waiting for cycle???

[inawe]

I set up my new tank about 17 days ago and the most I get on ammonia spike is .25. No cloudiness...nothing

. In trying to take care of water surges and micro bubbles, I have messed with it some, but it has been running, for the most part, non-stop.
40 lbs live sand
20 lbs sand
30 lbs live rock from other tank
40 lbs base rock
75g drilled tank
30g refugium with sand and live rock rubble
I put in a raw shrimp the first week for about 4-5 days then pulled out...nothing happened

, other than the shrimp stank!!!
My LFS tried to get me to buy a damsel...I said no, so he gave me a small blenny that was just found dead. It has been in my tank about 5 days...still nothing

. Is it ever going to cycle? I don't plan to put in anything live for quite a while, but I would like to see it do SOMETHING!

Where's my cycle?

 

[lexluethar]

What are your parameters right now? If you have ammonia your tank is cycling - but in 14 days it will still be in the process of cycling. When placing that raw shrimp in the tank you need to wait for an ammonia spike - THEN take it out of the water.
You killed the blenny because you didnt wait for the cycle, in the future i would hold off on live animals until you are sure the tank is cycled

If your ammonia hasn't spiked w/ the addition of that shrimp or the addition of your now dead fish, then check your nitrate, maybe the tank has already cycled. If you have nirate then it has cycled, if your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero - then you are done cycling.

 

[kilhullen]

Originally Posted by LexLuethar
What are your parameters right now? If you have ammonia your tank is cycling - but in 14 days it will still be in the process of cycling. When placing that raw shrimp in the tank you need to wait for an ammonia spike - THEN take it out of the water.
You killed the blenny because you didnt wait for the cycle, in the future i would hold off on live animals until you are sure the tank is cycled

If your ammonia hasn't spiked w/ the addition of that shrimp or the addition of your now dead fish, then check your nitrate, maybe the tank has already cycled. If you have nirate then it has cycled, if your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero - then you are done cycling.
I think he said the store gave him a dead blenny, not that he killed the blenny.

 

[mcbdz]

With the live rock and sand you may only have a mini cycle.

Just feed your tank a couple more weeks like there are fish in there.

Then post all you para. and you will proably be good to go. What are all you numbers now.

 

[inawe]

I did not kill the blenny. My LFS gave me an already DEAD fish. A year ago I was uneducated on starting a tank...I cycled my first tank with a LIVE fish. It started the cycle very fast, spiked very high, drove me nuts, and long after my tank stablized, my poor fish died. I have done a lot of reading and am cycling my new tank which is twice the size of my first one with LS, LR, dead fish.

 

[kilhullen]

Originally Posted by mcbdz

With the live rock and sand you may only have a mini cycle.

Just feed your tank a couple more weeks like there are fish in there.

Then post all you para. and you will proably be good to go. What are all you numbers now.
So it is common to see a smaller spike with ls, lr, etc.? Is this because it already has the bacteria working on the ammonia etc? So when you see the tank run through the cycle is it good because the bacteria came in on other items which means they processed it before it got out of control?

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by Kilhullen
So it is common to see a smaller spike with ls, lr, etc.? Is this because it already has the bacteria working on the ammonia etc? So when you see the tank run through the cycle is it good because the bacteria came in on other items which means they processed it before it got out of control?
I saw the same thing for my spike never went about 0.25. It's a good thing. I was expecting a lot more myself. IMO you are in a good place.

 

[turningtim]

With the LR from another tank it wouldn't be a surprise that you are barely showing any Amn. Wait until its zero and then add one fish and slowly add more over time. The bacteria is in there and is probably processing the Amn for now but you will still need to colonize the bacteria to carry a full bio-load
HTH
Tim

 

[inawe]

Thanks, ya'll, for the info. As I said, I don't intend to add any fish for a few more weeks. I want there to be NO problems as I am kind of attached to my 2 fish and shrimp. Until then, I will just happily feed my dead fish and enjoy my empty tank!!!