how much of a water change would you recommend?

 

[Spare time]

Hey Spare Time. So my tank is 215 display and another 60 gallons refugium/sump. I used live sand and dry rock with the cycle and used pure ammonia with Dr. Tims turbo start. With this information handy, would you still recommend a water change along with pods and chaeto? I was going to do a 20 gallon change this weekend and replace both of my filter socks over a 4 day period so I still have some bacteria left in the tank. Also, any time frame for adding in a snail and hermit crab? Thanks again!

I wouldn't worry about the filter socks and bacteria. They are on surfaces throughout the tank. You can add a snail as soon as you get algae, and hermits once you start feeding your fish. Go slow on the hermits. You need less than you think imo. The benefit of the water change now is that you can get the nitrates back down to more preferably ranges (i.e. 5-20ppm ish). Again, you can use the chaeto to do this, but you may need to dose phosphates as there is probably not much in the tank (chaeto needs both).


Are the fish you are getting from a pre quarentined vendor? The reason I askl is that disease is much more difficult to handle in a large tank full of fish rather than quarantining a set of fish at a time.

 

[CoralB]

I would go ahead and do a big water change. You can add chaeto and pods whenever. I'm guessing you don't really have any nitrite or ammonia at this point, unless you never added bacteria or live rock.


You could have the chaeto lower nitrate by leaving the light light 24/7 till its where you want, but you may need to add phosphate to drop it that much since I cant imagine your tank having much phosphate at this point. The water changes is simpler at this point unless you have a massive tank


Btw if you don't have a qt (or the fish were not pre quarantined), this would be the best time to set that up

I wouldn't worry about the filter socks and bacteria. They are on surfaces throughout the tank. You can add a snail as soon as you get algae, and hermits once you start feeding your fish. Go slow on the hermits. You need less than you think imo. The benefit of the water change now is that you can get the nitrates back down to more preferably ranges (i.e. 5-20ppm ish). Again, you can use the chaeto to do this, but you may need to dose phosphates as there is probably not much in the tank (chaeto needs both).


Are the fish you are getting from a pre quarentined vendor? The reason I askl is that disease is much more difficult to handle in a large tank full of fish rather than quarantining a set of fish at a time.

Spare time is pretty much on par . Not much to add except try to learn as much as you can while you enjoying your tank .

 

[Lavey29]

Lavey, how much of a water change would you recommend?

Well you have a big system so it's harder but I would try for at least 25% to bring your nitrates down some. That should bring them down to around 35.

 

[Picassoclown]

I wouldn't worry about the filter socks and bacteria. They are on surfaces throughout the tank. You can add a snail as soon as you get algae, and hermits once you start feeding your fish. Go slow on the hermits. You need less than you think imo. The benefit of the water change now is that you can get the nitrates back down to more preferably ranges (i.e. 5-20ppm ish). Again, you can use the chaeto to do this, but you may need to dose phosphates as there is probably not much in the tank (chaeto needs both).


Are the fish you are getting from a pre quarentined vendor? The reason I askl is that disease is much more difficult to handle in a large tank full of fish rather than quarantining a set of fish at a time.

Understood. I will swap them out when I get them the new ones. Water has a fine tint of yellow to it from the cycle. I am sure the new socks will get dirty pretty fast lol. I was going to get only 2 hermit crabs about a week after I get my clownfish. I am starting off very slow with the CUC. I am not using a QT tank this time around (this will be the only time I cannot set one up). However, I am getting fish from Diver's Den & Topshelf. Do you know any other top rated venders that do QT? Thanks!

 

[Picassoclown]

Well you have a big system so it's harder but I would try for at least 25% to bring your nitrates down some. That should bring them down to around 35.

Okay cool. Thanks again!

 

[Lavey29]

Okay cool. Thanks again!

A bag of good carbon in your sump will get rid of the yellow tint in your water.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Give it some time get the fish in and get into the ugly phase to have some detritus and algea build up for the copepods. You will have a much better chance at a Successful seeding vs adding them to early .

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Understood. I will swap them out when I get them the new ones. Water has a fine tint of yellow to it from the cycle. I am sure the new socks will get dirty pretty fast lol. I was going to get only 2 hermit crabs about a week after I get my clownfish. I am starting off very slow with the CUC. I am not using a QT tank this time around (this will be the only time I cannot set one up). However, I am getting fish from Diver's Den & Topshelf. Do you know any other top rated venders that do QT? Thanks!

First, was was stated earlier, changing your filter socks will not affect the bacteria in the tank. If the water has a yellowish tint, I would add some carbon in a pouch to the sump to help.

I would change 20-25% of the water in the tank after the cycle.

If you have Nitrite in the tank, your Nitrate test won't be accurate. The test will read much higher than the actual amount of Nitrates in the water. No need to test for Nitrates until Nitrites are 0.00. Unless you added a lot more ammonia than the RedSea cycle kit recommended, there is no way your Nitrates are 50 ppm.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Hey Banjo. I am getting a pair of bullet hole clownfish. They are about 2-3 inches in size

COOL!

 

[Picassoclown]

Give it some time get the fish in and get into the ugly phase to have some detritus and algea build up for the copepods. You will have a much better chance at a Successful seeding vs adding them to early .

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Picassoclown]

First, was was stated earlier, changing your filter socks will not affect the bacteria in the tank. If the water has a yellowish tint, I would add some carbon in a pouch to the sump to help.

I would change 20-25% of the water in the tank after the cycle.

If you have Nitrite in the tank, your Nitrate test won't be accurate. The test will read much higher than the actual amount of Nitrates in the water. No need to test for Nitrates until Nitrites are 0.00. Unless you added a lot more ammonia than the RedSea cycle kit recommended, there is no way your Nitrates are 50 ppm.

Thanks Island! Appreciate your feedback!