Shrimp cycle question

dvybiral · Mar 8, 2019

I don't mean to jump your post DA, I am also in cycling process 2 1/2 months into it, I know that I am cycled, but my question also is lights on or off. Right now I have a reddish algae growing on my rock and sand bed, this is after the brown diatoms. I am adding Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride every 3 days or so to keep the cycle going. So lights on or off and will the lights cause more algae problems down the road if I have them on during the cycling process.
thanks

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 8, 2019

dvybiral said:
I don't mean to jump your post DA, I am also in cycling process 2 1/2 months into it, I know that I am cycled, but my question also is lights on or off. Right now I have a reddish algae growing on my rock and sand bed, this is after the brown diatoms. I am adding Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride every 3 days or so to keep the cycle going. So lights on or off and will the lights cause more algae problems down the road if I have them on during the cycling process.
thanks

Are you testing to see how fast the tank is processing the Ammona or just putting Ammona in?
The algae btw is eating the Ammona. Directly.
And it sounds like your Rock was already live.

4FordFamily · Mar 8, 2019

#reefsquad for more eyes

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 8, 2019

4FordFamily said:
#reefsquad for more eyes

2.5 months and still adding Ammona every three days.

dvybiral · Mar 8, 2019

should I not be adding ammonia?

Dr. Reef · Mar 8, 2019

I skimmed through the thread. Lots of good advice.
Shrimp cycle basically is to place a deli shrimp in tank till ammonia hits 2 ppm (in my case)
Then pull it and let bacteria do its job or add supplements like Dr Tim or Bio Spria or Fritz etc.
In saltwater you can put fish in tank when ammonia is 0. Nitrites dont hurt saltwater fish in small amounts. If you want to wait for nitrite to goto 0 you may. Nitrites usually take twice as long to hit 0 than ammonia.
After that tank is ready.

dvybiral · Mar 8, 2019

yes I am testing every day nitrates 25 ppm Red Sea, phosphates 0.02 with Hanna ULR, Alk 9.5 dkh with Hanna, Cal 440 ppm with Hanna, and Mag 1275 ppm with Salifert

Dr. Reef · Mar 8, 2019

@dvybiral
We only dose ammonia in the startup to reach a certain level. I.e like 2ppm then we quit dosing ammonia and let bacteria do its job to make ammonia hit 0.
Once its 0 you can dose ammonia again to make sure it doesnt return and bacteria can convert it to 0 very quickly
But once its 0 tank is cycled and it doesnt need no more dosing of ammonia.
Bacteria can survive for many months without fed. Once you add livestock it brings in lots of nutrients for bacteria to live on.

lapin · Mar 8, 2019

Somehow I got your PM on this and was about to send this:
After 2 months your tank is cycled. I would add some snails to help you clean that up.
In my opinion the light will cause algae. It always happens in a new tank. If your light has been on you can try lights out for 3 days and see where that gets you. Without light the algae will be suffering. If you siphon it out and get the snails you should have a grip on it. If you have a skimmer I would turn that on if its not on already.
Now that I see you are still dosing ammonia, its time to stop. Like mentioned above it is fueling the algae directly. Change out a lot of water. Perhaps 50%. This will reduce nutrients along with you not dosing anymore. I think you will see the algae recede.