Tank setup for 4 weeks, w/ damsels for 3 weeks...no spike?

makofury

Member
Hello everyone, My 65 gallon tank w/ Nature's Ocean Live sand has been setup for a month now, and I put damsels in 3 weeks ago, I've tested my water every Monday and my tank conditions remain perfect, O Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 0-5 Nitrates. I have two domino damsels in there (I had 3 but the other one was the smallest and got beat up). My ammonia and nitrite have not spiked and Im wondering if it ever will. Does the live sand really help in preventing the ammonia and nitrite to stay low and not spike? My LFS told me that 28-35 days is sufficient for the tank to cycle with live sand. So im hoping to be able to get fish sometime next week because I leave for school on the 21st and the tank will be in my dads hands. I was hoping to get one or two hardy fish. So will I be able to do this? Thanks for any replies.
MakoFury
 
I'm just taking a guess here, but I'd say you might have gone through it all ready. Do you have any algae growing in it? Just testing once a week you might miss the spike. When I did mine I used LS also and it took about 3 weeks to go through the cycle. The Amo spike lasted 2 days so if I hadn't been checking daily I would have missed it altogether. In my little tank with LS and some stuff from the big tank it was ready in a week.
 

makofury

Member
After about 3 days after the tank was setup there was a big brown algae bloom, over the past couple of weeks it has GREATLY reduced, all that needs to be done is an algae wipe on the tank and there will be barely any brown alage left. That's about it.
MakoFury
 

fishgirl

Member
You've already went through the cycle - nature's ocean LS is loaded with beneficial bacteria that cycles you tank in a couple days! Another tell-tale sign is that you've had an algea bloom that is already beginning to fade. Good luck!
 
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