Quick Cycle

[zladson]

What is the fastest anyone has seen a tank cycle. I started my tank on Saturday and have tested every other day. Today It seemed to have been cycled. I feel that less then a week is to fast. I did use the Instant Ocean chemical stuff that is suppose to speed up cycling but the LFS guy said it only cut about a week off the cycle. I do not trust my results and will be verifying them tomorrow at the LFS but I wanted to know if this was unusual or have people seen this before. Results of testing are located here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Arqu5_gwtyR-dFh0OWpONm4zdHNQVnlIa09TX2N1d3c#gid=0

 

[AlexG]

What size is your tank and what is the filtration setup? Do you have live rock in the system if so how much? I would say your tank is not cycled in less than a week but it is not impossible. I did try to click on the link you posted but it requested a login. Tank cycles can very from tank to tank. My tank had a quick cycle at 3 weeks but I added cured live rock to the tank and just a few fish. Once I knew the water was okay I have just been steadily increasing the bio load but, all of my fish are small so they have a minimal impact.

 

[zladson]

10 gallon, roughly 10lbs of live rock. No filter just a power head.

 

[DSP]

Did you use cured live rock?if so it very well could have cycled that quick.iv used cured rock before and cycled a tank in 3 days.and since u had a little ammonia and nitrite leads me to believe you are cycled.But I would get test kits to keep at home so u can test when ya need to.wait a few more days and test again if there's no ammonia or nitrite present then I'd say your good to go.

 

[zladson]

I have a test kit that is how I got my results. Also I am unsure if it was cured or not. I got it from the lfs. It was in a big tank with lots of other live rock. I am having them test it tomorrow.

 

[AlexG]

I would ask how long was that live rock in the store. If the live rock has been in the store for a few weeks it is more than likely cured. If you take a piece of rock out of the tank and smell it the rock should not smell bad. Live rock that is curing will smell like rotten eggs. It might very well be cycled if the live rock was already cured.

 

[DSP]

Oh I'm sorry I misread part of your post I thought u said u had to get ur water tested at ur Lfs.didnt notice u said it was just to verify your test results lol.that sounds like they were in the process of curing the rock to me.also the instant cycle stuff you added could have an affect on your ammonia test kit.i tried a few of them bacteria in a bottle products and my ammonia test were never right using API kits.

 

[zladson]

Sounds good thanks guys. Hopefully tomorrow I can get my first fish. If not I suppose I can wait longer.

 

[Eienna]

My 50g FW tank completely lost its cycle due to some dewormer I used, but after some emergency water changing (the ammonia was at 7!!) and the addition of a bottle of Dr. Tim's One And Only Nitrifying Bacteria (think I might have used double the gallon rating or so), the system was re-cycled - and stayed so - after less than 12 hours. My sum total of lost fish was a single Rummynose tetra. THANK YOU DR. TIM!!!

 

[glb]

Sounds good thanks guys. Hopefully tomorrow I can get my first fish. If not I suppose I can wait longer.

You're smart to wait until the tank is completely cycled. I know it's disappointing to not be able to add fish yet, but you'll be so glad you waited until the tank was ready. Good luck!

 

[zladson]

Well per the LFS we are cycled. I bought 2 cuc's for the two tanks. Going to get them in and maybe some fish next week!

 

[Planedoc]

I saw it on TV, a show called tanked, they do it in 15 minutes. It's really cool just add natural sea water, fake rock and coral and BLAM!!! instant life ready tank.

Ok in reality bacteria supplements like Dr tims do exist and they do work. Even with a supplement to jump start your system you are risking fragile and maybe even endangered but never the less expensive life. If you use any magical products you still need make sure that your system has a system in place to process waste. That means a rise in ammonia a rise in nitrites and nitrates and and a reduction in all. Not matter how fast you jump start the ammonia /nitrites conversion the bacteria needed to transform nitrites to nitrates takes along time to build and there is no short cut for that. Yes you can get basic cycle going but the deep bacteria that are needed to convert nitrites to nitrates can only be obtained by the slow process of time.

Tapatalk on Galaxy S3

 

[zladson]

I have no idea what the show tanked is. All I know if based on the LFS and my own test results my tank has been fine in levels for two solid days now. Every where I have read says keep them solid for 2 -3 days. So I am on the lower end on this "Recomendation" My tank seems to have cycled fast. Now the CUC will be in there for about a week before any fish enter tank, but based on test results (not strips) it seems to be good.

 

[Planedoc]

Copied from
Mike j

Quick run down on what's happening. Nitrosomonas europaea bacteria oxidize the ammonia to nitrite. As nitrite levels rise, Nitrospira-like bacteria begin to multiply and oxidize nitrites to nitrates. You have plenty of Nitrosomonas europaea bacteria, so there's no ammonia reading. Unfortunately, Nitrospira-like bacteria populate slower, preventing nitrite concentrations from leveling off faster than ammonia. The problem is nitrites is second to ammonia for fish death causes. You'll need to do stepped up water changes to dilute the nitrites until the population of Nitrospira-like bacteria catch up. This is the reason why fish should be added a few weeks or a month apart, especially large fish. The ammonia eating bacteria are not the problem they reproduce quickly, it's the nitrite eating bacteria that take a little time. It's common for a complete nitrogen cycle to take 6-8 weeks. IMO the bioballs will not be necessary.

Tapatalk on Galaxy S3

 

[zladson]

Again, test results, which are what everyone says to go off of, have been stable for a few days, no fish being added for another week, it's only a 10 gallon tank with 10 pounds of live cured rock per tank.

 

[kyevey]

What is your ammonia source? Could it be there is no ammonia reading on a the test kit because there is no ammonia source? You said you weren't doing a fish-in-cycle, but I didn't notice what fish-less cycle method you were using. Sorry if I've missed mention of this?

 

[zladson]

Live cured rock and the cuc has been fine for 5 day now and a Zoa we got for free from purchasing some things has been doing good for 3 days. All levels still at 0.

 

[kyevey]

Looking at your test results log your ammonia was never higher than 0.1. And your nitrates should be going up during the cycle, not down (unless you have been performing very large water changes between tests or have an established refugium which I believe is very unlikely). And even then, those PWCs would be more harmful to your cycle than beneficial, since you will be removing the beneficial bacteria's food source as well as the nitrates.

I'm starting to think your cycle is non-existent. And needs to be restarted using an ammonia source. There are plenty of fish less cycling guides out there. Unless I'm missing something (experts please chime in, as I am definitely not)I think you still have some work and waiting to do!

 

[zladson]

Is live rock not an ammonia source? Every where I have read it says to use live rock.

 

[kyevey]

Trust me, this hobby tries your patience to its limits and then some. Most LFS want to sell you stuff and with limited information can assume that a tank is cycle making you a prime target for a sale. Just my 2cents.

FYI... I just cycled (June 2013) a 28g nanocube in just under 2.5 weeks with Live rock from an established tank and dosing the nanocube with pure ammonia to 4ppm every day, until I was converting 4ppm ammonia to nitrates in 12 hours.