Bad Cycle

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pirate_bob

Guest
Well It happened my damsels past on... I went to the lfs and started talking with the lady there and she said I interupted my nitrite cycle thats what killed them all.... I was two months into the cycle and i though i was done but the following week my nitrites were reading between 1.6 and 33mg/l.. I got scared thought this was way to high so I vaccumed my coral and did a partial water change..... Brought it down to .3 mg/l and she said I killed the cycle...
Please help... what should I do now.. she said don't add any fish.. just keep putting food in every night.. is this right?? how long should i do this for?? Wouldn't two months be long enough for a cycle?? It was a 29 gallon tank...
Right now I'm keeping all my filters running and the heater on just incase someone else gives my some input....
I'm thinking I have to start all over or is what the lfs said correct?
she then also went on to say i should have cycled the tank w/ 6 - 7 damsels... isn't that way to much?
 
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sebae0

Guest
one fish is enough to start the cycle, and doing a water change and vacuming the gravel is not recommended during the cycle. be patient and dont rush it since it started to cycle let it finish. adding food will help create more waste to breakdown and jumpstart it again.
 
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alti

Guest
two months seems like a long time for a tank to not finished cycling. your sig doesn't mention any live rock. if you dont have any live rock, your biological filtration may not be sufficient to cycle the tank. what kind of filter do you have.
 
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pirate_bob

Guest
Yea I have no LR in there right now.. I have a ugf w/ 2 powerheads... and an aquaclear 200 with a carbon insert in it.. its one that sits on the back of the tank.... should i put LR in there... or is the ls good enough....
 
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alti

Guest
IMO you need better filtration. ditch the UG filter. it will just give you nitrate problems. use the powerheads for circulation.the aquaclear is not enough either. i have an aquaclear 300 on a 12 gal tank and it is just barely enough. with onloy the aquaclear and live sand i dont think you will have enough biological filtration for your setup. it may work, but small power filters are not really adequate for saltwater tank that size. if you get 10-20 lbs of live rock it will help alot. i personally would get at least 30 lbs, but its your tank and your decision.
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
other thing I noticed, if you have LS you cannot run an ugf, it just wouldn't work. I would take out the ugf. get some LR. and a better filter, I prefer to cycle with grocery store shrimp. Then when you are finished cycling you can put the type of fish in you would like to keep.
 
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pirate_bob

Guest
what kind of filter do you guys suggest??
-- a fluval???
 
xxvietxjustinxx

xxvietxjustinxx

Member
Fuvals are very good but canister filters just arent good for saltwater tanks. You can use them, but they won't be as effiencent as a wet and dry for example...
 
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alti

Guest
i agree with the overflow box and 10 gal sump idea. i run a canister filter on a 30 gal only because i dont have room for a sump underneath the tank. you can probably build the whole setup for less than $100.00
 
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pirate_bob

Guest
I'm not to sure if I have room under my tank.... but i have been looking into adding live rock if i were to use live rock and that carbon filter do you think that would be enough....
Actually I also don't know alot behind the sump idea.. could someone inform me please? I've been reading alot of books on the hobby but they don't go into much detail.. here on this forum I've realized the books get you started but everyone here helps you out to understand it..
 
mxracer572501

mxracer572501

Member
No actally 6-7 damsels is not to much, my fish guy says the more fish the better, it will make the cycle go faster, i have a 72 bow with 80lbs of LS, 64lbs of LR and and i use a wet dry filter.i put in 14 damsels he said i can put in more but that's all i put in, so far
 
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alti

Guest
have fun trying to get them out mx racer. you'll soon learn to NEVER LISTEN TO WHAT THEY TELL YOU AT THE LFS.
 
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pirate_bob

Guest
ok well i just tested my tank and here is what everything is reading...
pH = 8.2
nh4 = 0
no3 = >50 mg/l
no2 = >3.3 mg/l
I'm kinda puzzeled... I thought my cycle was still going but don't these numbers mean its done?????
 
mxracer572501

mxracer572501

Member
well i wont need to get them out because when i get my other fish they will eat them or they will eventually just die off, i allready lost 3 so i dont think it will be a problem besides its not that hard to throw in some food then when they come to the top to eat u catch them.
 
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alti

Guest
just try it racer and youll see what i mean. its much easier said than done.
 
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