Cycling new 144 bow and confused!
- Thread starter rrcjr1972
- Start date
sw65galma
Active Member
because it's measureing in PPM.
So lets say for arguments sake that you have an amonia reading of 1 ppm and lets say you have 100 million parts in your 75 gallon...So that's 1 part of amonia per million parts of water.
Now lets say in your 150 you have double the volumes so now you have 200million...that same 1 ppm would only be .5ppm..So that'd be only .5 part per million parts of water...undetectable..
So that's the Same amount of amonia you had in your 75 gallon...that is why you can add fish..
You have the bacteria and amonia...but it's not at a concentraion enough for a reading...
So if you through fish in there..the amount of bacteria, Nitirites and nitrates exist, but not at a level you can read...
There is a cycle going on but it's at a undetectable rate due to volume..
Think of it as being diliuted...
So lets say for arguments sake that you have an amonia reading of 1 ppm and lets say you have 100 million parts in your 75 gallon...So that's 1 part of amonia per million parts of water.
Now lets say in your 150 you have double the volumes so now you have 200million...that same 1 ppm would only be .5ppm..So that'd be only .5 part per million parts of water...undetectable..
So that's the Same amount of amonia you had in your 75 gallon...that is why you can add fish..
You have the bacteria and amonia...but it's not at a concentraion enough for a reading...
So if you through fish in there..the amount of bacteria, Nitirites and nitrates exist, but not at a level you can read...
There is a cycle going on but it's at a undetectable rate due to volume..
Think of it as being diliuted...
konrade
Member
Well first of all you should always cycle IMO. It is to build up your beneficial bacteria, not whether you will have an ammonia spike. I think you should give it some time although it will probably be a short cycle. You need to biuld up your beneficial bacteria. If you bought fish and they pooped it would produce ammonia. Over time, without the necesary bacteria colonies, your ammonia would get higher an higher, but your bacteria colonies would also grow due to the large amount of fish waste, but why take the chance of killing an expensive fish because you would not have the necessary amount of nitrifying bacteria. All I'm saying is, thrwo something in like a piece of raw shrimp to kickstart the cycle, and skip on the fish until you know that you have the right amount of bacteria. The reason why it hasn't started cycling is because you put cured lr in. Only uncured will start the cycle. If you put a fish in now and it pooped there would be no bacteria to convert the ammonia, and your ammonia would reach high levels. Just wait on the fish until your sure.
sw65galma
Active Member
Konrade,
You are correct to a point.. The Cured LR, and the 100lbs of Live Sand which has this bacteria you speak of already..
You would be correct *IF* he used new Playsand and brand new Base rock.
BUT since he is using stuff from his old tank, he has the bacteria base to add fish..
Get it?
But if he doesn't add fish soon (or an amonia source), the bacteria will die due to no food.... and break his cycle...
You are correct to a point.. The Cured LR, and the 100lbs of Live Sand which has this bacteria you speak of already..
You would be correct *IF* he used new Playsand and brand new Base rock.
BUT since he is using stuff from his old tank, he has the bacteria base to add fish..
Get it?
But if he doesn't add fish soon (or an amonia source), the bacteria will die due to no food.... and break his cycle...
sula
Member
LOL you've got me there sw, I've only got small tanks. But I am basically in agreement with you. I think if you add enough of a biological filter you can have the same experience in a smaller tank as well. When I wasn't certain whether one of my tanks was cycled, I added a half a cocktail shrimp. I could literally see the pods swarming all over it and they had it consumed in 3 days. 0 ammonia, 0 nitirites, trace nitrates. Cycle complete.
scubadoo
Active Member
If you use cured live rock and live sand when starting a new tank of any size it is possible that you will not see a spike. All is depending on bio-load and how fast it is increased.
In all cases...if you increase your bioload too fast you risk a spike regardless of the size of the system.
In all cases...if you increase your bioload too fast you risk a spike regardless of the size of the system.
sw65galma
Active Member
Originally Posted by ScubaDoo
If you use cured live rock and live sand when starting a new tank of any size it is possible that you will not see a spike. All is depending on bio-load and how fast it is increased.
In all cases...if you increase your bioload too fast you risk a spike regardless of the size of the system.
Finally somone with a big tank who knows what i'm saying!
If you use cured live rock and live sand when starting a new tank of any size it is possible that you will not see a spike. All is depending on bio-load and how fast it is increased.
In all cases...if you increase your bioload too fast you risk a spike regardless of the size of the system.
Finally somone with a big tank who knows what i'm saying!