cycling my 100 gallon marine

[mark edwards]

I can't get to lfs till Saturday, so for now shall I just add a small piece of prawn at a time

 

[bang guy]

Any small bit of seafood will work. Snakeblitz33 suggested just using the discarded shrimp tails in his article for example.

A small piece of prawn every day or so is perfect.

 

[mark edwards]

Today ammonia is at 0.50 nitrite at 0 and I have a nitrates around 20ppm

 

[jay0705]

Yup moving along nicely

 

[mark edwards]

That's great to hear! Thanks for all it help! Is it just getting started or is it nearly finished, as in all research I have done nitrate spike is the last part

 

[bang guy]

I think it's just getting rolling.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed

 

[mark edwards]

Ammonia still 0.50ppm and nitrite and nitrates are at zero today

 

[mark edwards]

Do I need a protein skimmer?

 

[bang guy]

While a protein skimmer is not a necessity, it will provide a much larger margin for error.

 

[mark edwards]

Can u recommend a really quite one as one I have is really noisy

 

[bang guy]

I have always made my own so I cannot recommend one.

Someone here MUST be happy with their skimmer though...

 

[mark edwards]

Ok thanks Will try it without and if I.need one in future I will look into.it again

 

[pegasus]

Someone here MUST be happy with their skimmer though...

I absolutely love my Reef Octopus XP2000i. It's really quite quiet, and it skims a ton of junk. The place I bought it from doesn't carry this particular model (2000i) any more, and are now promoting Skimz. They seem to think they're really good, as they only sell products that they would use themselves. They look like they're sturdy, they get good reviews, and they're cheaper than what I have.

 

[mark edwards]

Update today is everything's at zero and I have algae growing on all my rocks, I also went to lfs and bought some food and started feeding the tank

 

[mark edwards]

Brown algae all over the sand is this normal??

 

[pegasus]

Brown algae all over the sand is this normal??

It could be diatoms, which often shows up after a tank has cycled. This is normal, and it usually goes away after a few days after it consumes it's food source. Do a 20% water change, keep the lighting period short, and you should be okay. "Ghost feeding" the tank, a small amount daily like you are feeding a single fish, will help build the beneficial bacteria and prep the tank for it's first addition of fish.

 

[mark edwards]

So my tank has probably cycled? I have been ghost feeding it a little bit every day. How long do u recommend having lights on

 

[mark edwards]

All levels at zero again for 3rd day, has my tank cycled

 

[trigger40]

id say its cycled. time for a fish!