Tank Cycling
- Thread starter sggavin
- Start date
bdhough
Active Member
Most LF stores do free water testing. So in two weeks get it tested. Check your Ammonia, Nitrates, and PH. Check it once a week the next 2 or 3 weeks. After about 4 or 5 weeks your tank should be cycled. If after that time your levels of those three items are not stable and good then your tank hasn't cycled yet or you're doing something wrong. A tank may take 6 or 7 weeks to cycle it jsut all depends. Are you cycling with Live rock or the shrimp method or damsel method?
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alti
Guest
you need to go out and buy a test kit. the tests you need are ammonia,nitrite and nitrate. they sell test kits with all of these plus a ph and kh test. ill give you a brief explanation what test for. i recommend you do a search on the nitrogen cycle so you can understand the process better.
the damsels died because there was no bacteria in your tank to remove the ammonia the fish produce. when you put the fish in, the food you feed them and the waste they produce creates ammonia. ammonia is highly toxic to fish and needs to be converted into a less toxic form. instead of getting more of them, just throw in a couple of raw shrimp. it much cheaper and you dont have to worry about anything dying. the cycle is the process of growing bacteria that will converts the ammonia to nitrite and then finally to nitrate which is far less toxic than ammonia.during the cycle you will see the ammonia levels keep rising until the bacteria starts to turn it into nitrite. then the ammonia levels will start to drop and the nitrites will begin to rise. the nitrites will then peak and your nitrates will begin to rise. when there are no longer any ammount of ammonia and nitrite in your tank the cycle is finished.
the damsels died because there was no bacteria in your tank to remove the ammonia the fish produce. when you put the fish in, the food you feed them and the waste they produce creates ammonia. ammonia is highly toxic to fish and needs to be converted into a less toxic form. instead of getting more of them, just throw in a couple of raw shrimp. it much cheaper and you dont have to worry about anything dying. the cycle is the process of growing bacteria that will converts the ammonia to nitrite and then finally to nitrate which is far less toxic than ammonia.during the cycle you will see the ammonia levels keep rising until the bacteria starts to turn it into nitrite. then the ammonia levels will start to drop and the nitrites will begin to rise. the nitrites will then peak and your nitrates will begin to rise. when there are no longer any ammount of ammonia and nitrite in your tank the cycle is finished.
bdhough
Active Member
Alti is completely right,
You might have added too many damsels. They don't necessarily ALWAYS die. I cycled my 12 with 2 green chromis and they are happy and healthy today.
What probably happened, from the sounds of it, was your live rock had alot of dead things on it which in turn spiked your levels and killed off your fish. Did your rock smell when you put it in? My rock didn't smell when i put it in, ie fairly cured rock, and i believe thats one reason they did ok.
Either way you can let the tank sit for a week in a half and go get the levels tested. It seems your rock will take care of the cycling.
You might have added too many damsels. They don't necessarily ALWAYS die. I cycled my 12 with 2 green chromis and they are happy and healthy today.
What probably happened, from the sounds of it, was your live rock had alot of dead things on it which in turn spiked your levels and killed off your fish. Did your rock smell when you put it in? My rock didn't smell when i put it in, ie fairly cured rock, and i believe thats one reason they did ok.
Either way you can let the tank sit for a week in a half and go get the levels tested. It seems your rock will take care of the cycling.
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alti
Guest
how long did your fish live? did you acclimate them? what is you salinity level?
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alti
Guest
it was probably the ammonia then. either that or no oxygen. what kind of filtration setup do you have? i wouldn't worry about them dying anymore. i had casualties in my first setup too. not all fish can handle going through the cycle. just throw some raw shrimp in there and you'lol be fine. i would recommend you get some more live rock if you can.
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alti
Guest
i have an ehiem 2227 on my 30 gal reef tank and another one on my freshwater tank. i love eheim filters.
you dont need any live rock to cycle the tank. the live rock helps by introducing some of the bacteria you need to cycle. it would happen without the rock, but just not as fast. the real reason to have live rock is to have more surface area for bacteria to grow and to provide all the extra life forms and macro algeas. if you have enough live rock(1 to 2 lbs per gallon) you dont need any other biological filtration. that way you could take out all the filter media in your canister so you wont have to keep cleaning it.
you can use the brine shrimp too. as long as it will decompose it should be fine.
you dont need any live rock to cycle the tank. the live rock helps by introducing some of the bacteria you need to cycle. it would happen without the rock, but just not as fast. the real reason to have live rock is to have more surface area for bacteria to grow and to provide all the extra life forms and macro algeas. if you have enough live rock(1 to 2 lbs per gallon) you dont need any other biological filtration. that way you could take out all the filter media in your canister so you wont have to keep cleaning it.
you can use the brine shrimp too. as long as it will decompose it should be fine.
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alti
Guest
oh, i thought you didn't have a test kit.
do the tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and ill tell you what they mean.
do the tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and ill tell you what they mean.
bdhough
Active Member
If anything your fish dying helped the cycle.... 
If you can afford i would get another 20lbs in there soon. Once your tank has its initial cycle done you can't add uncured rock to your tank without the risk of spiking harmful levels and killing more fish.
Well you could... maybe a 1lb or two at a time but not 10lbs....And you could potentially have around 50 lbs in your 38....
If you can afford i would get another 20lbs in there soon. Once your tank has its initial cycle done you can't add uncured rock to your tank without the risk of spiking harmful levels and killing more fish.Well you could... maybe a 1lb or two at a time but not 10lbs....And you could potentially have around 50 lbs in your 38....
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alti
Guest
ok