New tank cycling

[vwj1987]

I just started my new set up yesterday. It's a 40 gallon tank. I have like 30 lbs of dry rock, 16 lbs of live rock, 30 lbs of dead sand and 36 lbs of live sand. I did the the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test and they all were at 0. Is that normal for a new tank?

 

[Mufasa31]

After only 1 day, getting zero on the tests is probably pretty normal.

I would intoduce some form of ammonia to start the cycle (little bit of food, etc).

With your live rock and live sand, you may not experience a huge cycle.

 

[vwj1987]

After only 1 day, getting zero on the tests is probably pretty normal.

I would intoduce some form of ammonia to start the cycle (little bit of food, etc).

With your live rock and live sand, you may not experience a huge cycle.

Do u think dead shrimp would work well?

 

[Pkunk35]

Dead shrimp will work, anything that will decompose will work such as fish food, fish poop, etc. You want the ammonia to build up so that the bacteria populations will thrive.

With live rock you may not need to really seed the tank with ammonia if the LR has a decent amount of life/decomposing life on it. No harm will come if you do use it tho.

 

[Mufasa31]

Some people use dead shrimp.

Some people use hearty fish (However, many consider cycling with fish inhumane).

Some people use liquid forms of ammonia, then nitrite.

Since you have live rock and live sand, I would probably use some form of sinking fish food (flakes soaked in water) to cycle.

 

[vwj1987]

Okay thanks. I just have a basic filter right know (marineland emperor 280) do I need to run it with the bio wheel?

 

[Pkunk35]

Okay thanks. I just have a basic filter right know (marineland emperor 280) do I need to run it with the bio wheel?

Ditch the biowheel, you don't need it. Live rock is your filter.

I use a HOB filter on my small tank and run bags of carbon through it along with filter pads. That's probably all they are really good for aside from some water movement.

Do you have a skimmer? If so I'd rely on the skimmer and your LR to do your filtration. You could ditch the emperor unless you want to run media through it.

 

[vwj1987]

Ditch the biowheel, you don't need it. Live rock is your filter.

I use a HOB filter on my small tank and run bags of carbon through it along with filter pads. That's probably all they are really good for aside from some water movement.

Do you have a skimmer? If so I'd rely on the skimmer and your LR to do your filtration. You could ditch the emperor unless you want to run media through it.

No I don't have a skimmer yet. The guy at the LFS said its not really necessary for 40 gallon tank if I do weekly water changes. I'll probably get one eventually or build my own sump.

 

[vwj1987]

Should I see changes in the ammonia level within week of putting the shrimp in there? How long should I leave it in?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I would leave the shrimp in until you get an ammonia spike.

 

[Furiousreefer]

Normal for the first day.. Since your water is fresh shouldn't have anything in it to cause anything spike. If you want to see anything spike in your new tank, put a raw shrimp in there for a few days.

Test weekly--- Nitrates level will be off the roof at the end of the cycle.


Sorry... Didn't see previous post about raw shrimp...

 

[vwj1987]

Okay I put 2 shrimps in yesterday. Now I'm just playing the waiting game

 

[REEF911]

just go buy dr tims one and only and cycle the tank in a week. go buy 2 clownfish and place the bacteria (dr tims one and only) in the tank. then feed your fish lightly making sure they eat all of it. i use flake. and your tank and dry rock will be cycled in a week. otherwise you will be waiting for a month. other bacteria that will help speed up the proccess is microbactra7 from brightwell and waste away from dr tims. these are all benificial bacteria that you can add to help make things cycle faster. just be sure to follow the directions. hope this helps. pm me if you have any questions.

 

[vwj1987]

Okay I did the shrimp. Now in getting a ammonia level of 1 ppm. Should i take the shrimp out?

 

[Mufasa31]

I would leave it in until your nitrites rise and go back to zero.

If you take the shrimp out, you will have no source of ammonia for the nitrosomas bacteria to consume.

Since you are using live rock and live sand, your cycle may be small. Once you see zero ammonia/nitrites and get readings for nitrates, you should be good to remove the shrimp.

 

[10galclowns]

They sell bacteria starters for new tanks


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[vwj1987]

Good info guys. Should I still change some water out every week

 

[10galclowns]

I'd wait until you start having fish


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[vwj1987]

It's been about 2 weeks now. MThe highest ammonia test was at 1 and 5 for nitrite.y ammonia and nitrite are at zero now. Nitrate is at 20. I see diatoms on the sand and rocks.

 

[vwj1987]

It's been about 2 weeks now. My highest ammonia reading was at 1 and my highest reading for nitrite was at 5. Now they are both at 0. nitrate is at 20. Ph is at 8.0 Theres diatoms on the LR and sand. do you guys think my tank is ready for fish? Should i do a water change before i add the fish?