Could it be possible my tank has cycled in 7 days?

spartanph

spartanph

Member
I purhased an 85 gallon tank 7 days ago. It has CC substrate. Added 70 lbs live rock and 20 lbs dead rock 5 days ago. One of my pieces of live rock has a sponge that seems to be doing well. One piece has green leafy seaweed that also seems to be doing well. A small hermit crab hitchhiked in on the LR and is very active as well.
VHO lighting with 2 48" aquasun bulbs and 2 48" super actinic bulbs. 2 aquaclear 70 power heads. prizm deluxe protien skimmer.
Tested water today. Salinity 1.024. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 8.2.
Now the Nitrite and Nitrate tests were both clear using fasTest kits. Which seemed kind of odd to me.
I've been keeping the lights on 12 hours a day. Did a 20% water change 6 days ago to correct salinity issues. Did a 10% water change earlier today as a part of cleaning the CC because I wasn't aware it needed rinsing and every time I moved a piece of rock I had a mini dust storm to deal with. LR had been curing at LFS for over 2 weeks but does have some white sections from the move to my tank.
Has my tank cycled? If it hasn't cycled yet does that mean the cycle hasn't started and should I add something to the tank to kick it off?
 
shrmnator

shrmnator

Member
did you ever get your ammonia spike? or a nitrite spike? if not toss in some dead cocktail shrimp from the grocery store and that will get it started.
if you did already get a spike, feed the tank as if there are fish in there and see if your ammonia spikes or not...
 
my way

my way

Active Member
Did you monitor the levels all along? Did the Ammo and 'Trites ever rise? I seriously doubt that it cycled in one week, throw a raw shrimp in the tank and test every day for at least a week, I bet you see a rise in these levels.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Sure....with a limited ammonia source and no bio-load the tests could indicate a completed cycle....but it may not be ready to process much of a bio-load. It would be likely that after introducing livestock you'd see a ammonia spike and another mini cycle. It is always better to insure a significent ammonia spike when cycling a new system....that way you can be confident that the biological filtration can cope with the demands livestock additions place on it.
 
spartanph

spartanph

Member
I wasn't testing every day because the LFS told me it would be several weeks before I needed to test. I'll give a shrimp a try.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Trust your LFS or trust folks that actually care about the condition of your system.....
~your tank~your choice
 
toyshika

toyshika

Member
Originally Posted by SpartanPH
How long should I test every day for? And then how often?

I would test everynight. The shrimp this is OK or ghost feeding is OK, although I didn't do either one and my tank completed the cycle in less than three weeks! :) Good Luck!
 
toyshika

toyshika

Member
Originally Posted by SpartanPH
Do you continue to test every day even after the tank is more established?

I do my water test weekly, every Saturday night. You may want to get into the habit of testing your water, when you perform your weekly water changes, or how often you plan to do it.
As for the shrimp, keep it in there, test your levels daily. You should see a spike, my tank hit a 10, and then it should drop down to 0 PPM for everything (Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia). Ensure your salt level is where you need it to be, and check the PH. Once your levels have dropped you should perform a small water change, and then you can add the inverts. :cheer:
 
spartanph

spartanph

Member
This may be a dumb question but I put the raw shrimp in last night and today it's partially cooked. My tank is at 78 degrees. Is this normal?
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
It'll start t rot and decompose....which will provide the ammonia source to initiate the cycle. I'd test ammonia and when you see a significent spike then remove the nasty smellin' shrimp. Once you see a spike in ammonia then you can monitor the ammonia and nitrite until you see a nitrite spike.....after that there should be a spike in nitrate.......after the nitrate spikes all numbers should return to zero(nitrate sometimes will still show up)......when establishing a new tank I usually test every few days....in my opinion daily tests are not needed if you have a grasp on how things are progressing.
 
chipmaker

chipmaker

Active Member
I still do not understand poluting water with dead shrimp to initiate a cycle, especially when so much live rock was used. If that live rock was good quality and had little to no die off when it was placed in the tank it is all together possible for a tank to cycle in a few days and you could easily miss a spike. The lfs here and in the next town use LR all the time for their customers tanks, and its not uncommon to start stocking their setups within 3 to 5 days of initially setting them up since their live rock is great as is their sand........Unless your into smelling dead cocktailshrimp and looking at poluted water, then thats another story, but IMNSHO its just yet another way to totally foul up perfectly good tank parameters for no known reason.
 
drewsta

drewsta

Active Member
I dont know about the dead shrimp thing.... I mean they use all types of preservatives on things you buy at the grocery store, I personally dont want that crap in my tank JMO
 
my way

my way

Active Member
Ive cycled a few tanks with shrimp with no smell or foul looking water. I would rather know for sure I have an established bacteria colony rather than throw fish in it only to have them die because there's not enough bacteria to consume the waste. without this person testing till now there is no way to know if he has cycled at all.
Sparten, test every day for at least a week to see if your Ammonia and Nitrite levels rise. Your Ammo should go up then drop really quick , you will see the same with the nitrites shortly after the Ammo or during. When both levels are at zero you are ready to slowly add your fish one at a time. Then as long as everything is OK I would test once a week. If you don't see a rise in your levels within about 3or 4 days I would think your tank has already cycled and I would pull the shrimp out and get your first fish.
 
vtfishies

vtfishies

Member
i also used the uncooked shrimp..well 2 actually in a 75 gal..cycled in 9 days..no odor no cloudyness.. for removal u can put in in a peice of panty hose..easy to remove after it starts to decompose...i also missed the ammonia spike...good luck..
 
spartanph

spartanph

Member
Shrimp has been in the tank about 26 hours now. Starting to look scummy has a nice fuzzy film over it.
Tested water. Salinity 1.024. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 8.2.
How long should it take for the Ammonia to spike?
 
milomlo

milomlo

Active Member
I actually did cycle my tank in only 7 days. I had good live rock which apparently already had the beneficial bacteria. I even used the shrimp and ghost fed. 7 days!! So yes it is possible. If you still aren't getting any ammonia with that shrimp in there you may not. I would say it should show some ammonia if it has been in there 26 hours. To be on the safe side though leave it in another couple of days and do your testing.
If nothing happens I say it is ok to add your cleaning crew. This was the advice given to me by WAX32 and I have not had any problems. GOOD LUCK
 
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