When is my Tank Done Cycling???

pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I have been cycling a 29 gal bio cube with about 30 lbs of live sand and approximately 40 lbs of great LR. I was told to wait about 4 weeks to cycle to be sure, but I have started growing brown algea everywhere. All the life in my aquarium that hitchhiked from the LR is comming out and stays out. My levels are approximately
Ammonnia: ?
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~20
pH: I think around 8-8.2
I was under the impression that if my Nitrite levels went to 0, then I have no ammonia as well. Talking to my LFS, the manager said that with that much life still surviving and flourishing, the I should be ready to put something in. I currently have a 1 cm diameter red feather duster and a plethora of very small clear feather duster looking organisms along with a large amount of tentacle like organisms protruding from my life rock. Please advise whether my tank is ready or what else I need to do to find out.
Thank you
 
nictavius

nictavius

Member
I have a 24G aquapod cycling right now....and as soon as i saw algae i added my clean up crew....snails and hermits....that is what i would advise you to do also.....you might want to watch out for those tentacle things on your rocks they could be atipsia a pest anenome.....
 
patandlace

patandlace

Active Member
You're tank is done cycling when the ammonia and nitrite levels spike then drop to zero, which it sounds like yours has done. The tenticle things you described could be aipstasia like the last person said. If you could post a picture it would be eisier to tell or just run a search and try to find a picture to compare it to.
 
octaviaoli

octaviaoli

Member
i have one month before i move to my new house my biggest problem now is how am i gone to move a 150 gallon tank. fully stock. any suggestion :help:
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
Originally Posted by octaviaoli
i have one month before i move to my new house my biggest problem now is how am i gone to move a 150 gallon tank. fully stock. any suggestion :help:
Do a search for "move", I know this has come up before and there are already a few threads on the subject.
 
gmidd

gmidd

Member
Never assume with levels, as the cycle goes Ammonia converts to Nitrites and Nitrites convert to Nitrates, so you could have 0 Nitrites and have .5 Ammonia. As with Corals you want to keep your Nitrates close to zero. I would bet though with your Nitrate readings your good to go.
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
You really need to get yourself an Ammonia test kit if you do not know what your Ammonia readings are. Once your ammonia spikes and falls back to zero, along with your nitrites reading zero, that is when your cycle is done. There is no way to know otherwise.
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
thanks, I will post a couple pictures with the different hitchhikers in them. I looked them up though, they seem to be all beneficial, but i'll post them none the less to double check.
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
My friend, who is quite knowledgeable says that there is a second algea bloom of a lighter green. I have brown algea everywhere, does this go away when the greener algea comes or is it something of a feast for the first critters i put in my tank?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
You have to "feed" the cycle. Drop a raw shrimp from the grocery store in, let the ammonia hit .50-1ppm then take it out. Let the nitrite spike. When both have spiked and come down to zero then it is safe to add the clean up crew!
 
gmidd

gmidd

Member
You post didn't say how long your tanks been up (or I missed it)? Definately do an Ammonia test. Like Sep said drop a piece of raw shrimp in there once you get a reading of Ammonia take it out and watch the cycle readings as stated in the above post. While I'm sure your cycle is complete due to the trace of Nitrates, since you didn't do Ammonia readings you would hate to drop a fish in there and have a spike in ammonia and no bacteria to convert it and kill the fish.
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I was under the impression that the 40 lbs of live rock would start the cycle considering it is filled with dead organisms from the trip. It has been up for approximately 2 weeks, maybe 2 and a half. I should have pictures up today.
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
The "brown" algae is likely diatoms. If you are having algae bloom and diatoms, it might be safe to add a cleanup crew. POssibly wait one more week. I would check ammonia anyway, but the algae bloom is typical of the end stages of a cycle.
 
gmidd

gmidd

Member
LR itself won't jump start a cycle, LR plays a large part due to the bacteria built up on the rock to help the cycle. It took me 3 large shrimp to produce enough Ammonia to jump start my 30 gal.
As for the bubble
maybe a critter or more likely just air trapped in the rock from its travels.
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
the bubbles are being produced by something, they are slowly being made. Anybody have any ideas of an organism that produces a gas?
 
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