Snake's Guide to Cycling

[Luanne]

What do you do after you have your sand and water in and your ph and ammonia are high and your nitrite and nitrates are normal

 

[beaslbob]

nothing

 

[lmforbis]

@Dam808z. Here is a good article written by Snake on cycling.

 

[Salt Lifer]

So I had a 72 gal FOWLR for 4 years and 2 weeks ago I upgraded to a 130. I don't have space for 2 tanks so I had to take the old one down and replace it. I washed my old sand, used my old water, my old live rock (about 65lbs) and added 2 more bags of dry sand, 30 more pounds of live rock and then topped it off with new water. My fish had to go right back in to the new tank. Yesterday I noticed diatoms. I put a bag of phosguard in my media chamber (which I always ran in my old tank but wasn't on this one) and was considering doing a water change. I have 2 clowns, a coral beauty a green mandarin, peppermint shrimp, a chocolate chip sea star, emerald crabs, blue leg hermits and astrea snails. So far the only casualty has been one emerald crab. Is this just because it's a new tank? Is it trying to cycle again? Should I do a water change or just let it ride?

 

[jay0705]

Reusing the old sand is probably hurting u. Bc you have fish in it. Test daily and water changes will probably be needed to combat ammonia

 

[Salt Lifer]

Reusing the old sand is probably hurting u. Bc you have fish in it. Test daily and water changes will probably be needed to combat ammonia

Yeah, we talked about this a few weeks ago. My parents surprised me with a new tank for my birthday and it showed up at my front door with my LFS guy ready to help me switch them out. So I didn't argue haha.

 

[jay0705]

Ah its u!!! Lol iam have the same issues and i used new sand

 

[lmforbis]

Diatoms are caused by silica in the water. They should eventually deplete the silica. What kind is sand did you add. Was it argonite sand? What kind of water do you use. Usually the silica comes in with sand or if you are using tap water.
I water change can't hurt but if your ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are good, an ammonia spike is unlikely. Just moving everything to a new tank can restart the uglies phase and that you might just have to ride out.

 

[Salt Lifer]

Diatoms are caused by silica in the water. They should eventually deplete the silica. What kind is sand did you add. Was it argonite sand? What kind of water do you use. Usually the silica comes in with sand or if you are using tap water.
I water change can't hurt but if your ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are good, an ammonia spike is unlikely. Just moving everything to a new tank can restart the uglies phase and that you might just have to ride out.

I honestly don't know what kind of sand it is. The fish store guy put it in there to add to what I already have. All he said was it was "dry sand" and that I couldn't use live sand because it would cycle again. I use all premixed saltwater from the LFS and top off with RODI or distilled. I put the phosguard back in cause it will remove silica. I know diatoms are a normal part of new tanks but I haven't had issues with my old tank for quite some time so I just hate to see algae blooming when everything is so fresh and clean.

 

[jay0705]

Its all a part of starting new. Just have to keep the end result in mind. It will all be worth the wait. Believe me the waiting sucks i know lol.

 

[jay0705]

Snake's Guide to Cycling your saltwater aquarium.
Cycling a saltwater aquarium is perhaps one of the most looked over subjects to new saltwater aquarists. Many people think that they can start their aquarium and put fish in it the same day. This is definitely not the case. Once the new hobbyist kills a few fish per the live fish stores recommendations, they get wise and start to research threads like this.
So, congraduations! You have just made the first step towards a stable and successfull saltwater aquarium! By the end of this article you will be able to cycle your aquarium fully and successfully without any loss of fish.
If you are coming to this thread because you have already killed a few fish, which is not unlikely, and you still have fish in your tank, please remove them from your aquarium for the time being so that you don't unnecessarily kill your fish. Generally, live fish stores should take back the fish that they have sold you for store credit.
Cycling starts in stages. Lets first talk about the chemical side of cycling. When you start your aquarium with your live rock and live sand and new saltwater, you should add a small piece of raw shrimp to your aquarium to let it decompose. The decomposition process will leach ammonia into your tank. Ammonia is what is produced by all decaying organic matter in an aquarium. Ammonia is very toxic to fish at levels of 1ppm or higher. Why ammonia is so harmful to fish is because it eats up their gills. Ammonia is broken down into nitrite by a type of bacteria. Nitrite is not as toxic to fish as ammonia. Nitrite is then broken down into Nitrate by another type of bacteria. This is an aerobic process. So, to recap - Decaying matter breaks down into ammonia, then into nitrite, then into nitrate.
New tanks can look really prestine! New live rock, new saltwater and new sand will all look really clean. There will be no algae, no diatoms, no red algaes. But, as time progresses your tank will go through several stages. When nitrite begins to show, you will see some diatoms start to grow. Diatoms will appear to be short brown algae that will grow all over your rocks, sand and sometimes glass. Diatoms are caused by silicates. When the silicates are all completely used up the diatoms will disappear. And then you think you are in the clear - but you aren't just yet. There will be a progression of green algaes. The first is usually green slime algae, which will appear all over your rocks and glass. This is usually when your nitrates appear. As your tank progresses and your tank builds up nitrate and phosphates from feedings you will see a progression of green hair algae and then when your tank becomes more stable and even more clean through the use of filtration devices, water changes and husbandry your tank will start to develop coralline algae under adequate lighting. So, to recap, Diatoms to green slime algae to hair algae to coralline algae.
The process of cycling takes around 30 days to complete. After the day you add a small piece of raw shrimp, your cycling process starts. After one week, test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Write down your results. Keep testing every five to seven days thereafter. your tank has not completely cycled until there is no ammonia and no nitrites.
The raw shrimp method is not the only method, but it is the cheapest and the safest. For the purposes of the article, I will include both the fish cycling method and the plain raw ammonia method - and if you are interested in these two ways to cycle a tank, please research them before you use them.
In Summation, Ammonia breaks down into nitrite and nitrite breaks down into nitrate. When in the nitrite stage, you will see diatoms. In the nitrate stage, you will see green slime algae and other various algaes. When there is no more ammonia and nitrite then your tank is cycled. This process takes anywhere from one week to thirty days. Once your tank is cycled, add one or two small peaceful fish such as chromis, damsels or clownfish. Add one fish every week or two until your fully stocked. While your tank is being stocked, it will undergo various stages of algaes until your tank balances out, establishes a bacteria and microfauna population.

I wanted this bumped up. There have been alot of questions regarding this lately