Tips for cycling my tank

[Tom McCoy]

I'm new to the saltwater community and would love some tips from experienced people about cycling my tank. I have a 20 gallon tank with about 19lbs of live rock and about an inch and a half of live sand. I'm running 2 power heads and a SV550x power box filter. Been cycling for about 4 days now and finding it difficult to read my tetra marine test 5in1. So far my parameters are (0 nitrate) (0 nitrite) (500mg/l) (10d KH) (7.2 pH)
ANYTHING WOULD HELP. I'm in Japan and my lfs employees only speak Japanese and hard to get tips from lol.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Are you using anything for your ammonia source? You're starting with live sand, but the bacteria can only live in your system for so long without food (ammonia). Some people don't like it, but I use fish food and just let it break down. The decaying food produces the ammonia, a certain set of bacteria eat said ammonia and produce nitrite, then another set eats the nitrite and converts it into nitrate. So a cycle usually goes a spike in ammonia, followed by a rise in nitrite, followed by dropping levels of ammonia, then a rise in nitrate, and finally you want you ammonia and nitrite reading zero with detectable nitrates.

 

[ahiggins]

Get some better tests-the x in one tests are hard to read.
People might get mad but I have this damsel that is a jerk and has lived through everything. I use him to cycle my tanks. Still alive and kicking after 3 tank start ups lol

 

[Tom McCoy]

Get some better tests-the x in one tests are hard to read.
People might get mad but I have this damsel that is a jerk and has lived through everything. I use him to cycle my tanks. Still alive and kicking after 3 tank start ups lol

Yeah I was thinking about cycling with fish but I just didn't want to put a fish through that. It would've been a lot cheaper than live rock though!

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Following, I'm about at the same point in my cycle with a similar 24 gal except I used base rock with live sand. Thanks for the tip, I'll start feeding my empty (but not completely empty) tank

 

[Tom McCoy]

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Following, I'm about at the same point in my cycle with a similar 24 gal except I used base rock with live eno sand. Thanks for the tip, I'll start feeding my empty (but not completely empty) tank

Awsome man! If I'm not mistaken live rock and live sand are enough to jumpstart the nitrogen cycle correct? Do I have to feed the tank daily as well??

 

[Tom McCoy]

Are you using anything for your ammonia source? You're starting with live sand, but the bacteria can only live in your system for so long without food (ammonia). Some people don't like it, but I use fish food and just let it break down. The decaying food produces the ammonia, a certain set of bacteria eat said ammonia and produce nitrite, then another set eats the nitrite and converts it into nitrate. So a cycle usually goes a spike in ammonia, followed by a rise in nitrite, followed by dropping levels of ammonia, then a rise in nitrate, and finally you want you ammonia and nitrite reading zero with detectable nitrates.

currently not feeding my tank but I will asap then. I thought the live rock and sand would provide it but that makes sense that it only produces so much. Thanks for the help!

 

[Homestead_Dad]

I didn't I just fed it a large portion then tested every few days until it cycled then fed it some more then tested to make sure ammonia and nitrites stayed at 0

 

[G8rNation]

Get yourself a bottle of dr tims one and only. Best thing you can add to jump start your cycle

 

[Tom McCoy]

Are you using anything for your ammonia source? You're starting with live sand, but the bacteria can only live in your system for so long without food (ammonia). Some people don't like it, but I use fish food and just let it break down. The decaying food produces the ammonia, a certain set of bacteria eat said ammonia and produce nitrite, then another set eats the nitrite and converts it into nitrate. So a cycle usually goes a spike in ammonia, followed by a rise in nitrite, followed by dropping levels of ammonia, then a rise in nitrate, and finally you want you ammonia and nitrite reading zero with detectable nitrates.

I have 2 questions as well. Do I use light during the cycle? And is the filter I'm using necessary. I'm only using the charcoal and a black filter screen atm.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

currently not feeding my tank but I will asap then. I thought the live rock and sand would provide it but that makes sense that it only produces so much. Thanks for the help!

I'd say most live rock and sand don't contain much, if any, in the way of organic matter. You may get some fish poop/food or something else if you got the rock from a fellow reefer, or from inside a tank at a store. If you got ito online or from a curing tank there is probably very little.

 

[Tom McCoy]

Get yourself a bottle of dr tims one and only. Best thing you can add to jump start your cycle

I ordered instant ocean bio spira the other day to help the cycle so hopefully that will help

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I have 2 questions as well. Do I use light during the cycle? And is the filter I'm using necessary. I'm only using the charcoal and a black filter screen atm.

Neither are necessary during the cycle. The light may only cause algae problems (light+excess nutrients=algae), and you really having no need for chemical filtration (charcoal) at this point. The "black filter screen" may be slightly beneficial in that it may become a home for more nitrifying bacteria, but be aware that it may eventually become a nitrate factory of not cleaned properly. What is your end game with the tank? Reef? FOWLR?

 

[bean2986]

Throw in a piece of raw shrimp. Pull out after nitrates present. When ammonia and nitrites are gone you are good to go.

 

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

Highlights from that thread: live rock is ready day 1

Don't add ammonia to live rock, add it to dry rock only

API will mislead

Absolutely nothing we do to a tank will kill established bacteria unless we dry out the system, subject it temp extremes, or add antibiotic medicine

They're the toughest life forms we keep, not the weakest

You can skip cycle a tank using live rock, I've opted for this since 2001

 

[Tom McCoy]

Neither are necessary during the cycle. The light may only cause algae problems (light+excess nutrients=algae), and you really having no need for chemical filtration (charcoal) at this point. The "black filter screen" may be slightly beneficial in that it may become a home for more nitrifying bacteria, but be aware that it may eventually become a nitrate factory of not cleaned properly. What is your end game with the tank? Reef? FOWLR?

I'd like to start with a reef tank but if possble add a fish or two. So it would be more efficient to just do water changes and just delete the "filter". I will the have no other filtration if I delete it though.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

Highlights from that thread: live rock is ready day 1

Don't add ammonia to live rock, add it to dry rock only

API will mislead

Absolutely nothing we do to a tank will kill established bacteria unless we dry out the system, subject it temp extremes, or add antibiotic medicine

They're the toughest life forms we keep, not the weakest

You can skip cycle a tank using live rock, I've opted for this since 2001

For some reason I was under the impression that they can starve, is this incorrect?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I'd like to start with a reef tank but if possble add a fish or two. So it would be more efficient to just do water changes and just delete the "filter". I will the have no other filtration if I delete it though.

In a reef tank the rock is your biological filtration so the only need for a HOB/canister would be to run mechanical/chemical, and that is only if you don'the have a sumo to run filter socks or reactors to run media. Some people run filters with no problem, some swear they are the worst. I have never used one on my reef so I don't have any experience, but I would say the majority goes without.

 

[brandon429]

They would starve only under extreme controls one would induce in a microbiology lab such as low surface area holding container, capped from all environmental gas exchange (the major input of unaccounted for bacterial feed in the starving tank is simple contamination via air and minor physical exchanges with the room the tank is in) and absolutely sterile/autoclaved water to begin with (so that test nitrifiers added are the only groups in the tank)

The reverse of all the above is how our tanks run, ergo we cannot starve any aquatic system back into sterility by withholding feed.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

They would starve only under extreme controls one would induce in a microbiology lab such as low surface area holding container, capped from all environmental gas exchange (the major input of unaccounted for bacterial feed in the starving tank is simple contamination via air and minor physical exchanges with the room the tank is in) and absolutely sterile/autoclaved water to begin with (so that test nitrifiers added are the only groups in the tank)

The reverse of all the above is how our tanks run, ergo we cannot starve any aquatic system back into sterility by withholding feed.

Ha ha, I felt like a child reading that
Thanks for the info man.