cycling

peg

peg

Member
k guys and gals i am into my 23rd day of cycling a 75 gal with 4 shrimp. my ammonia is still off the chart and i have no signs of any nitrites. just yesterday i started to get alittle brown algae on the cc and glass. any clue or suggestions as to why the nitrites are not coming along? thanks for your imput.
 
k.lee

k.lee

Member
Gt some gravel from a tank you know hasn't been treated, and put it in sump ot tank. Freshwater will even work. Lastly some earth will even work, otherwise known as garden sil. Just use a pinch if you go the earth route. Diatoms, that brown stuff is a good sign.
Lee
 
peg

peg

Member
no clue on anyone who has a tank :( so with the diatom starting you are saying that the nitrites should start? i do have patience but... i really would have thought it would be moving alittle faster.
 
k.lee

k.lee

Member
Originally posted by peg:
<strong>no clue on anyone who has a tank :( so with the diatom starting you are saying that the nitrites should start? i do have patience but... i really would have thought it would be moving alittle faster.</strong><hr></blockquote>
YES! The diatoms are life! They are metabolising in your tank!
 
peg

peg

Member
kewl... and thanks!! any clue on how long it should take seeing the diatoms are starting?
 
k.lee

k.lee

Member
No not really. I'd say a week or two. A week if you don't have any major die-offs? Keep testing. :)
 
jastim

jastim

Member
Peg,
What type of Biofilter are you using in your tank? Is it a wet/dry filter? I am assuming you are not using live rock since your tank is slow to cycle.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Peg,
A 75 gallon tank is a pretty good size tank, and since you've just got the tank, substrate I'm assuming, Emperor and 4 shrimp - I'd guess 4-6 weeks to cycle. If you haven't any powerheads, you may want to add a couple for circulation.
Temperature can also affect cycling times as well. Meanwhile - just have to wait for the bacteria to reproduce and do their thing.
Not knowing everything about your tank, I'm speculating about the 4-6 weeks though.
Good luck - I think you have a lot of patience.
How do the shrimp look btw ?
p.s. don't know about adding garden dirt to a tank - that's a new one to me.
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
no i would leave the brown diatoms there it will eventually go away. adding more current to your tank can also help this problem. all tanks cycle at their own rate and can take up to months to fully cycle out, so yes, patience is a virtue. there is no doubt in my mind that your trites will eventually build but at what rate iyou can never be sure. adding l/r or l/s to your tank will help speed up the process, but you will be looking at some die-off on the rock which may add to your ammonia at this point. do you have any power heads in your tank for circulation??? if not, i would recommend you getting some down the line. circulation in a swf tank is very important.
 
peg

peg

Member
i ordered the powerheads. i am hoping they get here today. now if i ordered the lr and put it in now won't the hi ammonia hurt the rock? i just figured i would add it aafter the cycle <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
peg, i added my l/r during the cycle but my ammo. was at on .25. that is a good question but don't want to steer you in the wrong direction because i am not sure of the answer. what i can tell you though is that people use l/r and l/s to cycle their tanks and the l/r is in the tank when the ammo spikes. i would guess that you may have some die off but you will have some anyway. i would wait maybe until the ammo goes down a little then introduce it into the tank, but remember that you will have some die off and may see a little elevation in the ammo again. l/r is great and only beneficial to your tank (if it is cured).
 
chrismilano

chrismilano

Member
Peg, dont get down - your tank sounds like a mirror of mine. 70 gallon, 6 weeks in and high nitrites with a brown diatom bloom. I just still them up and sweep them into a net. DO NOT do any water changes, this will only prolong it.
Every weekend I just tell myself 1 more week!
 
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