New Tank Cycling

[obsessivelady]

Okay, finally my new 155 is full & all filters are running. I planned to cycle with live rock, but now had a set back $ wise & put in 2 prawn shrimp. Am still thinking though of maybe ordering 25 lbs of rock to add to it this week, even though my hubby said no......He insists that the tank has probably already cycled just from being set up, & i disagree. What does everyone think? I've been trying to post a picture & can't figure it out. Thanks OBL

 

[fshhub]

just setting up does not cycle a tank, this is for sure.
how long has it been up nad how long you had the shrimp in?
did your amonia spike, and settle back to 0?
how does the water test out?

 

[tlk]

Are you performing regular water tests? What are the readings? Did you have an Amonia spike yet?

 

[obsessivelady]

I put the shrimp in on Friday night & this afternoon the ammonia reads .25 so its starting to go up. Also, it didnt smell very pleasant when I opened up top to get the water sample out. I don't have a heater in there yet, but my hydrometer reads temp of 74 & the salinity is just reading 1.12. I'm going to get a couple of new heaters tomowrrow & don't want to put anymore salt in until i get the temp up to see how much the salinity climbs. Is any of this going to matter? I'm still thinking about addingsome live rock...Thanks for all your help....OBL

 

[jrein40806]

If I were you I would read A LOT more about this hobby before you begin. You need to get the salinity to 1.22- 1.25, 1.12 is way to low.
You need to get that temp up to 78-80 degrees. Just setting up the tank doesn't cycle it. Did you use ro/di water? If not you need to get the chlorine and ammonia out.Make sure those levels read 0. You need to check your ph-8.2. What are you using sand,or crushed coral? You need a 2-4 inch sand bed. If you are going to cycle with shrimp I would use about 15 for that size of a tank.Check your ammonia level, .25 isn't a spike. It will take at least 4 weeks to see the ammonia level back to 0. Even longer with 25 lbs of lr you need at least 1lb/gallon.
If you rush this and add fish,other than damsels,more than likely you will see them die. Good luck,but read,read,read,and then read some more.

 

[fshhub]

i realy hope that is 1.012
if not, 1.12 is way tooooooooo high
as for the shrimp, 2 or 3 will be plenty
and any amount of lr is fine, of course more is better, but amount will have little to do with the time a cycle lasts, cured vrs uncured will play as big or bigger of a role.
I do agree with the sand, and that your cycle is just now starting, teh .25 probably means it is on its way up and not down, keep testing to monitor it closely. you want to watch it until it and the nitrites go back down to 0, and the nitrates stabilize.

 

[jrein40806]

I assumed she was going to get uncured lr since she said she was going to cycle with it.I don't think you can cycle with fully cured lr,can you? You're telling me that in a 155 gallon tank 25 lbs of uncured lr will spike the ammonia level up as much as 155 lbs of uncured lr? I don't believe that. There would be far more die off with 155 lbs of lr. I also figured that 25 lbs of uncured lr would spike the ammonia level up more than 2 dead shrimp,thus making the cycle take longer.
My hydrometer only goes to 1.030, so I figured she meant 1.012.I couldn't even measure 1.12
Her husband is telling her that the tank cycled from just setting it up. There is no way that could happen. I wouldn't want to see her wind up losing a bunch of fish because of not cycling correctly. A 155 tank is not a small investment.

 

[obsessivelady]

Okay, yes I meant 1.012 & I know I need to get the Sal up to atleast 1.021. I didn't add anymore salt yet until I get the temp up as I figured the Sal will go up from the increase in temp. As far as cycling, I have never cycled a tank this way, always used damsels. I do however realize that it will take 4 to 6 weeks before my tank cycles. My question was can I safely add 25 lbs of live rock this week to help the cycle along. I was going to cycle completely with 50 lbs of rock, but had a $ set back & need to get this tank ready as I have a niger trigger & a dog face puffer in a HT that I am in the final days of treating them with hypo. I have CC with about 50 lbs of dead rock in my new tank. Most of which was alive a few yrs ago. I had a 90 gal & it was mostly successful the last 2 yrs. I wanted to do a DS bed, but my husband isn't convinced on this idea yet. Told him if we have high nitrates after a couple of water changes (after the cycle of course) then I'm switching the CC to a DS bed. Oh & I will be using cured rock as from what I've read there still will be some die off on the cured, so now what are your thoughts? Thanks.....OBL

 

[pokke]

Still new to the hobby myself, but I'll pass along my experience and what advice I can. This is my experience and I'm sure it will vary from other's advice. Take it with a grain of salt.
1. Give serious consideration to a deep sand bed while this early into the process. It made a world of difference for me. Get the aragonite type sand if possible. Southdown seems to be the magic stuff.
2. Put your water in the tank. Preferrably RO/DI (reverse osmosis/deinoized). If you use tap water, make sure to kill the chlorine with some additive.
3. Salinity to 1.024, Temp to 78 - 80.
4. Run your filter, but not your skimmer (this will be debated). Some carbon in the filter will help with smell and water clarity.
5. Add a couple of dead shrimp ( the cocktail kind from the grocery store).
6. Measure, measure, measure. Setup a spreadsheet and record your measurements daily of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
7. Adding in any amount of uncured live rock will help the cycle along, but is not necessary. HOWEVER: Adding uncured live rock to a cycled will likely cause the tank to do another, shorter cycle.
You should see the ammonia spike quickly then fall, followed by a nitrite spike and finally a nitrate spike and decline. Once this has happened, I'd give it another week of stablility then slowly add your livestock.
My experience was one of frustration. I got tons of advice from various sources and most of it was different. There are many ways to do this. Some are better than others. I started with a crushed coral substrate and went too fast. I ended up killing 4 damsels and 3 tangs and still never got my trites to drop. After starting over with a deep sand bed, I cycled with a piece of shrimp and 3 (yes three) lbs of uncured live rock in just over 1 week. After the cycle, I bought some fully cured live rock from someone exiting the hobby and things have been going well since.
Take your time. Find a local fish club and talk to locals. Don't get frustrated. I hope you enjoy the hobby!

 

[broomer5]

obsessivelady
IMO - since you've already added the shrimp and it's breaking down producing ammonia - I would let it continue to run it's course.
Add your heater(s) and get the tankwater up to temperature.
I would not add salt directly to the tank now. I would mix up some saltwater and add to tank to bring up the salinity. That way you'll be sure it's well mixed - and the saltgrains will not settle down into the crushed coral.
Let the tank cycle with the decomposing stinky shrimp.
Once the ammonia drops - you can remove them.
Continue to monitor your nitrites and nitrates - and when the trites drop to zero - let it go another week or so.
Then - I would add the cured live rock. No sense in adding it to tank now in my opinion. You've got ammonia already.
Too bad your husband will not reconsider going with the deep sandbed now. It would be so much easier to add it - at this stage of the tank.
Wish you much luck !

 

[jrein40806]

I agree about the sand. I would change it now.
The temp has nothing to do with the salinity. The salinity is just the amount of salt in the water,temp can't raise or lower that.
I would have the salinity between 1.023 and 1.025
You can add the lr really anytime,as long as there is no livestock. Everytime you add the lr you run the risk of starting a new cycle. I know the lr is expensive,but it saves a lot more time by doing it all in the beginning.

 

[broomer5]

That's true - temperature would not affect the salinity.
Raising the salinity up to 35 ppt would be advised.
If using a hydrometer to measure specific gravity - then changing the sample tankwater temperature can affect the reading ( although it doesn't change the salinity as noted ) depending on what temperature the hydrometer is calibrated/designed to be used at.
1.023 to 1.025 would be good ranges for specific gravity.
35 ppt is even better in my opinion - at any temperature between 78-82 F