Near end of cycle? What now?

sc0rp_xiii

sc0rp_xiii

Member
Hello to all, and thanks ahead for any comments. I have a 55g tank up and running for nearly 8 weeks now. I added a Blue Velvet damsel, 2 Orange tail damsels, and 2 blue damsels about 4 weeks ago and all are doing fine. I know it's not the best way to cycle the tank, but at the time, that is what the LFS was telling me to do. I have been taking my water into the LFS for testing but have read too much on these boards and started getting too curious about my water levels so I picked up the Red Sea Marine kit last night and did some testing myself. Here are my results:
Temp: 78 degrees Fahrenheit
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrate: color was between 5 and 10 so would say 7.5
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8.3
Alkalinity: 3.0
time to start water changes?
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
No water change yet. Wait until amm and trites are at ZERO. You could get a head start and begin removing your damsels, you'll want them out eventually.
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
You're not done cycling, you've got ammonia in there. A water change wouldn't help too much I don't think. You don't want to dilute the ammonia, you want it converted to nitrite and then on to nitrate. How much LR do you have?
 
sc0rp_xiii

sc0rp_xiii

Member
The damsels will be going away this weekend. May keep the Blue Velvet as he's alittle more then 3" and has a great personality and is a nice looking fish to me. My end goal is FOWLR tank. Have a 72 gallon bowfront in my sights as I've discovered most of the fish I would think about getting need a larger tank then what I have. Currently there is about 10 lbs of cured LR and another 20 lbs or so of lace rock in there. Will be fun catching the damsels... this process started with me resurrecting my brothers old tank and am learning more each day
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
Yeah, your dead rock will become live, but you don't have enough anyway. You want 1 to 2 pounds per gallon roughly. Only ten pounds of live rock in a 55 isn't going to do much for you. If I were you, I'd drop another 30 pounds of LR in there minimum. Get the damsels out and don't cure the LR, let it cycle the tank for you.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
yes the lace rock will be seeded by the live rock as the tank matures. You want to keep the blue velvet now but be aware as they get older their coloring fades.
This from someone that had one:
"Baby velvets are stunning, and they grow much larger than most damsels, which would be wonderful. Alas - I learned the hard way that over time they become more aggressive and sadly lose their bright colors until what you end up with is a large, mean and rather drab looking fish."
Contributed by Shannon
 
sc0rp_xiii

sc0rp_xiii

Member
I understand, the more I have read the more I have seen that would be where this is heading. Do you know a time frame for the lace to convert to LR?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
It is starting as we speak. Live rock simply means that it has the nitrifying bacteria residing in it's nooks and cranny's. Now if you are asking will it get critters and such in it the answer is yes but not like your actual live rock has for a long time. (those things are called hitch hikers)
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I would think that certainly the biofiltering would multiple as needed and reside all over the tank. the larger the bio load the more of the bacteria that will colonize to some point. The more rock you have the more surface area you will have for this to happen. but again how fast is dependant on the needs of the system.
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
The bioload will be the issue I think. Since the bacteria haven't colonized on the lace rock yet, you can't have as much in there, which is likely why his cycle took so long and why it is apparently not complete yet. The more LR you have, the more active bacteria and thus the large load you can have sooner. With the lace rock, he may have to wait a while long. I mean heck, you can always use more rock, right? I'd go out and buy some more. Plus, get some of that bacteria in a cup stuff. It's a powder which you can put in the water which contains all of the beneficial bacteria. It helped me greatly, my 125 cycled in less than a week. I loaded up with rock and sand, used the bacteria, and the week after I had clams, corals and fish, no change in water chemistry, 0 nitrates, nothing died.
 
sc0rp_xiii

sc0rp_xiii

Member
will inquire about the bacteria in a cup, sounds like a good solution to push this over the edge til rock catches up. Will do daily tests for the next two weeks to confirm levels and adjust accordingly.
 
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