Cycle Questions

marcog

marcog

New Member
Hi Everyone,
I am a beginner and have read so many different opinions on cycling a new tank. My tank has been up and running for 1 month. I purchased real sea water, 20 lbs of live sand / crushed coral and 35lbs of live Figi rock (online). I have a marineland bio-wheel filter, heater and strong power head. I was also told to add a small bag of substrate to the filter canisiter. They didn't tell me how much, so I put about a cup onto the top of the filter pad.
The water salinity level is at 35. Ammonia is 0 / Nitrite is 0 / Nitrate is 0 / PH is 8. The water is crystal clear and at 78 degrees. Being new to the hobby, I check the levels every other day and they never change.
In the past week alage started growing on the glass. The rocks are growing all kinds of things from little plants, alage and small red things. I also see some little white worms trying to cling on to the rock.
The LFS told me I could add a couple of maroon clowns to the tank. I did and they fight 24 hours a day. Is this going to go on all of the time or will they eventually stop fighting? I also added a humpback shrimp and an arrow crab..they are very happy. I feed them twice a day and they all have a very large appetite, even the crab and shrimp come out for food.
The LFS sales person told me that with live sand, live rock and a couple of fish, the tank will cycle much faster than on it's own. Did my tank cycle and I totally missed it or does it still need to cycle much further? I have been reading posts on this website but am still confused at to when I cycle is complete. After a month, I don't think that my tanks cycle has even started.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
Marco
 
cl0wnfish

cl0wnfish

Member
Your tank did cycle with the live rock. It most likely was almost cured so you didnt get much dieoff from that. Ditto with the live sand and seawater.
As for the maroons, how many did you get? If you got more than two, return the rest. They will fight until there are only two left. If you only have two, they are just sorting out who is the dominant female and who is the male. It will subside in time. Maroons are notoriously aggressive so keep this in mind with future fish purchases.
As for cycling, your tank will do a mini cycle every time you increase the bioload (add critters). The fact that you had algae growing and all sorts of hitchikers from the live rock (they are a good thing) tells me that you got a good, stable system. You want to watch your water parameters as you may get a little spike in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate after adding the fish.
What the fish store was saying is that you need to develop the denitrifying bacteria in your tank. They only reproduce if there is enough food. Enter the fish, they make ammonia as a waste product thus feeding the bacteria and causing them go multiply and grow. With plenty of food, they do this rapidly.
So keep up the good work and keep doing what you are doing. Keep an eye on those parameters and watch your inhabitants. The crab and shrimp will show signs of stress before the clowns will so watch them closely.
Good luck and welcome to the board!
 
marcog

marcog

New Member
Thank you very much for the insite. I really appreciate it and am looking forward to keeping a great salt water tank.
Thanks again,
Marco
 
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