Cycle Questions

[djcanis]

Ok, so I got all my aquascaping done, ended up with 130lbs of LR and 92 of sand in a 90gal DT. I picked up a piece of knarly LR at the LFS, it is covered in dusters and some kind of what I think is hair algee. I put it in the tank at the same time as I threw in a shrimp to start my cycle. Couple of questions:
1) How long do I leave the shrimp in the tank? Till it decomposes, till I get an ammonia spike?
2) What are the chances of the dusters and other stuff on the LR surviving the cycle?
3) How long should I run my lights during the cycle? Will more/less light effect the cycle?
4) If I have 50lbs of base rock and 80 of LR, 90 of dry sand, and 2 of live sand, how long will I be lookign at for the base rock and sand to be properly seeded? Is there anything I should add? Pods, etc...?
Thanks
Brian

 

[taznut]

Originally Posted by DJCanis
http:///forum/post/3040638
Ok, so I got all my aquascaping done, ended up with 130lbs of LR and 92 of sand in a 90gal DT. I picked up a piece of knarly LR at the LFS, it is covered in dusters and some kind of what I think is hair algee. I put it in the tank at the same time as I threw in a shrimp to start my cycle. Couple of questions:
1) How long do I leave the shrimp in the tank? Till it decomposes, till I get an ammonia spike?
2) What are the chances of the dusters and other stuff on the LR surviving the cycle?
3) How long should I run my lights during the cycle? Will more/less light effect the cycle?
4) If I have 50lbs of base rock and 80 of LR, 90 of dry sand, and 2 of live sand, how long will I be lookign at for the base rock and sand to be properly seeded? Is there anything I should add? Pods, etc...?
Thanks
Brian
1. i didnt use shrimp, my lr was more than enough for the cycle to start... i wouldn't let the shrimp get too nasty
2. my dusters are still alive and i even have some small corals (i think gsp) that are still alive and im 5 weeks into the cycle
3. less lighting imo, the hair algae is killing me right now and i have been running lights 12 hours a day (going to leave them off from now on)
4. my amm hit the top of the scale in about 3 days and was back to zero in 4 weeks, i have about 190lbs of lr and 140lbs of dry sand so it seems to be seeded now
i started noticing pods about 3 weeks into my cycle and now they are all over the glass... i would guess this depends on how many you got with your lr to start with... i would just look for them and if you dont see any when the cycle is over, add some...

 

[geridoc]

Originally Posted by DJCanis
http:///forum/post/3040638
Ok, so I got all my aquascaping done, ended up with 130lbs of LR and 92 of sand in a 90gal DT. I picked up a piece of knarly LR at the LFS, it is covered in dusters and some kind of what I think is hair algee. I put it in the tank at the same time as I threw in a shrimp to start my cycle. Couple of questions:
1) How long do I leave the shrimp in the tank? Till it decomposes, till I get an ammonia spike?
When the ammonia rises to 0.1-0.5 take the shrimp out. If the ammonia rises too much it actually becomes toxic to the bacteria you are trying to feed.
2) What are the chances of the dusters and other stuff on the LR surviving the cycle?
Many will not, but a few will.
3) How long should I run my lights during the cycle? Will more/less light effect the cycle?
You don't need lights at all, especially after you mentioned that there was hair algae on a piece of the rock you bought. Leave the tank dark and hopefully the algae will die off.
4) If I have 50lbs of base rock and 80 of LR, 90 of dry sand, and 2 of live sand, how long will I be lookign at for the base rock and sand to be properly seeded? Is there anything I should add? Pods, etc...?
With 90 lb of LR you don't have to worry about how long it will take to seed the base rock - you have enough LR to support anything you put in the tank (within reason, of course). the base will get seeded when it gets seeded and you probably won't see any consequence of that happening.

 

[djcanis]

Asome, thank you. The hair algee, at least that what I think it is, is only on a 7lb piece I picked up on Sunday, I was at the LFS and saw this cool looking piece so I had to get it, its now the center piece of the DT. I will post pic later. I have been running the lights about 10 hrs a day. Will the algee spread? I have some Chaeto in the tank which was a gift. Its going in the sump but thats not up and running yet, hopefully by the end of the week. So I do need some light for that... Would 6 to 8 hours a day be sufficient for the next week?

 

[florida joe]

Ok this is why people think I am crazy. YOU may never see a spike. You have 130 lbs of live rock. Where did you get the live rock (locally or on line) if locally and it was fully cured you may have enough nitrifying bacteria to handle the bio load you introduce with the shrimp I would look for any nitrate readings
If the ammonia rises too much it actually becomes toxic to the bacteria you are trying to feed.
This will never happen with one shrimp in a 90-gallon tank
Do not let the hair algae get a foothold in your tank. Remove the rock and scrape off as much as you possabably can. If need be bleach out the rock and let it reestablish itself again, In the long run you will be better off

 

[deejeff442]

+1 to joe
cure the rock in a tote and then putting it into a tank with all new water it probably wont cycle.just like doing a huge water change.
this is how i do it also.

 

[djcanis]

Of the 130lbs, 30 was from my old tank which has just been under water and powerheads since jan. 45 lbs of base rock, 5 from the LFS and 50 from a guy who just took down his tank. So all in all 55 was established LR, 30 was not sure how live it is now and 45 is dry uncured rock...
Was gonna get another 20 for the sump over the weekend. The sand bed (90lbs) is not live, I'm seeding it with 2lbs of live from 2 established tanks.

 

[djcanis]

I was looking at getting the 2 stage phosban reactor for the sump, running one chamber with carbon the other with the phospate for the algae. Would that help with the hair algae?

 

[deejeff442]

i wouldnt bother seeding the sand.
i would just put all the rock in the tank and sump and watch the tests untill it has cycled,dont bother wit the shrimp.the die off on the rock will cycle the tank.the sand will be seeded by the rock.

 

[djcanis]

I had already started seeding the sand bed. I got a pound from the local fish store and put that in when I filled the tank and then got a large baggie from a friend out of his reef tank and dumped that in.

 

[djcanis]

Ran the first test, here are the results... Should I leave the shrimp in the tank or get it out... Its all bloated and puffy, its pretty gnarly looking...
Ammonia - .45
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 15
Phosphate - 0
pH - 7.9
SG - 1.022

 

[florida joe]

Are you sure about your nitrite and nitrate readings?
IMO you can take out your shrimp. .45 NH3 is toxic so you should be showing some nitrite reading

 

[djcanis]

Ran the tests twice, the ammonia test was just under .50 Nitrites were as clear blue as could be... Tank has been cycling for about 5 days now...
I will get rid of the shrimp and retest tonight...

 

[florida joe]

Retest your nitrate. And be careful with the time frame for each regent

 

[djcanis]

Joe - What do you mean "becareful with the time frame for each regent"?

 

[djcanis]

Just took the shrimp out, that has to be one of the nastiest experiences of my life... Retested the water, Ammonia is just under .50 and nitrites look to be about .25 Thats all I tested at the moment... Also scraped off the hair algee, it receded a lot since I have left the light off the last 2 days...

 

[florida joe]

time to sit back and wait I feel better that you are reading nitrites

 

[djcanis]

Just did a water test, Ammonia was .25, Nitrites were back to 0 (tested twice) and Nitrates was up near 10. I am little confused, very different readings from yesterday...
Any thoughts?

 

[florida joe]

are you testing right after feeding

 

[djcanis]

There is no live stock in the tank. I started cycling on Sunday. 90lbs of sand with 2lbs of live sand, and 45lbs of dry base rock, 30lbs of LR from my 29 gal tank (its only had rock, water and powerheads since jan.) 55 lbs of LR from a 300 gal tank a friend took down and about 10 lbs from the LFS. All went together this past weekend... I wasnt even thinking about livestock at this point...