Recommendation

[nate_m]

Just started my tank last week with 60 lbs of live sand. Added 45 lbs of LR 36 hours ago.
PH is high = 8.6
Ammonia = 0 : I actually expected there to be some ammonia at this point. How long will it take the LR to start producing ammonia?
Wondering if you guys recommend I add a piece of raw shrimp to jump start the cycle?
Just want to make sure I don't ruin anything.
- Nate

 

[darth tang]

Was the live rock precured? If so...then you won't get ammonia from the rock. Or shouldn't anyway. In this case start it with the shrimp.

 

[nate_m]

Bought it online. Site said it was precured. It had very little die off from what I can tell and I have to say I was quite impressed with the selection of rock that I received.
Sounds like the shirmp is the way to go. If the ammonia readings go off the chart I should take the shrimp out and do a 10-20% water change?
- Nate

 

[darth tang]

Correct, Just use the shrimp long enough to jump start it and then I would just keep your ammonia and nitrites under atleast 1 through water changes.

 

[wax32]

I let my ammonia spike all the way to 8. I started my cycle with uncured rock though. If you think yours is cured you want to keep the ammonia under 1.

 

[birdy]

I don't get why people want to spike the ammonia up so high in a tank with great LR, you are effectively killing a lot of the organisms in your rock.
If you want to be sure you have enough bacteria to support your fish then feed your tank for a couple weeks as if you had several fish in it, this will slowly increase the biological filtration, not sending the ammonia shooting through the roof.
With lots of good LR and LS you can sucessfully start a tank without the high spikes in ammonia and nitrites.
What size tank is this? 36hrs is not very long, give it a few days, what are your nitrite and nitrate readings, some tanks with good LR and LS skip the ammonia stage quickly.
Anyway, that is my opinion and I am sticking to it....
Now if you want to add about 10 fish to your tank immediately after the cycle then you may want to do the shrimp trick but if you are going to stock slowly and wisely then there is no need, just feed the tank.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Birdy
I don't get why people want to spike the ammonia up so high in a tank with great LR, you are effectively killing a lot of the organisms in your rock.
If you want to be sure you have enough bacteria to support your fish then feed your tank for a couple weeks as if you had several fish in it, this will slowly increase the biological filtration, not sending the ammonia shooting through the roof.
With lots of good LR and LS you can sucessfully start a tank without the high spikes in ammonia and nitrites.
What size tank is this? 36hrs is not very long, give it a few days, what are your nitrite and nitrate readings, some tanks with good LR and LS skip the ammonia stage quickly.
Anyway, that is my opinion and I am sticking to it....
Now if you want to add about 10 fish to your tank immediately after the cycle then you may want to do the shrimp trick but if you are going to stock slowly and wisely then there is no need, just feed the tank.
I agree!!! :happyfish

 

[nate_m]

This is a 54 gallon corner tank. It's had LS and water running for about 2 weeks now. 4 days ago I put 45 pounds of LR in the tank. I've measured the ammonia levels twice since installing the LR and both times its read 0. I just measured the Nitrates at 40, Nitrites at 3.0, Alk at 300, and PH at 7.8.
I did end up putting the shrimp in about 24 hours ago and now am second guessing myself (Ammonia reading tonight was still at 0). Should I take the shrimp out given the above water params? You recommeded feeding the tank as if I were feeding fish. Not sure what to feed it considering I've never had any fish Brine shrimp? Flakes? Talked to the lady at the LFS and she suggested I throw all this conditioner to remove nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, etc. I bought the product but am quite wary of dumping it in and thought I'd seek the opinions of some of you well versed aquarium keepers Most of the posts I've read here suggest NEVER to dump 'stuff' in unless its absolutely necessary.
One other issue I'm having is the water temp. With the heater set at 75 the water was staying right at 80 degrees. I dropped the heater to 73 and the water temp dropped off to 79. Then dropped the heater to 68 and this evening the temp was up to 82.5. The AC stays on 74 in the room and its away from any windows or direct sunlight. Could my 2 powerheads and canister filters be contributing to the 7-8 degree temperature rise (The 2 powerheads were installed 4 days ago w/ the LR)? Any suggestions to regulate the temp?
Thanks for all the help. I have to admit I'm on the verge of insanity not being able to put a fish in this tank
- Nathan

 

[mikeyjer]

I'll have to say it's your heater, what kind of lighting kit do you have on it right now? How many and what type of powerheads did you get? :happyfish

 

[nate_m]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
I'll have to say it's your heater, what kind of lighting kit do you have on it right now? How many and what type of powerheads did you get? :happyfish
I put 2 Maxi-Jet 900's in the tank. The lighting kit is a 30" flourescent and hasn't been on the last four days due to a recommendation by the LR provider. They suggested it could promote algae growth, so no heat being generated there. I unplugged the heater last night and this morning the tank was still at 80.6 degrees. This tank is completely covered so the amount of evaperation is kept to a minimum. Would allowing some evaperation to occur lower the tank temperature?

 

[birdy]

Take the shrimp out...
With nitrites at 3.0 you skipped the ammonia stage because you have good quality LR and LS with lots of good bacteria.
Not a whole lot you can do right now but wait, you can do a couple small 10% water changes over a few days to see if the nitrites will drop a bit, but right now you are waiting for the good bacteria to multiply to handle your bioload.
A temp at 80 is perfect, you don't want it much lower or higher, if it is stable at 80 during the day and night that is great, but if the temp drops at night then you will want to keep a heater in the tank and set it at 79 or so, you don't want a temp change of more than 2 degrees at anytime.
I usually do not like glass covers on a tank, evaporation is a good thing for saltwater tank, means you are getting a good exchange of gasses in the tank. And yes it will drop the temps, so you will probably need your heater if you take them off. Keep the temp at 80 degrees.

 

[nate_m]

Originally Posted by Birdy
Take the shrimp out...
With nitrites at 3.0 you skipped the ammonia stage because you have good quality LR and LS with lots of good bacteria.
Not a whole lot you can do right now but wait, you can do a couple small 10% water changes over a few days to see if the nitrites will drop a bit, but right now you are waiting for the good bacteria to multiply to handle your bioload.
A temp at 80 is perfect, you don't want it much lower or higher, if it is stable at 80 during the day and night that is great, but if the temp drops at night then you will want to keep a heater in the tank and set it at 79 or so, you don't want a temp change of more than 2 degrees at anytime.
I usually do not like glass covers on a tank, evaporation is a good thing for saltwater tank, means you are getting a good exchange of gasses in the tank. And yes it will drop the temps, so you will probably need your heater if you take them off. Keep the temp at 80 degrees.
Birdy, Thanks so much for the advice. I'm going to take the shrimp out tonight when I get home from work.
The cover is split up into three sections. The back third is plastic which holds the intake/output of the canister filter, the middle third is glass for the lighting (of which I'm only using half), and the front third is a glass door by which to add water, feed the fish, etc. Some of the fish I have considered purchasing are 'jumpers' and thought it would be a good idea to have a glass cover over 100% of the aquarium. I guess I could easily take off the front third door section before I purchase any livestock and see if that will help regulate the temperature.

 

[mikeyjer]

This is what I do. I take the glass top off during the day while the lights are on, but I put the tops back on after the lights are off at night. Mainly because of my dog. The tank is located in my bedroom and I keep a fan running while I sleep. I DON'T want dog hair blowing all inside of the tank. I keep my heater running at all time and keeping my temperature stable right at 78 all day long. I have MH lights so it heats up the tank pretty good, so I keep a running fan on the side to keep it cool to stabilize the temp. Before it heated up to 84-86 degrees from 78. That over stressed my fish out and they died from ich after constant fluctuation. Which I didn't know, when I get home at night, the temp is always at 78. I came home early one day while the MH's are on and I saw that the temp was at 86, no wonder why my fish were soo stressed and sick. I was able to keep a few alive and treated for ich. Lost 3 beautiful fish because of this incident. You MUST check for temperature once your ready!!!!! Especially if your thinking about MH lights down the road. :happyfish