Cycling my tank is killing me!

billy2k1

billy2k1

Member
I have been running my 30g for 2 weeks now and all i have is
.25 amonia,0 trites and 0 trates.I'm using ro+di water,wet/dry rated for 75g and 20# live sand.I also added one shrimp and i put some flake food every other day to help to create amonia.What am i doing wrong?,why my !-#$% water is in so good shape when all i need is some nasty,toxic and smelly water
to get my cycle started?
:mad: :mad:
 
soo high

soo high

Member
throw in 5 dead uncook shrimp with the head still intack :) this will make ur amonia rise so high u have to do a 20% water change
 
newfishguy

newfishguy

Member
I had the same problem so I added four cocktail shrimp to the tank and the ammonia went through the roof.
Originally Posted by Billy2k1
I have been running my 30g for 2 weeks now and all i have is
.25 amonia,0 trites and 0 trates.I'm using ro+di water,wet/dry rated for 75g and 20# live sand.I also added one shrimp and i put some flake food every other day to help to create amonia.What am i doing wrong?,why my !-#$% water is in so good shape when all i need is some nasty,toxic and smelly water
to get my cycle started?
:mad: :mad:
 
billy2k1

billy2k1

Member
Ok,i just put 4 more shrimps in my tank,now i just have to wait and check my water for amonia in about 2 days,maybe.Then i'm planning on remove the shrimp from the tank and let nature take over.Is this about right?.I'm new to this hobbie,all i have done is a lot of reading here on this forum and a book called "Marine aquariums" by Jeffrey Kurtz
.
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
please quit throwing dead raw shrimp in there....your cycle sometimes takes longer than 3 weeks, try getting some uncured live rock, it will help you along the way especially from die off of anything that may be alive in it, also the rock is beneficial in the future for your tank anyway. the raw shrimp is not going to help it is however going to make your cycle a whole lot longer. just try to add the uncured rock first...
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Shark is right. No more dead stuff in the tank. You have plenty of ammonia at .25 this is the first part of your cycle. When sufficient bacteria form the ammonia will convert to nitrite. This should be right around the corner for you. You will then start seeing relatively high levels of nitrite. This is the second part of your cycle. A second group of bacteria will develop to convert that and your done. Second part usually takes less time than the first. When you start seeing zero ammonias you have a week to ten days left.
 
soo high

soo high

Member
uncured rock 4-7 dollar a pounds and a 1pound of shrimp 6.00 ...throwing a couple in and having the rest in a hot pan cooking = dinner :)
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by SoO High
uncured rock 4-7 dollar a pounds and a 1pound of shrimp 6.00 ...throwing a couple in and having the rest in a hot pan cooking = dinner :)

this is the wrong advice......please stop
 
billy2k1

billy2k1

Member
This is kind of funny,here i go again,down stars to remove the shrimp that i just put in.Honestly, i don't know what to think but i will listen to you guys,after all i don't have experience.Now,should i keep adding some flake food same way i was doing? every other day?
 
celacanthr

celacanthr

Active Member
i would hold off till u finish cycling then for a week feed the tank every other day to make sure that the ammonia won't spike again before putting anything living in.
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by CELACANTHr
i would hold off till u finish cycling then for a week feed the tank every other day to make sure that the ammonia won't spike again before putting anything living in.
this is correct advice....but the uncured rock will not hurt, your cycle is not near completion yet. the rock will be beneficial for you anway, see if can dig up a few bucks it will pay off in the long run...
 
billy2k1

billy2k1

Member
ok,now i'm conffused.If i stop now with just .25 amonia,how is it suppose to spike without any more "fuel" so it can go on?
 
soo high

soo high

Member
putting shrimp in a tank to cycle is not wrong advice that the advice i have gotten and it work now there nothing wrong with adding uncured rock because i have 30-35 pounds of uncured rock in my tank that still cycling as we speak......
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Billy2k1
ok,now i'm confused.If i stop now with just .25 amonia,how is it supposed to spike without any more "fuel" so it can go on?


dont worry about fuel, are all your other levels 0?? if this is the case try adding some LIVE rock... see what happens then....by the way post your levels....
by the way .25 is a spike.... .25 is still toxic
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by SoO High
putting shrimp in a tank to cycle is not wrong advice that the advice i have gotten and it work now there nothing wrong with adding uncured rock because i have 30-35 pounds of uncured rock in my tank that still cycling as we speak......
why do you insist on debating this??? One raw shrimp when you first add water is what you want to do, not keep adding shrimp.......this does nothing but harm your cycle, creating more than is neccessary will take longer and make your tank very toxic as well as he stated he added Live sand, let the biosystem catch up, do not keep adding shrimp, one at the beginning until you see your levels start to spike, then remove it..nature will take its course from there. The only reason to add a shrimp is to kickstart or speed up a cycle, it is not neccessary to add anything technically, but it helps in speeding up the process.
 
billy2k1

billy2k1

Member
Ok,i guess i just have to wait and add some LR to my tank.Thanks a lot guys for the advise.I was ready to ruin my tank but now i think is safe
.I'll be back during the week with my progress and test results.Thanks a lot... :happyfish
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Billy2k1
Ok,i guess i just have to wait and add some LR to my tank.Thanks a lot guys for the advise.I was ready to ruin my tank but now i think is safe
.I'll be back during the week with my progress and test results.Thanks a lot... :happyfish

happy to help, like i said though dont be so concerned buying premium cured rock. you are still cycling just get some uncured rock scrub and rinse it off and start building, the cost wont be as high per pound and it will help you along in your cycle as well as give you a good look and biofiltering once its cycled...
 
soo high

soo high

Member
calm down sharky lol your right ... im wrong i thought he wanted to know how many shrimp my bad i still would of put more then 1 shrimp in the beggining IMO
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top