Am I comparing apples to oranges?

[inawe]

I know I am comparing different tanks and their cycles, but is this normal? I restarted my tank 8 days ago with new almost everything. Fed it fishfood 3 or 4 days, then added a raw shrimp Sunday. Still nothing. All my tests are ok, no cloudiness,... nothing.

I've given tank info before, so I'll make it as short and to the point as possible...
37g Eclipse tank...3.5 months old. 1st started with small amt of LR, salt with water from tap, and cc. 3 days later added 3 clowns (I'm sorry

). Downhill from there, although lfs had millions of fixes for me to try. Found ya'll. Rehoused my fish 3 weeks ago but left tank running. last Wednesday I drained the tank, dumped the cc, changed the carbon filter, cleaned the tank with water, elbow grease and paper towels. Filled it back up with salt/RO water, put in about 12 lbs. base rock, 25 lbs. LR (straight from lfs to tank so I assume limited if any die-off), and sand (not live sand...just argonite from lfs). The only thing that is the same as before is the original pitiful 5 lbs. LR and the same biowheel.
I assume my tank will recycle? I've read several new posts in the last few days where their tanks started cycling in 1-3 days. I know most people want clear, good water, and I feel kind of dumb waiting impatiently for yucky water to appear

***) .
Do I need to just take out the shrimp? It's been in for 3 days. Is there anything else I need to do? Has anyone else's tank taken this long?
Thanks,
cc in tx

 

[ophiura]

Yes, you are comparing apples and oranges to some degree. In this case, you may have enough established bacteria on LR and on the biowheel (assuming it was kept wet) that would deal with any ammonia.
When you first did this, you did not have that bacteria, and therefor the tank cycled.

 

[inawe]

Ok, then. Assuming it continues on it's present course of nothing, how long should I wait before reintroducing my clowns? I don't want to jump the gun, but they are presently in a 3g tank with water changes 2x weekly to be safe, and I don't think they like it. They really want in the cup I use for water changes...almost as worrisome as a puppy under foot! :joy:

 

[ophiura]

This is what I would do to be sure. It sounds like you have tried the shrimp.
I would feed the tank for a week (or at least 4 days) as if you have your fish in it. If still nothing, then I would say you are probably in good shape. I would get the readings double checked to be sure it is not a test kit issue. Also, do you see any nitrates?

 

[inawe]

My test shows
pH 8.2
total alkalinity 180ppm
total hardness 400 ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Except for the pH test, the other is just a dipstick test. I'll take a sample in tomorrow to double check everything. Every time I tested with this before changing things, the nitrates always read 0. According to the test, 0-40 is safe. ??? After my past experience with lfs, I'm not exactly overly trusting and prefer to get my answers here.

 

[ophiura]

Nitrate levels vary according to what you are keeping. 5 is fine. For fish only, nitrates are not as critical though higher levels can contribute to algae problems. If you are keeping certain corals, 20 is really as high as you want to get. So you are fine.

 

[inawe]

Thanks!

 

[inawe]

OMG! I just removed the shrimp...or what was left of the shrimp! Through the tank glass and on the bottom of the tank, it looked like an intact shrimp. But when I finally got it out, it was pink mush! And the smell was horrible! 3 days in warm saltwater...if my tank survived THAT, there must be some kinda bacteria in there eating stuff!
Gonna feed it fish food for a few days and see what happens.
Thanks a bunch!
cc in tx