Tank has been cycling for 2 weeks...

[Korn82787]

My tank has been cycling for 2 weeks and I still have not seen any signs of life. Added 75 lbs of live rock and 60 lbs of live sand. Left the lights off and inspected with a flashlight. Still nothing. Any thoughts? Water levels tested perfect last week. I will run them again when I get home tonight and post results.

 

[Duke4Life]

My tank has been cycling for 2 weeks and I still have not seen any signs of life. Added 75 lbs of live rock and 60 lbs of live sand. Left the lights off and inspected with a flashlight. Still nothing. Any thoughts? Water levels tested perfect last week. I will run them again when I get home tonight and post results.

I bet if you were to take a piece of rock out and let air dry you'd see. Never had seen a bristle worm til I did this.

 

[Korn82787]

PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0 (after 5 minutes, between 0 and .25 ppm after 10) ((API kit))
Alkalinity - 9.5 dKH
Nitrate - between 10/20ppm

 

[Diesel]

What kind of life do you expect after 2 weeks?

PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0 (after 5 minutes, between 0 and .25 ppm after 10) ((API kit))
Alkalinity - 9.5 dKH
Nitrate - between 10/20ppm

All this is wonderful but what you need is a better test kit than the API.
Testing only for Ammonia and Nitrite on the moment.
When you got that checked out and it's zero across the board you will have to test for Ph, Nitrates and Phosphates.
What's your temperature on the water?

 

[Korn82787]

78

I have been ghost feeding the tank once a day for about 3 days. I've looked for anything. When I ran the test a week ago, everything was 0 as I had expected it to be. Alkalinity was 16 dKH, Calcium was 450, magnesium was 1560

 

[Diesel]

Alkalinity was 16 dKH, Calcium was 450, magnesium was 1560

These # aren't that important right now only when you start adding corals.
Temp is good but I'm afraid you didn't get your mini cycle yet as you used all LR and LS, still you'll have some kin of mini cycle.

 

[Korn82787]

What should I be looking for?

 

[Diesel]

Diatoms on sand and rock.
Testing everyday for Ammonia and Nitrites.
You said you have been ghost feeding your tank, what was the highest reading on you Ammonia and Nitrite?







[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[KJ]

image via rusticgirls

In a freshwater aquarium you can add some flake food, wait a couple weeks, and then you can add fish. In the ocean there is much more involved than mechanical filtration. In fact, 70% of your aquariums filtration relies on the maturity of the live rock. A combination of bacteria, algae, and various invertebrates compose the “live” part of the rock. It takes quite a while to establish an ecosystem, even on a microscopic level. Without a proper understanding of the Marine Cycle, you will be in for a long term battle with parameters and algae. There are six main stages to a properly cycled tank. Follow this guide and you cannot mess up. You will need your basic test kit to test the progress.

Stage 1: Ammonia Cycle

Ammonia is the first thing that forms when something rots. It is a waste product in nearly all creatures as well. Instead of using a fish to start the cycle just use some food. Anything that is all natural and uncooked works just fine. Table shrimp that is uncooked works great. Drop it on the sand so it is in view. The shrimp should begin to rot within a couple hours or more. Let this shrimp rot until it is completely gone. If you are curious what your ammonia levels are, go ahead and take some tests. Keep track of the results as the shrimp rots. The smaller the food gets the more ammonia should be present in your water column and pretty soon should be off the charts. This will stay high for a while, but then start to drop. As soon as the ammonia starts to drop you will see a rise in Nitrite, you are now on the next stage.

Stage 2: Nitrite Cycle

Ammonia when broken down by bacteria becomes Nitrite, which is still a toxin. As your Nitrites rise your Ammonia will drop, drop, and keep dropping as long as you haven’t added any animals. Keep up with testing to observe your progress. Eventually your Ammonia will be very low and your nitrites will peak out until it starts feeding a different type of bacteria that turns it into Nitrates. Once your first signs of Nitrates are seen you are on the next stage.

Stage 3: Nitrate Cycle

Nitrates are removed within the live rock deep inside in all of the deep pours. This hidden bacteria consumes the nitrate and creates nitrogen gas as a byproduct. The nitrogen gas rises in the water column and escapes into the air. When one gas leave, another enters. Oxygen is then infused into the water. After the Nitrates start to dissipate your oxygen will increase and you will be ready for the intermission:

Intermission:

You are not done yet! You may have cultivated a nice crop of groovy bacteria and your water may be clean as can be, but, there are still 3 more stages to the cycle process before you can start your stocking. Take this time to consume all of which you have already done. The next 3 stages often put fear into the eyes of many newcomers. These are perfectly natural and are partially a representation of how the earth became an oxygen rich planet. Before there was any oxygen breathing organisms, there was the evolution of Cyanobacteria. This is a photosynthetic bacteria that creates Oxygen as a byproduct. There are several colors, but the commonality is that it is like a slime. The Cyanobacteria spread over a vast area and the atmosphere became oxygen rich like we breath today, without the smog. Cyanobacteria is responsible for life as we know it. The same applies to the reef. Now that your mind has been blown you may move on to the next stage of the cycle.

Pre-Algae Cycle:

If your lights have not been setup yet do so now. Set your timers as you would for a reef tank. Anywhere from 6-12 hours is a good amount of time. Set the photoperiod to be on during the hours you will be viewing the tank most. If you work 2nd shift it is OK to have the lights come on after you get home from work or when you wake up in the morning. As long as there is not a supply of sunlight near the tank you wont have a long term battle with algae.

Stage 4: Diatoms

diatom algae image via reef2reef member Steven R

Diatoms are a brown dusty life form that consumes silicates. There is no avoiding Diatoms during their initial bloom. Leave it be. Let it go crazy. Before you know it, the brown stuff will soon start to change colors. Generally red, this is the start of the next stage!

Stage 5: Cyanobacteria

cyanobacteria image via reef2reef member murfman

Cyanobacteria will now begin its course. Again you will let the slime just do its thing. This will be the nastiest of the stages. Cyanobacteria can gross some people out, especially if they catch a whiff of it. It is best to leave it be. It will start to clear up eventually. The clearing of the slime makes way for yet another stage.

Stage 6: Green/Brown algae

hair algae image via reef2reef member johnmaloney

If you have made it this far, give yourself a round of applause. This is the final “battle” of the cycle process. When the slime is gone you will see your first signs of plant life, algae! Green Hair algae is usually the type that you see, but some other types have been known to occur. This stuff will grow like mad. At this point you are ready to move on to the next phase.

The cycle is a long process in terms of hobbies. Find yourself a good rhythm for testing. Get yourself in the habit of staring for long periods of time. Practice observation by watching as life forms start taking foot in the aquarium. You will see things from dust sized particles to worms that reach a foot long. There really is no telling what could form in your tank. This is a great time to prepare for the animals you will get. Knowing how to describe things and being able to correctly test the water will help you get the information you need. Your parameters are perfect now. You are now ready to move on to the next section. You should actually study the next section during your cycle, since you will have quite a bit of time on your hands with all that waiting.

Cycles can be artificially induced, but it is always preferred to use as little foreign liquids as possible. Another thing you can do during the cycle is preparing your clean up crew and first fish, but be prepared to keep them quarantined for a prolonged time since the cycle is unpredictable.

 

[Korn82787]

Awesome KJ, that is probably the most straightforward and simple explanation I have read yet -and I have read a lot- There is a lot of conflict out there as far as shrimp and other things. I have not seen anything as of yet, besides where my overflow tube was below the water level in my sump, the tube was very slimey, but no color. I am not in any kind of rush with this tank as I have just put an offer in on a house which would mean in the middle of March, I'll get to move everything. (Yay me)

Question about moving - the house is less than a half mile away from where I am now. If I move water to buckets to lighten what needs to be carried, is it possible to not disrupt the cycling by doing this? Should I leave it run where it is for a while? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Deborah Marcum]

This is a question I have also but I am only wanting to move 7 to 8 feet. Cyphaning the SW into clean buckets. Will it mess up the cycling process¿

 

[DBUK]

thanks for the info, been sitting wondering what stage my tank is at and was starting to worry. i know now my tank is at between stage 4 and 5, strange thing is i have noticed i have two blue start fish, and few other bits growing which have been for afew weeks now. but atleast i know the cycling is going the way it should. and my clean up crew are in my QT doing well so quiet happy at moment