just a COUPLE more ??s

[blu choo choo]

its been 2 12 weeks since i set up my tank. and the ammonia has not risen past 0.50. since i have added one of the lr (15lbs)last week there has been no die off on it and my my 2 lil ones
(5 12 total for the 2)ther has been some growth of green lettce type plants and brown and green fuzzy algae. there is diatoms everywhere and some puprle and and other colors growing too
since the ammomia hasnt risen is there any way to help jump
start it? i started with 3 damsels (whichare fine) and 5 12lbs
of lr. and added the 15 lbs lr a weel ago.
ammonia has never gone up. nitrites didfor a couple of days to .25
but nitrates have not. ive basicly aksed this before and sorry but i TRYING to take my time. maybe just a lil furtrated cuz i see all this happening in my tank but levels are not doin any thing..
oh woke up this morning turn the lights on the tank looked around fish fine, lettce looking stuff white (it turns green with light) started to leave the room looked at tank again and saw this lil white thing on the far site of the tank. it was a lil white star fish about 34 of an inch in size. i have nevere seen a white one before. could it be white because its a baby or are there white ones??

 

[hookedonreefs]

Everything sounds fine. Just relax. We all know the feeling - you've read built this nice tank, filled it and nowyou just sit and wait. Don't worry, things will get interesting soon enough.
As for the starfish, yes there are some that are whitish. Can you take a pic of it? Or at least describe it to make sure it's a safe starfish.
Good luck - And I know you're sick of hearing this, but be patient.

 

[blu choo choo]

guess the starfish is an asterina starfish just came out of no where. lots it again but hope to find it soon.
as for been patient well ill give my best shot!!!!
not known for being to patient for to long!!!!!
IM TRYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lobstergrabber]

Sounds to me like thing are going good. I know about problems with patience but atleast you have some fish to look at. I went almost 2 months before I added one though now I am glad I waited and did not go damsel. I would think your ammonia and nitrite should go a little past .25 but some people have said they really had no noticeable cycle. Mine didn't go that high on ammonia(.3 at most) but my nitrite was noticeable(around 1.6) for a few days. I think my full cycle lasted about 4 weeks but it did not do anything for 2 weeks and I had to go dead shrimp. I also had around 60 pounds live rock while doing it. Sorry if I ramble but hope you can pull something out of there.
Rich

 

[aileena]

I just started cycling my tank on Saturday w/o any LR. Although I have about 45lbs comming that I ordered online, I put a piece of raw shrimp in the water to help the cycle start and now the ammonia is up to around 1.5!!! I only left the shrimp in there for 12 hours...anyway I hope this starts the cycle...

 

[blu choo choo]

just did a levels check nitrites is up from 0 to .25
i almost wet my pants
plus that lil starfish is cool..something new out of nowhere!!

 

[infalable]

Hey Blu - my tank is cycling now. Like everyone else I cant wait to start adding things, but the best part of the cycle is seeing what tagged along with my lr (65 lbs). I have quite a few plants starting to grow, a type of bi-valve showed up, a bunch of pods, and a bunch of stuff I cant identify. Its almost more fun (but not quite) too see what shows up next. As you are - I am trying to remain patient.

 

[blu choo choo]

now i wish i would have gotten the other lr i looked at.
because all levels are rising and there is great looking things growing. seeing new stuff almost daily.

 

[blu choo choo]

oh infalable was wondering how you plan doing your tank?
since we the same one?i have some ideas but. BUT BUT
guess thats how this crazy thing goes!!

 

[blu choo choo]

i have 3 damsels in my tank right now, would it do anything to the cycle if i took them out?

 

[hookedonreefs]

It shouldn't, you just need to keep supplying the bacteria with something to feed off of. I did the raw shrimp thing to kick off the cycle. Once it got going, I removed the shrimp and let the cycle finish. Once it was done, I waited a week and put in a little bit of fish food just to 'feed' the bacteria.