During the cycling process, when my ammonia eventually spikes, what is the best way to handle it?

[kiefers]

Good morning! sounds like you had a nice swim last night! Lol.... putting fish into the system is a great feeling, so easy, until you have to get them out.Very stressful for both you and the fish.
Your pH will be fine. As I recall, you told me your lights have been out for some time right? Leave your lights on and test later in the evening.
Glad to hear everything is starting to work out for you. Keep in mind what Spanko told you, add critters slowly and test within a couplw of days then a week or so later you may add another. Gr8 advice.

 

[spanko]

You will get the highest reading for Ph in the evening just before lights out and the lowest reading in the morning just before lights on.
Ph buffers do not correct Ph. Tis a band aid.
Also no need to worry about calcium at this point either as your water changes will replace any minimal amount of calcium used now. Don't spend your money on any additives yet or until you need them down the road, save your money for fish, critters, coral.

 

[kiefers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///t/387340/during-the-cycling-process-when-my-ammonia-eventually-spikes-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-it/40#post_3411186
You will get the highest reading for Ph in the evening just before lights out and the lowest reading in the morning just before lights on.
Ph buffers do not correct Ph. Tis a band aid.
Also no need to worry about calcium at this point either as your water changes will replace any minimal amount of calcium used now. Don't spend your money on any additives yet or until you need them down the road, save your money for fish, critters, coral.
Wow..... that sounds very familiar. I was new once too. Lol....

 

[travelerjp98]

yes, there is a high probability that the pH is low because you're leaving your lights off to prevent algal growth.

 

[tirtza]

Time for an Update!
pH = 8.1 (up .1 from yesterday)
*The following have been the exact same for the past 3 weeks
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Salinity = 1.025
Temperature = 77.6

[*]
The 2 Damsels that were in there for 2.5 weeks .... were brought back to the LFS (yeah!)
[*]
I removed a lot of hair algae from the sand a 3 days ago, but it's still on the rock, little tufts here and there in the sand, and on the back wall. It's about 1/4 of an inch long.
[*]
The # of Zoa coral- button polyps are increasing
[*]
I stopped adding a pH buffer today
I added the first of my clean up crew...
Clean up Crew:

• 
  3 (very tiny) blue leg hermit crabs (I also put in a handful of empty shells so that they have housing options, so far the crabs are really

• boring, they don't move around and just stay in their shells, it's difficult to tell which shells have crabs and which don't. Every once in a while if I watch long enough and put my glasses on I can see there little blue legs moving, so I'm sure they are still alive) Is this normal?
  1 Mexican Turbo Snail (He's doing an amazing job cleaning the rock! I can already see a little difference)

That's it for now...I'll check ammonia and nitrites each day for the next week (is that long enough???) and then perhaps add my 1st fish.
Travelerjp98, Spanko, and Keifers, I have no idea what I'd do without your support and advice! Truly amazing!

 

[travelerjp98]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/387340/during-the-cycling-process-when-my-ammonia-eventually-spikes-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-it/40#post_3411301
Time for an Update!
pH = 8.1 (up .1 from yesterday)
*The following have been the exact same for the past 3 weeks
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Salinity = 1.025
Temperature = 77.6

[*]
The 2 Damsels that were in there for 2.5 weeks .... were brought back to the LFS (yeah!)
[*]
I removed a lot of hair algae from the sand a 3 days ago, but it's still on the rock, little tufts here and there in the sand, and on the back wall. It's about 1/4 of an inch long.
[*]
The # of Zoa coral- button polyps are increasing
[*]
I stopped adding a pH buffer today
I added the first of my clean up crew...
Clean up Crew:

• 
  3 (very tiny) blue leg hermit crabs (I also put in a handful of empty shells so that they have housing options, so far the crabs are really

• boring, they don't move around and just stay in their shells, it's difficult to tell which shells have crabs and which don't. Every once in a while if I watch long enough and put my glasses on I can see there little blue legs moving, so I'm sure they are still alive) Is this normal?
  1 Mexican Turbo Snail (He's doing an amazing job cleaning the rock! I can already see a little difference)

That's it for now...I'll check ammonia and nitrites each day for the next week (is that long enough???) and then perhaps add my 1st fish.
Travelerjp98, Spanko, and Keifers, I have no idea what I'd do without your support and advice! Truly amazing!

The crabs are usually shy at first... then you'll see them move a little more. You should check nitrates too, for the next week... also the amount of time necessary to put your fish in depends how the cuc does. If they are active and strong (knock on wood!), I say 1-2 weeks is enough for one fish, but if they don't look too good or if something dies I say we look a little closer at what problems there may be and see from there.

 

[travelerjp98]

Also, thanks for the compliments! I LIKE THEM!

 

[tirtza]

So far almost everyone looks happy and healthy (although one crab died...I think?...either way I took him out of the tank).
Two of the crabs disapeared (I saw them briefly clim up on the rock and I think they've been hiding ever since). The Mexican Turbo Snail is plowing throught the long hair algae on the rocks. I thought the snail was supposed to be nocternal, but it works around the clock and is doing an excellent job! As it clears away some of the long hair algae I see more and more spots where purple coralline algea is growing. yeah!

 

[travelerjp98]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/387340/during-the-cycling-process-when-my-ammonia-eventually-spikes-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-it/40#post_3411752
So far almost everyone looks happy and healthy (although one crab died...I think?...either way I took him out of the tank).
Two of the crabs disapeared (I saw them briefly clim up on the rock and I think they've been hiding ever since). The Mexican Turbo Snail is plowing throught the long hair algae on the rocks. I thought the snail was supposed to be nocternal, but it works around the clock and is doing an excellent job! As it clears away some of the long hair algae I see more and more spots where purple coralline algea is growing. yeah!

That's great! Pics?

 

[kiefers]

hi.... you have to be careful and patient with these crabs. Crabs, as I'm sure you know, molt. Wether hermits or any other crab. When they do molt, it will look as if you have a dead critter in your tank. Personally, I leave the shells in the tank for a couple of days to be sure it's a molting or truely a dead crab. After there molt, they run and hide for awhile because that is when their most vonerable to preditors.
Shrimp do the same thing. One day I would turn my lights on my lil ocean on the stand and see these tenticles waving in the flow, gives you heart palpitations at first then you realize it's the molt of the shrimp. Lol
Just tought you would want to know.

 

[tirtza]

I'm 90% the crab was actually dead.....he hasn't moved at all since I put him in the tank and when I took him out and took a good look at him there was no movement. The other two crabs have disapeared into the rock!

 

[travelerjp98]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/387340/during-the-cycling-process-when-my-ammonia-eventually-spikes-what-is-the-best-way-to-handle-it/40#post_3411899
I'm 90% the crab was actually dead.....he hasn't moved at all since I put him in the tank and when I took him out and took a good look at him there was no movement. The other two crabs have disapeared into the rock!
I guess it's better to be safe than risking your trites going up (or trates)

 

[spanko]

Small hermit crab dying in tank = de minimiss affect on water chemistry.

 

[tirtza]

I just found another tiny dead hermit crab under one of the rocks. The 'goo' that came out of the shell made it look like it might have been dead for a while. So I started with 3 little hermits and am down to 1 (it's either hiding or is dead as well). From day #1 there seemed to be something wrong with those hermit crabs. The Mexican Turbo Snail is doing fabulous though! I can see why it's called a 'turbo' snail...it's a cleaning machine!
I have a confession.....I know I was advised to wait another week, but I couldn't resist....I added a Lawn Mower Blenny! LMB's are amazing (I know it sounds strange saying that about a fish, but he really is cute!) He's doing an excellent job cleaning up my long hair algae. Every time I look at him he's munching away. He's been in the aquarium since Saturday (so 3 days now). His name is John Deer (because he's a little lawn mower), and we call him J.D. for short. If there comes a time when there isn't enough algae for him, I'll supplement his diet with algae sheets or mysis shrimp.
The water parameters for today:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 0
Temp. = 77
pH = 8.1
I've attached the most recent pics of the aquarium plus a great photo of J.D. (he's very photogenic).

 

[tirtza]

Spanko - what's "de minimiss affect on water chemistry"??

 

[kiefers]

Oh boy.......

 

[tirtza]

What"?!?! Was it a really terrible mistake?

So far J.D. is doing excellent, that's good right?

 

[spanko]

de minimis =: lacking significance or importance : so minor as to merit disregard

 

[travelerjp98]

I had 3 lawnmower blennies and they all died... but don't let that down you! I think he'll be good in your tank. now NO MORE fish for AT LEAST 1 week!!! I'm glad that you are getting rid of your gha in a different way then dumping out your sand and chlorinating your lr!

 

[meowzer]

SIGH......MY LMB was one of the first fish I added....I HAD NO CLUE that they needed established tanks....BUT soon had an algae issue so he was very happy...MY TANK is a 225G BTW
ANYWAY....I cured the algae issue....and a couple of weeks ago my LMB died.....NOW..MY LMB DID eat algae sheets and frozen food, BUT he slowly got skinnier....I think they really need an abundance of algae to keep them nice and fat...
IMO your tank is too new for this fish.....