14 days - Still no ammonia?

[herbnjill]

After 14 days running and testing at least once daily we have still not seen any ammonia much less a spike. We did however see a slight rise in nitrates on day 8 through 10. After the algea bloom the nitrates fell back to 0. I have asked folks at 3 different fish stores, called the test company, scoured the internet and my local book store, to no avail. Yes I am doing the tests correctly. We did, regrettably, start our tank with live fish. The live rock came with a host of hitchhickers, including a tube anenome and some crabs, all of which are doing fine. The live sand we used said "instant cycling" but I didn't believe it. Could this be true? Everything seems happy and healthy.

 

[mbrands]

You never saw a spike in anything? That seems unusual. My 55 cycled in about 10 days thanks to 45 pounds of LR, bacteria treated media for my filter, and 3 cocktail shrimp . . . but I did still get a small spike in ammonia, then nitrites.
Did you try taking some of your water to your LFS? Most will do a water test for free.

 

[snipe]

heres a good question what test kits are you using. Well probly not the best even a bad test kit would still read something. Mabey your tank already cycled. Or where did you get your live rock from if you got it local then there wouldnt be very mutch die off if any if you got it online there would be some since it came with crabs and such I think local. Also your sand alone wont cycle it but if there is already fish and stuff in there I would just take it really slow so I wouldnt kill them.

 

[herbnjill]

All lfs are closed today (Sunday) with in a 100 mile radius. Water is going in tomorrow. Anyway Yes the LR was local. The Test Kit is by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. "Saltwater Master liquid test kit". My understanding is that in order to have had a rise in Nitrates it would have had to of had ammonia turn to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. That's what is leading me to believe that our cycle went virtually undetected. Am I Crazy?

 

[mbrands]

Crazier things have happened.
Thats the same test kit I use and I haven't had any problems with it. A lot of people on this site like Salifert (sp?), but the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals isn't awful.

 

[snipe]

I like mine also it is a hagen master test kit and it works really well and is awsome for the price "online they cost around $125 but I got mine some place special for $57 "

 

[bigarn]

It is possible....I've seen 2 tanks cycle with no detectable ammonia or nitrite spikes. I don't think it happens often, but it does happen.

 

[ophiura]

How many fish and how much did you feed? IMO it is possible if you have LR and a low bioload to begin with, but you could be in for big trouble down the road if you didn't purposely overstock and overfeed the tank (which is a typical "fish" cycling - or just throw in dead shrimp). The problem can arise when you add bigger fish or start to feed more. Normally in this case I would say to push the tank - throw in dead shrimp or lots of food and see what happens. But you may not want to do that, in which case, you'll just have to be very slow in stocking the tank.
BTW, you sure you have a tube anemone? They usually are not found on live rock, and they are rather delicate...somewhat of a specialty animal in the hobby. They are also quite large, and a potential threat to fish but extremely beautiful...just require special care. I would love to see a picture if you have one.

 

[herbnjill]

We started with 3 chromis and 1 damsel plus the hitchickers on the 30 lbs of lr. the lr came from the lfs and was packed in water for the journey home. we feed 2x daily.

 

[ophiura]

Holy cow! It surely is a tube anemone! How the heck did you manage that?? What kind of LR? I'm pretty amazed with that!! Sure am. Lucky! Does it take food? Gosh they're pretty. Did I say LUCKY!
You may find more info on them if you search google for "Cerianthid."
I reckon you could just proceed and pay close attention to water quality when adding fish. I wouldn't add many at any given time, but otherwise the only other option would be to "push it" a bit with excess food or so.

 

[lion_crazz]

Wow, that's a sweet looking tube anemone!
As for your tank, it sounds like it could have cycled without a spike. I would just stock very slowly. Get one hardy fish every three weeks and just continue to check your water parameters.

 

[herbnjill]

We feed it small bits of raw shrimp every 2 days. The funny thing is that one of our chromis would swim up to it get stung, twitch and go back for more! It's done it like 6 or 8 times. We named him Johnny Knoxville. haha I think the take it slow approach is the best solution. We just set up a 6 gal QT and before we put it to use I think I'll experiment with the cycle thing a little for learning purposes. Nothing in there to kill.