my tanks status....

[dustybottoms]

Hi guys, well, it has been a lesson in patience. I purchased the tank 3 months ago, and now am finally ready to start cycling I think. the tank is a 55 gallon with 5 inch DSB being cultured from 50 lbs lr. I have had the 50 lbs lr in the tank for about a month now. My question is this, without testing, do you think the tank has cycled on its own? or should I use the shrimp meathod? I imagine the next step would be to add a cleaner crew, any advice on what to do next would be great! thanks guys!

 

[jim672]

The die-off from your live rock may have started a cycle.....but maybe it didn't. If you didn't do any testing over the last month, since you added the lr, you won't know if you cycled or not.
To be safe, I'd throw a cocktail shrimp in there for a few days, then get your water tested.
I wouldn't get any kind of clean-up crew until you're sure you've cycled. Ammonia is deadly to inverts. You also want to wait until you have some algea growth, uneaten food, etc. for them to eat or they would starve to death.
Jim

 

[dustybottoms]

How do I add food for the cleaner crew? excuse my ignorance, thanks for the reply!

 

[birdy]

Normally they feed off the algae and detritus in the tank, but if you don't have enough you will need to add some strips of Nori (dried seaweed) for them to munch on. Normally a newly cycled tank has algae in it for the snails and crabs to feed off of.