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adamcollins

adamcollins

Member
what do people mean when they talk about tank cycle, i have had my 125l/33g tank set up for about 10days, the rocks have been in just under a week and i placed my first fish in on sunday morning, since then the clown fish hasnt eaten, i also have a shrimp in the tank which seems to eat fine, people have asked me have i cycled the tank but i dont know what this means? could anyone possibly help me on this, am i doing anything wrong is this normal for a fish not to eat for a few days while it gets used to its new tank
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
When we/they talk about cycling your tank, we mean have you built up your biological filter. Ammonia is created in your tank by fish waste, excess food, etc. There is bacteria in the rock that will change ammonia to nitrite, and then another bacteria that will change nitrite to nitrate. The nitrate is the final product of your biological filter.
Ammonia and nitrite are lethal to your livestock, while nitrate is not unless in excess quantity. You can purchase kits that test for these. There are a number of different ways to cycle your tank, including using fish (which will permanently damage gill tissue from ammonia burn), or sticking a piece of shrimp in and let it decay to build ammonia, to then build the bacteria to break it down.
I would imagine that your clown and shrimp are in danger, but could be wrong. Did you buy cured live rock? How much rock did you put in? You may have enough water volume that it may be ok, depending on how much rock you put in. But regardless, your tank will not be healthy, and you may experience deaths, if you do not have your biological filter working properly.
 
keith burn

keith burn

Active Member
Originally Posted by adamcollins
http:///forum/post/2743564
what do people mean when they talk about tank cycle, i have had my 125l/33g tank set up for about 10days, the rocks have been in just under a week and i placed my first fish in on sunday morning, since then the clown fish hasnt eaten, i also have a shrimp in the tank which seems to eat fine, people have asked me have i cycled the tank but i dont know what this means? could anyone possibly help me on this, am i doing anything wrong is this normal for a fish not to eat for a few days while it gets used to its new tank
What is Cycling?
written by Thuong Pham
Cycling is the process by which man-made saltwater is turned into 'seawater'. You must cultivate the right bacteria in your filter system by allowing nature to take it's course. Once your tank is fully cycled, your system will have the right biological and chemical balance for livestock.
1. Basically, a new system starts out with no bacteria.
2. Bacteria eat waste.
3. To create bacteria, we have to create waste.
4. Do this by adding uncured live rock to your aquarium. Live rock releases waste and provides a place for good bacteria to grow. (Some people will use small fish or inverts to cycle, but we highly recommend uncured live rock. Do not use damsels. Damsels are aggressive and you will limit what you can add to your tank.)
5. Ammonia is a byproduct of waste. Ammonia is deadly to livestock.
6. You will see a high ammonia spike. This is great! That means cycling has begun.
7. As the bacteria multiply in your filter system, they convert ammonia to nitrite. Nitrite is also highly toxic but not as deadly.
8. Ammonia comes down, nitrite goes up.
9. Then bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. Nitrate is the least toxic.
10. Ammonia and nitrite comes down. Nitrate goes up.
11. To get rid of nitrate, you must do a water change - no more than 20%.
12. The end goal is ammonia=0, nitrite=0, nitrate < 30 ppm, pH between 8.1-8.4, specific gravity between 1.020-1.025 .
Once cycling is complete and live rock is cured, there should be no more die-off or smell from your live rock. Also, waste from your protein skimmer should be greatly reduced. Cycling may take 1-8 weeks.
Remember, add livestock slowly as livestock creates waste which creates ammonia. You have to allow bacteria to catch up and multiply to keep your system balanced.
Got this off the wep and it did a good job.
 
adamcollins

adamcollins

Member
thank guys for your help, i have had my water tested and they said everything is fine, does this mean any thing or does it mean nothing as the cycle hasnt started yet?
 
adamcollins

adamcollins

Member
yeah got live rock in the tank got about 15 kilo's in the tank so far the problem i have though is that a fish shop has sold me a shrimp and a clown fish and im scared they will die they have been in for about 3 days and swim around fine but the clown is not eating
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
well, the best thing to do is to return the shrimp and clown and tell them you'll pick them back up in about 3 more weeks.
meanwhile, call the LFS and ask them if they sell cured, or uncured rock. if you didn't see "cured" on a sign above the rock bin, the odds are it's uncured. that means it will have to cure in your tank, which spells danger for the livestock.
you should also invest in a test kit so you can monitor your water parameters closely. a tank of that size requires it's keeper to be on top of it. a small change in water parameters can be a big problem in a small tank. a large tank is much more forgiving.
you see, the food you are adding to the tank is just rotting and turning into ammonia. you most likely don't have the bacteria built up enough yet to process that uneaten food.
as for the clown not eating, that could be numerous things- he simply doesn't like the food, he's not feeling himself from the stress of moving from tank to tank, the water is in fact causing him stress, he was sick when you got him....
 
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