72 g cycling questions

[bama man]

Hi gang. I have a 72 g bowfront that I have been attempting to get going. I initially filled it to over half full with IO/distilled mix. I didn't yet have my wet dry going so couldn't use the overflow. I got 100 lbs LR from SWF. I scrubbed them off and added them to the water hoping to use the LR to cycle the tank. I had 2 mag 9's and a heater in the tank. Two days later I got 72 more lbs LR from a LFS that came from a tank that had been set up for over a year. It was from a customer who was getting out of the hobby. I cleaned this rock (which had some purple on it) and then aquascaped. ( W/D going by now). I let it sit for 2-3 days and then added LS (20 lbs) mixed with Aragonite. Enough to fill in the remaining space between the LR and tank sides. I started checking Ammonia & Nitrite levels every couple days. The highest Am. level was 0.25 last night with no trites.Temp has been 79-80, SG 1.024. today the Ammonia was zero. LR has only been in the tank for about 1 week. Was that the Spike I've been waiting for? I didn't think the tank could be cycled that fast? Is the cycle over or do I need to wait and watch for a higher Ammonia spike? The only life in the tank is what I hope is bristle worms I found the second night after adding the LS. They are 1/4 -1/2 inch long and have little "bristles" all over them. They crawl back into the LS when a flashlight is shined on them. Some are apparently dead. I have also seen what I think is two feather dusters, wich I thought was some type of plant until I shined a light on them and the flower part was retracted back into the stem. Are these ok or should I get them out? Any ideas on my cycle and the worms will be appreciated.

 

[geridoc]

It sounds like your tank is cycled. Probably there were enough surviving bacteria in the cycled rock that you added to remove the ammonia that came from the die off that is common when rock is added to a tank. Your worms do sound like bristle worms, which are fine, and the feather dusters could be just that. A picture would help.

 

[bama man]

Thanks, I didn't know it could have cycled that quickly. All I had been checking was the ammonia and nitrite levels as I was advised to do for the first week or so. I only had the one small ammonia spike. Tonight I checked evrything. Parameters are now as follows: SG 1,024, Ammonia 0, Trites 0, Trates 20, pH 8.4 and temperature 79. I don't understand how the Nitrates could be 20 when I never saw an increase in Nitrites? So do you think it has cycled for sure or should I ghost feed it or use a shrimp to do another cycle? I did accidently blow a small spot of the live sand/aragonite substrate earlier this afternoon when a PH came unattached from the side of the tank, I also used it to blow off one of the LR that had some sediment on it. Other than that nothing has changed. Could this have caused the increase in Nitrates?

 

[bama man]

I forgot to mention I have a reef devil skimmer in-sump that has been running since the day after I got everything up and running. I killed the power to it this morning because the collection cup fills up with water and only a little foam in a very short time (2-3 hours,if that). It is also causing micro bubbles to enter the DT. When I turn off the skimmer the micro bubbles stop and the water is clear but as soon as I turn it back on you can see the micro bubbles shooting out of the return nozzles. I don't know if having the skimmer off would have caused the nitrates. Tonight is the first time I have tested anything except Ammonia and Nitrites.

 

[mrdonkeyazz]

I would also agree that your tank has probably cycled due to all the L/R and L/S you put in. I just set up a 120 with a 40 gal sump and the tank cycled in like 2 days. Ive got 200 lbs LR and 80 lbs LS.

 

[jeanheckle]

I'm not sure I agree, even with cured rock that was an awful fast cycle. Did you ever see Nitrites? Since everything is new and you don't have live stock yet I would wait and get a few more opinions from some of the experts, but if it was me I would put a shrimp in there and let it cycle over a longer period of time before I invested money in livestock and found out too late that it hadn't cycled. Just my humble opinion.

 

[bama man]

No I never saw any nitrites at all. As I said all I checked was the nitrites and ammonia levels. The small ammonia spike was all that I saw. Then last night I checked everything and had the parameters as shown above. Trates were 20 and everything else was zero. I was skeptical that a cycle had occured too. I did resolve the skimmer issues I was having, it is fine now. So what do you think? Throw in a shrimp to cause a cycle or just keep a check on the parameters every couple of days to see what happens? Anyone?

 

[bama man]

BUMP Anyone??

 

[jeanheckle]

Since there isn't any live stock I would do the shrimp and let it cycle. That way you won't have any doubt.

 

[bama man]

OK Thanks for the advice. I put in a shrimp last night. I will start doing parameter checks again tonight and do them daily. I want to be sure it has cycled before adding any livestock. How high should the ammonia spike get before I take the shrimp out?