Cycling confusion , Please Help!

[Reef_a_holiks]

Hey guys i just started up my new 40 gallon a month ago. i put in 40lbs of live sand and 20lbs of live rock. I am very confused with the cycling. i know you must get a ammonia spike then allow it to drop on its own. Well i started off with throwing in a raw shrimp and left it in there for about 2-3 days. Ammonia spiked up to 2.0ppm. I then took out the shrimp and waited. about 1.5 - 2 weeks later ammonia finally hit zero. i tested the water with the results of zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and 5.0ppm nitrates. Seems cycled correct? well i decided to put in all my live rock from my previous 20 gallon tank to start to do the swap lil by lil. i put in about an extra 30-40 pounds of live rock and my clown fish. next morning i check the water to make sure everything is still in check so i can continue putting in my other fish, but ammonia went up again to 0.25ppm, nitrites still zero, and nitrates still at 5.0ppm. kinda confused that the ammonia went back up. will it harm my clown? what should i do next? wait it out again? was thinking of using bottled bacteria like stability or microbacter7. what you guys think? Please help

Thanks guys

 

[Reefing Madness]

You started a mini cycle, and also you took out the shrimp to early. The shrimp for cycling should be left in for the entire cycle. When you threw it in your tank for just a few days, the bacteria count was not enough to sustain fish, so the more rock and the fish, gave you another cycle. Your system did not have enough bacteria to account for the extra load, now it has to catch up.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

You started a mini cycle, and also you took out the shrimp to early. The shrimp for cycling should be left in for the entire cycle. When you threw it in your tank for just a few days, the bacteria count was not enough to sustain fish, so the more rock and the fish, gave you another cycle. Your system did not have enough bacteria to account for the extra load, now it has to catch up.

so what do i do now ? wait it out with my clown in there ? so eventually the ammonia wouldve went to zero even with the rotting shrimp in the water ? i thought you put the shrimp only to cause a ammonia spike and then take it out and let the bacteria bring it back down.

 

[Mike J.]

I agree with everything Reefing Madness said, but want to add. If the nitrifying bacteria have nothing to consume they will die. I think that's why he said to leave the shrimp in there the whole time. Also, there might have been a little die off with the new rock and not enough bacteria to handle it. I would feel more comfortable if after cycling a tank there was an elevated nitrate level; a reading of 5 immediately sent out a warning signal.

Now, since you have livestock, you'll have to do regular water changes to keep the ammonia down.

 

[Eienna]

I'd say put your clown back where it was. I think you kind of jumped the gun putting the fish in this early. :/
Keep the shrimp in until it reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate. Then remove the shrimp, do a massive water change, and then add the fish back in.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

I'd say put your clown back where it was. I think you kind of jumped the gun putting the fish in this early. :/
Keep the shrimp in until it reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate. Then remove the shrimp, do a massive water change, and then add the fish back in.

One month cycling is too early to put in a clown ?

 

[Mike J.]

As on all forums, take some comments with a grain of salt. This chart is representative of your average nitrogen cycle.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Mike pretty much has this one covered.
You'll have to wartch your parameters close now, and as Mike stated, do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia down.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

i purchased a bottle of microbacter7 this afternoon, and put in the first dose. this stuff had my previous tank cycled and running in a month. i wanted to try the natural cycle on this tank, but way to complicated and long of a wait . thanks guys

 

[Mike J.]

Well, there's a saying in this hobby, "Only bad things happen fast."

 

[NanaReefer]

Well, there's a saying in this hobby, "Only bad things happen fast."

Exactly

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Well, there's a saying in this hobby, "Only bad things happen fast."

Whats the worse that can happen if not cycling properly. please explain. im simply doing what worked for me before. im far from a pro in this hobby. so if you guys can educate me on this. il greatly appreciate it. What i understand is the worse that can happen is once i put in livestock my levels will go all over the charts and cause death or complications to all live stock. correct?

 

[beaslbob]

if your live rock was covered in algae or you had a refugium with macros, getting low/no ammonia spikes but an initial nitrate spike is not unexpected.

the algae is consuming ammonia for nitrogen forgoing nitrates. So you can get an initial nitrate spike.

mike J's graph is for the bacteria/water change based cycle. And does not consider plant action.

also the nitrite spike of 20+ seem high.


my .02

 

[Neptunes Bane]

If I'm not mistaken the only bad thing that can happen is stress on your livestock. It would be like living in a small room with a smoker. Not the greatest of conditions, but you'd survive.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

If I'm not mistaken the only bad thing that can happen is stress on your livestock. It would be like living in a small room with a smoker. Not the greatest of conditions, but you'd survive.

but would this lasts forever or is it something that will cycle eventually down the line. i mean if you test your water and your results are on point then that is it. correct ?

 

[Mike J.]

I try to suggest to all new saltwater enthusiasts that they read this first.
And, make sure to add livestock slowly to give the nitrifying bacteria time to catch up.
The Mature Aquarium

 

[rock_lobster]

Cycling is in my opinion overrated) nothing will happen. Buy a bottle of prime to neutralize ammonia/nitrites and put some macro in your tank It will cycle very fast especially if you have live sand for bacteria colonies. Add LOTS of nutrients to the tank(I use fish food because large surface area and it is broken down quickly providing a large ammonia spike). I usually get a small clean up crew and macro pack/pods and the tank is ready for fish within 10 days. Check ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and as soon as they are zero and there is still fish food in the tank you are good to go for buying fish/coral.

 

[beaslbob]

I would also forget the Prime and just let the macro do their thing. Prime after all does reduce oxygen in the tank and add sulfides, and is toxic to fish.

my .02