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granny

granny

Member
Yep! not a quart or anything, just a handful of flake food will work or some krill or anything youve got thats not too oily.
Something has got to happen. You only get a response if you overload the existing capability of your biological filter to break down ammo into nitrites into nitrates. If your seeing nothing, then I would assume you arent providing enough of a bioload.
It wont hurt anything since you have no living creatures in there, at least I dont see anything live and it will definitely get it started. Once you have cycled, you should also go through a brown diatom stage-dont worry-it will pass.
Give it a try and keep your ammo test kit handy. You only need to test for ammo first, then once the ammo is gone, test for the nitrites, etc.
Once youve gone through this cycle, do a partial water change and then try something really hardy like a chromis or a damsel for your first fish-see if your LFS will trade it back for something else after a few weeks.
Istill would suggest testing for metals in your water just to be safe. Did you by any chance use soap to clean it out? I see a scum on the top of the water?
Got to sign of for tonight. its time for American Idol
 
babyjeep21

babyjeep21

New Member
Originally Posted by Granny
http:///forum/post/2481324
YOur tank looks really nice now. Two things stand out
-Are you using the same sand that was in there when you had the freshwater rock?
There is a possibility the sand was contaminated and may have leached lead or copper or who knows what all into the sand base. Will your LFS test for these for you?
-No Cycle. Truthfully, the tank is empty. I would just dump a handful of fish food in there
and see if you get any readings in two days. You should see something happening. You may have had sufficient bacteria in the sand or in your filter media to break down the small quantities you have been putting it. A dead fish should certianly have causeed soem results on those test kits.
I was just curious... if lead or copper had leached into his sand, could it also have leached from his sand into his live rock?
 
aquatica-tech

aquatica-tech

Member
haha my dude if you want to know what a bloom of brown diatom stage look at my tank, hahaha its horrible looking I just got three turbos for my 55 gallon and I see the difference in my rocks from brown to white

I think its funny, but I need to buy like 1 or two more snails because theres SOO much
 
chrgerondavins

chrgerondavins

Member
with "20lbs of live rock and 10lbs of live sand" you really have about a 3.5 gallon tank. Honestly that shouldn't even be enough room for even a single clown to live. I am sorry but those small aquariums are 30x harder to maintain. Plus, a HEX tank has no room for fish to swim back and forth, thus stressing most marine fish MORE. Honestly, I'd throw this tank out the window and use a rubbermaid tub.
Edit/Delete Message
 
rotarygeek

rotarygeek

Member
Originally Posted by Granny
http:///forum/post/2481346
Got to sign of for tonight. its time for American Idol
HAHAHAHA oh man. You seriously watch that.... Lol damn homemadeturbo.com has turned me into a _ _ _ _... Sorry, but i had to laugh at it.
Oh yeah, try adding lots of food to your tank, you will def see a spike in ammonia. Then your bio filter will adjust to that and you will have a good cycle.
 
H

h2ocrazy

Guest
I always cycle a tank with raw shrimp from the deli(just regular shrimp, the cheapest unpeeled) 1/25G. I leave it in there for a day or 2 till I get an ammonia spike, and seed from a mature tank with a handful of sand or a piece of LR.
Test your water for ammonia only leading up to the ammonia spike(ammonia test only) then just leave it alone.
Once you see a diatom bloom(brown, dust-like algae all over your rocks and sand) you are cycled and ready start testing your water again, as well as to add inverts or fish if water quality is good.
Even if there was copper in the tank, it would not be enough to kill fish, inverts yes.
 
flricordia

flricordia

Active Member
Originally Posted by h2ocrazy
http:///forum/post/2481953
I always cycle a tank with raw shrimp from the deli(just regular shrimp, the cheapest unpeeled) 1/25G. I leave it in there for a day or 2 till I get an ammonia spike, and seed from a mature tank with a handful of sand or a piece of LR.
Test your water for ammonia only leading up to the ammonia spike(ammonia test only) then just leave it alone.
Once you see a diatom bloom(brown, dust-like algae all over your rocks and sand) you are cycled and ready start testing your water again, as well as to add inverts or fish if water quality is good.
Even if there was copper in the tank, it would not be enough to kill fish, inverts yes.
Agree. Good advice and if you are fish free you should follow those steps. If you throw in the towel now you are going to miss out on one of the most facinating and rewarding hobbies available.
 
pcircle85

pcircle85

Member
Thanks for all the advice. I finally have some ammonia. Dropped in a handful of food (horrible mess.. omg) and in 24 hours I have 1.0 ppm.
Should I let it ride? Or do a partial WC?
 
srgvigil

srgvigil

Member
Originally Posted by pcircle85
http:///forum/post/2481283
The fish didn't die quickly. Acted fine for probably a week. Then I came home to a dead clown.
If the tank cycled, wouldn't I have nitrates?
There's no algae at all. What do brown diatoms look like?
theyre brown
 
S

swalchemist

Guest
No water changes till you see the Amonia & Nitrite spike then go to zero, then the Nitrate should start rising, then and on ly then do a 25% water change.
 
H

h2ocrazy

Guest
Yep, just leave it alone. Just top off with RODI water. wait until the diatom bloom and test your water if all looks good then do a water change. retest about 24 hours after the water change and if everything reads zero you are good to stock. If you didn't seed from a mature tank I am not sure how fast your cycle will run. Both my tanks I did this way were cycled within a week(with seeding). As a precaution you should get your water tested for copper before adding any inverts.
 
apos

apos

Member
Yeah, no water changes until ammonia and nitrite are both stable at 0. It would just prolong the cycling process, if anything.
 
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