Cycle Help Please!

[rhughart1]

I have a 150gal tank. I ordered the 150gal package from Tampa Bay Saltwater. The rock was beuatiful the first 2 nights and my ammonia was pretty low. Now, my ammonia level has shot way high, pieces of the rock are breaking off, and there is a white film on everything in my tank. The water is also now cloudy. Needless to say I am starting to panick. I have changed 85 gallons of water, but the film is still there, and the ammonia is still high. My water temp is 76degrees. I have 2 300w heaters in the tank. I have a WetDry Bio filter. I have one Damsel in the tank.

 

[mlm]

You just have a large bacteria bloom. Not a problem just part of the cycle. Don't change the water b/c you are slowing down the cycle. It will clear up on its own in a couple of days.

 

[rhughart1]

Thanks for the tips! I kind of felt that the answer might be skimming. I am really nervous about the water change issue, as it seems that people are really split on this. Some people say do not change water at all during cycling, others (including my live rock supplier) suggest frequent water changes during cycling along with skimming, which is where I think that I was going wrong. I did perform some water changes, but it did not even put a dent in my ammonia levels. Tonight I have seen more life in the tank to date. I counted 9 clams, numerous crabs and starfish, along with snails etc. All seem to be alive and well, I just dont know for how long in these conditions.

 

[gtc]

I have cured several pounds of live rock from <a href="http://www.gulf-view.com" target="_blank">www.gulf-view.com</a> which like TB is gulf rock. Do small water changes, every other day to dillute the ammonia level and preserve as much life as possible. The ammonia level should drop within 7 days.

 

[fshhub]

generally for a cycle, i woudl say do nothing at all, even skim or water changes, personally, but do make sure you have real good circulation, jsut like the rock supplier advised, things will happen, even the ammonia spike, DON'T PANIC this is supposed to happen during a cycle,, you want it to happen that way, and the film may be things dying off(like coraline) but most of it will regrow
now if it is uncured lr, then curing will be worse than just cycling, so maybe you would want to do water changes, just to keep the odor down
i too would think about not using fish during a cycle, for these reasons(ammonia is toxic)

 

[rhughart1]

What is everyone's thoughts on using a water supplement such as BacterVital to change the ammonia's toxicity to nitrites? I understand that ammonia will still show up on the test kit reading, but the ammonia in the water will not be toxic. My local store owner advised that this would be good for the cycle. One more question, on the TBS website they advise that the they reccommend the CPR BakPak skimmer and that it will easily work on tanks from 25 to 200 gallons. Everything that I have read about this skimmer says it is only reccommended for tanks up to 60 gallons. Any thoughts???

 

[fshhub]

first, IMO i would not use any suppliments, they sometimes seem to help, but help what, nothing that will not happen itself, and in some cases actually seeem to cause problems
there are no reliable quick fixes inthis hobby, because nothing good ever happens fast here
and i would not use the bakpak for a 150, IMO most skimmers are over rated not underrated, in the case of the bakpak, it is rated pretty good, in fact it may be able to handle a little ofer a 60 but not much(maybe a 75 ) especially a 150
i'd look into either a berlin or and aqua c skimmer, if i were looking in the 150 range, both are alittle over 150 but not a lot and well worth it
HTH