New 29 fowlr

naturalking

naturalking

New Member
Hey everyone, I am in the process of starting my first saltwater tank. I currently have been cycling the tank for three weeks now, I started out with 40# of live sand and about 15# of cured live rock and I was ghost feeding in the beginning, my ammonia levels hit .5 and stayed there for three weeks have yet to see a nitrite reading, today I added 22# of uncured rock (good pricing). Two questions, is my cycle going to start over from adding uncured rock? And simply ABOUT how much longer should I take? Thanks for reading
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by NaturalKing http:///t/396775/new-29-fowlr#post_3535135
Hey everyone, I am in the process of starting my first saltwater tank. I currently have been cycling the tank for three weeks now, I started out with 40# of live sand and about 15# of cured live rock and I was ghost feeding in the beginning, my ammonia levels hit .5 and stayed there for three weeks have yet to see a nitrite reading, today I added 22# of uncured rock (good pricing). Two questions, is my cycle going to start over from adding uncured rock? And simply ABOUT how much longer should I take? Thanks for reading

Hi, welcome to the site,

If there is enough good bacteria built up, you won't have a cycle...time means nothing, you have to add ammonia to kick start the cycle. The decayed critters in live uncured rock would do just that if there is enough of it. The ammonia should spike to at least 1, then drop back to 0, then test for nitrites, when that drops to 0, test for nitrates...it should be over 10. I always do a small water change and ghost feed an invisible fish for one more week...then I re-test all three, if ammonia and nitrite are still 0, then the tank is cycled.

You can use a chunk of raw shrimp...or...pure ammonia (found in any laundry isle in a super market)...or...ghost feed an invisible fish. Please don't use a live fish, it's cruel burning the fish' gills.

You should be using RO (reverse osmosis) water to mix your salt, you should also have power heads to move the water, the wave is the life of the ocean and your SW tank. While the display cycles is a good time to set up a quarantine tank so they can cycle at the same time.
 
naturalking

naturalking

New Member
I used distilled water, I read on here that is okay. I have two maxi jet 600 powerheads. I was ghost feeding the tank for the first couple of weeks I just checked the ammonia again its about .75 trust me I know not to cycle with fish. Should I continue to ghost feed?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by NaturalKing http:///t/396775/new-29-fowlr#post_3535140
I used distilled water, I read on here that is okay. I have two maxi jet 600 powerheads. I was ghost feeding the tank for the first couple of weeks I just checked the ammonia again its about .75 trust me I know not to cycle with fish. Should I continue to ghost feed?

Hi,

Ghost feed until you get a solid 1 at least on readings...higher is fine, so don't panic if it goes over. You can purchase a little gizmo that creates a wave instead of the jet stream...look up "Hydor FLO Rotating Water Deflector" It will attach right to your maxi jet.... I can't post from other fish stores, so you have to google it for yourself.
 
naturalking

naturalking

New Member

Hi,
Ghost feed until you get a solid 1 at least on readings...higher is fine, so don't panic if it goes over. You can purchase a little gizmo that creates a wave instead of the jet stream...look up "Hydor FLO Rotating Water Deflector"  It will attach right to your maxi jet.... I can't post from other fish stores, so you have to google it for yourself.
Hello,
I just checked again ammonia is at .5 and nitrites are at 1 ppm, should I continue ghost feeding?
 
naturalking

naturalking

New Member
Just an update on the tank. The ammonia levels never made it to 1 (checked every two days)and are now at zero along with the trites, trates are at 5. I'm thinking that the bacteria in my sand and cured rock kept the ammonia levels low? Idk, but this morning I found two very small snails and a really small star fish with 5 little arms. It was cool to see! I'm getting very anxious
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Sounds to me like you had a soft cycle. If you are producing nitrates then you have the bacterial colonies established. To start, add stock slowly, one animal at a time, weeks apart, and monitor ammonia levels. If they do happen to spike, use Amquel Plus as a temporary fix.
 
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