Cycling advise

[cdarnold]

I'm cycling a 3 gal. nano cube and had a few questions. I added roughly 3 lbs. live rock on the 12th and today (the 14th) the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are up. How fast does that normally happen in an aquarium this small?
How often during cycling should I do water changes?
How long after those levels go down do I assume it's cycled?
Any key advise anyone can offer? I'm still relatively new to the hobby and I'm sure there's a lot of you who have forgotten more about this than I'll ever know.
I'm setting up this nano cube to house my false perc and yellow goby while I tear down my other aquarium to set up a new one.

 

[oak]

I think right after the levels go down it would be okay to add something. Oh and how long will your goby and clown be in there.

 

[cdarnold]

I don't plan on keeping them in there one second longer than I need to which brings me to another question....
How long is too long to keep them in there?
I found most of my answers about cycling the thing under the new hobbiest section. It's amazing what you find if only you look but hey, I'm a guy and my wife will tell you I don't look very well for anything.

 

[oak]

Maby a month or two but I don't really know.

 

[cdarnold]

Still cycling and I have a couple more questions....
My ammonia has gone up and back down. My nitrites and nitrates are still high but on their way back down. However, I've got green algae growing everywhere. What do I do about that? The aquarium is plastic so I can't use anything abrasive.
My pH is also too low...7.8. What do I do about that?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by cdarnold
Still cycling and I have a couple more questions....
My ammonia has gone up and back down. My nitrites and nitrates are still high but on their way back down. However, I've got green algae growing everywhere. What do I do about that? The aquarium is plastic so I can't use anything abrasive.
My pH is also too low...7.8. What do I do about that?
1st how long have you been cycling for? Second have you tested your salinity? Is there anything else in the tank right now other than LR?
Depending on what those levels are that you say are up that is to be expected. Dont do any water changes until you have let your tank cycle at least 2 weeks to a month. With no live stock in it there wont be an issue there. I used BioSpira to cycle my tank in a 24 hour period. While no tank is truly seasoned until it is months old I was able to put fish in mine with in 24 hrs of adding the biospira. PH can fluctuate from the time your lights go on to the time they go off. From what I understand it can be quite a bit too. However yours does seem a bit low. I would take a water sample to your LFS let them do it and see if its still off. Salinity can throw it among alot of other things. Seeing as though you have nothing in the tank right now narrows that list.
How big are the fish you want to put in there? They are longer than 3" than you shouldnt put any of them in there. If the overall length of both exceeds 3" you shouldnt put them in there. If you do be prepared to do daily water changes, and keep a close eye on your levels. Your bioload for that size tank is going to be rather large.
Your algea bloom can be caused by a few things. How long are your lights on for? What type of water did you use when you started the tank? As soon as your levels get to a PPM that can sustain life add a clean up crew. :joy:
Good luck

 

[cdarnold]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
1st how long have you been cycling for? Second have you tested your salinity? Is there anything else in the tank right now other than LR?
Depending on what those levels are that you say are up that is to be expected. Dont do any water changes until you have let your tank cycle at least 2 weeks to a month. With no live stock in it there wont be an issue there. I used BioSpira to cycle my tank in a 24 hour period. While no tank is truly seasoned until it is months old I was able to put fish in mine with in 24 hrs of adding the biospira. PH can fluctuate from the time your lights go on to the time they go off. From what I understand it can be quite a bit too. However yours does seem a bit low. I would take a water sample to your LFS let them do it and see if its still off. Salinity can throw it among alot of other things. Seeing as though you have nothing in the tank right now narrows that list.
How big are the fish you want to put in there? They are longer than 3" than you shouldnt put any of them in there. If the overall length of both exceeds 3" you shouldnt put them in there. If you do be prepared to do daily water changes, and keep a close eye on your levels. Your bioload for that size tank is going to be rather large.
Your algea bloom can be caused by a few things. How long are your lights on for? What type of water did you use when you started the tank? As soon as your levels get to a PPM that can sustain life add a clean up crew. :joy:
Good luck
I've been cycling now for nearly a week.
There is nothing in there but the LR. My specific gravity has been testing around 1.025
My latest tests have the ammonia at 0, nitrites at 0, nitrates somewhere between 10 and 20, and my pH at 8.0.
I'd say between the goby and the false perc. I've got roughly 2" of fish.
What would compose the best cleanup crew for this thing? All I have that may qualify in my other aquarium are blue leg hermit crabs. I'd love to put something in there that would make the algae disappear. My lights are on for 8 hours a day or less. Lately that has been less. A couple days I didn't even turn them on.

 

[perfectdark]

Algea will go in time, but your clean up crew will help. Snails are algea hounds, sea cucumbers too. You could prob get 8 or so snails for your tank. 8 sm hermits too. Did you use tap water to start your tank? if so that didnt help. RO/DI is better no phosphates. Your tank is still cycling and i wouldnt put fish in it for another week unless you put a pouch of biospira in to push it along. Then test your water and you should be able to transfer within 24 hours. Hope this helps

 

[cdarnold]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Algea will go in time, but your clean up crew will help. Snails are algea hounds, sea cucumbers too. You could prob get 8 or so snails for your tank. 8 sm hermits too. Did you use tap water to start your tank? if so that didnt help. RO/DI is better no phosphates. Your tank is still cycling and i wouldnt put fish in it for another week unless you put a pouch of biospira in to push it along. Then test your water and you should be able to transfer within 24 hours. Hope this helps
I've been using RO for almsot as long as I've been in the hobby. The tap water in this town has never been acceptable.
Thank you for all the help.

 

[cdarnold]

I've got my cleanup crew working in there now (three blue leg hermits and three astraea snails).
I am noticing two of the same issues I have with my other aquarium and was wanting some advice:
1. I can not get nitrates under 10ppm.
2. I can not get pH over 7.8.
My other aquarium is as different from this one as night and day but these two issues are the same. I use RO water and it's pH before I put it in the aquarium is 8.4 so something in both my aquariums is dragging it down. Ideas?