Trouble cycling?

[Alex.M.]

So I have been trying to cycle my tank for one week now and I just cant seem to get the ammonia to rise above .25 ppm. Ive been adding fish flakes, frozen brine shrimp daily and on the first day I added one large cocktail shrimp. Ive tested the water parameters daily and nothing has changed besides a small increase to .25 ppm (ammonia) on day 2. My nitrates and nitrites are at 0, my PH is 8.0 (trying to increase it but my tank is stubborn), my salinity is 1.023 and my temp is 77.9 to 78.2. Im not sure what else I should be doing? i dont have my protein skimmer on and i keep the lights on for 9 hours a day. I did notice there seems to be algae grow beginning on my live rocks and bioflim on my glass beginning.

I do have 3 mangroves in my tank, are they the cause of the problem?

 

[lmforbis]

The live rock is the problem, not really a problem. They were already colonized with bacteria.
Don’t chase pH, it always backfires, 8 is perfectly fine.
Mangroves won’t be contributing much.

 

[beth]

Cycling is a process that takes longer than a week. And, if you have live rock and live sand, you might not get a major spike in ammonia. When I started my reef tank, it never cycled. Remained at zero ammonia and nitrites. I had LR and LS.

 

[Alex.M.]

I was going to continue to wait. I'm getting my cardinals today so they need a month in a QT anyway. But I had read that in the first week I should have seen an increase in ammonia to like 10 ppm but I never saw that increase. I have live sand, live rocks and I used 20 gallons of the Pacific Ocean instant water. I have a 40 gallon tank.

 

[beth]

Better to have a stable tank ready to go before jumping on getting fish. But, keep adding the fish food (not whole shrimps) every other day to keep your live rock and sand going. It should be fine.

 

[Alex.M.]

Ok. I'll keep checking the levels daily and add the fish food for the sand and rocks. Thank you

 

[Alex.M.]

The live rock is the problem, not really a problem. They were already colonized with bacteria.
Don’t chase pH, it always backfires, 8 is perfectly fine.
Mangroves won’t be contributing much.

So i just checked my nitrates and its at 20 PPM. which is high, (i know i need to do a water change to fix it) but does this mean that my cycle is over?

 

[beth]

No, it's fine for now. What are you using for filters?

 

[Alex.M.]

No, it's fine for now. What are you using for filters?

I'm using Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel filter 350. Its made for tanks 55 gallons and up, but I wanted to make sure that it was strong enough for a saltwater aquarium. Along with a protein skimmer, mangroves, and hopefully soon macroalgae.

 

[Alex.M.]

No, it's fine for now. What are you using for filters?

Also in your opinion would should i add my Marco algea, I had planned to add Gracilaria, Mermaids wine glass, and Ulva along with a quick clean up crew before I added any fish. I just got my B. Cardinals in today but they are in a QT for 4 weeks.

 

[beth]

You'll need good water quality, so wait until your tank is assuredly stable. Macros will also clean up nitrates. Same with the cleanup crew for waiting for a stable tank. Macros directly in the tank could become food for fish. Will you be setting up a refugium?

That is nice looking rock work. I like that it's not piled up with rock. Will you be going reef?

 

[Alex.M.]

Thank you! Compared to other tanks I always felt that I needed more, but I want the main focus on the tank to be the entire ecosystem not just the rocks/corals/colors. Im trying to model it after the mangrove forests here in Florida (where I live).

At the moment I don't have room for a refugium, so for the next two years, I will just be manually taking care of everything. But I plan, in the future, to add a stump with refugium, the whole 9 yards.

I do not plan to add corals. While they are pretty and colorful, I'm just not attracted to the coral life. I think algae and trees with rocks look a lot better when done correctly. Plus its a little different.

I only plan to add to the tank 2 B.Cardinals, 1 firefish, 1 shrimp Goby (with pistol shrimp), and maybe a clownfish (though i heard that they like to harass other fish). long with my algae and clean up crew. So the payload of the tank will not be super high. I might actually have to add a few more fish to make the payload enough for the marco algae and mangroves.

 

[beth]

Well, the macros will certainly go a long way in keep your water clean. Mangroves means that most of the plants will have to be above the water line. How will you manage that?

 

[Alex.M.]

Well, the macros will certainly go a long way in keep your water clean. Mangroves means that most of the plants will have to be above the water line. How will you manage that?

My tank lid had a plastic piece that you could cut to shape (for filters and piping) and I had some walking sticks from other adventures. So I put the mangroves in the back of the tank, and attached then to the walking sticks to keep them upright. I have space to go up. But not down. I'll take a picture of it when I get home