Tank cycle question

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

So my tank has been cycling about 2 and a half weeks now. My ammonia spiked to about 4+ppm then went to 0 as my nitrites spiked to 5+ppm. As my nitrites dropped my nitrates went up to around 20-40 ppm. I added a COC of around 12 snails and 12 blue leg crabs and they are all doing fine. I checked all my parameters again today and my levels are all 0ppm. I used reef saver rock(about 50lbs) and dry argonite sand. And seeded it with about 20lbs live rock and a small amount of live sand in my fuge. Is it possible that it cycled that fast? From what I've read it usually takes much longer. I did about a 10-15% water change 2 days ago. I am also noticing some diatom on my rock.
75 gal with 40gal fuge
Temp 79
Salinity 1.026
pH 8.2

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 16, 2015

Is it possible that it cycled that fast....Yes, I use a similar technique
Are the snail avoiding the DT sand?
The last time I used dry I had really weird PH probs. Undetected by me and LFS tests.
The snails wouldn't touch the sand(long story)and wiped out some of my favorites. I did do a DSB.(40lb o dry + old rinsed sand)
And the diatoms are a good sign.

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

Haven't noticed if they've been avoiding it? They are mostly on the rocks and glass. My crabs are picking around the sand though. I've lost 1 snail out if the dozen I put in. PH hasn't been fluctuating much. Why would they avoid the sand? I didn't rinse my sand very well wish I would've.

cmcoker · Dec 16, 2015

It's certainly possible with use of the live rock. I would feed your hermits a few pellets and watch ammonia.
When you add fish, just a couple at a time, don't overwhelm the system with a tankful of fish.
Exciting time! Do you have your fish list picked?

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

Fish list is getting there! My parameters have actually been 0 for a few days now. I thought the first test was a fluke though lol I put in 2 firefish gobies last night. Today they were swimming around and took to eating immediately. They seem happy. I won't add another fish for a couple more weeks. I'll send my list of fish here in a bit once I finish it off. This hibby is great. I've been patient though. I worked in the setup for almost a year preparing for everything!

gln826 · Dec 16, 2015

What are your nitrate levels now? Still 20-40 ppm?

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 16, 2015

jsnide925 said:
Haven't noticed if they've been avoiding it? They are mostly on the rocks and glass. My crabs are picking around the sand though. I've lost 1 snail out if the dozen I put in. PH hasn't been fluctuating much. Why would they avoid the sand? I didn't rinse my sand very well wish I would've.

it took months but what i came up with was....aragontie has buffering properties. When its cured and coated with bacteria and macro algaes it settles in to balance with the seawater. (actually they battle back and forth buffering) dry un cured aragontie has the same buffering properties, but is uncoated and those Ions?electrons are at full force creating a layer of REALLY active ion discharge. So in essence buy putting 40 lb dry into my tank I created a field of excited ions basically making an acid bath for my poor turbos. I thought they were on the glass and rocks looking for food. Thats why I ask.

Sounds crazy but I finally found research on freshwater fish sites with folks having the same problem.. Their solution was taking it out in small tanks or covering it in another sub-strait.
I wasnt as actively involved in boards at the time, but the answer I did get was It was fine. But it wasnt. I did double check actually quadruple checked My test with 3 LFS. PH and all else tested fine.
I lost all of my snails, only some crabs and my scallop in a matter of Days. I did wait 4 weeks before adding "just in case", before it happened.
Again 40lbs though. almost 3.5in deep. well rinsed. Uncured.
Yes it was cycled enough to start adding But...
Perhaps [HASHTAG]#twillard[/HASHTAG] can weigh in. I bothered Randy enough this week.

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

My nitrates are at 0. Maybe a little darker yellow than 0 so say 0-20. I have a very shallow sandbed. Probably around 1/2 to 3/4" deep

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

I have an RO/DI set up next to my system that I filled the tank with. I added pure ammonia to get an ammonia spike. Within about 2-3 days my ammonia started dropping and my nitrites sky rocketed. Nitrites stayed above 5ppm for about 4-5 days then started to drop and nitrates when up to 40ppm where it stayed for for 5days and now they are all at 0.

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

How long were your snails and crabs in before they started dying off?

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 16, 2015

turbos acted funny immediately. conks too . stayed on the glass n rock. Bout a week for them to go.
But if your only in 2.5 weeks its prob a good Idea to wait anyway. there are people who throw $50 fish in the same day they pour the sand and water. some live some dont.
Your so shallow its VERY likely fine.. It just set off alarms cuz you did EXACTLY what I did and had probs. So a little safe than sorry.. Patience for the reefer.Is always a good bet.

Totally unrelated and NONE of my buisness but Ive been reading A LOT lately on several boards for my own projects and learning. Make sure you can Vacuum the bed easily.(that stupid thing the freshwater guys use) It seems like thats the biggest failure point on sooo many threads.
Make a point once a month man.
A DSB IMO does it for you with bugs. Shallow It just does not seem to work at all that way. Bugs or not. It was my experience too.
I hate seeing a good reef go bad..

Nice work BTW thats how ya cycle a tank Bro! Sis?

jsnide925 · Dec 16, 2015

Bro lol. Thanks for the advice. I tried a reef tank yeaaaars ago and made alot of rookie mistakes. Went the cheap fast route and ended up having nothing but issues. Not this time though lol.