Will Live Sand Cycle a Tank?
- Thread starter hmcklveen
- Start date
T
tizzo
Guest
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2679046
How exactly does one starve out their nitrates
I don't know.
But I know if I fill a tupperware bin with uncured live rock, my ammonia will spike, then my trites, then my trates, THEN all those #'s are back to zero.
I know the trites need the ammonia and the trates need the trites, but when the trites are gone, the trates disappear too.
And as far as a tank keeping trates at 0, I know you said "unlikely" but if I ever had a reading other than 0, I would change something.
I've always been lightly stocked, but still always 0. Even with 5 of those years being on crushed coral, with no sump.
http:///forum/post/2679046
How exactly does one starve out their nitrates
I don't know.
But I know if I fill a tupperware bin with uncured live rock, my ammonia will spike, then my trites, then my trates, THEN all those #'s are back to zero.
I know the trites need the ammonia and the trates need the trites, but when the trites are gone, the trates disappear too.
And as far as a tank keeping trates at 0, I know you said "unlikely" but if I ever had a reading other than 0, I would change something.
I've always been lightly stocked, but still always 0. Even with 5 of those years being on crushed coral, with no sump.
T
tizzo
Guest
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2679046
How exactly does one starve out their nitrates
I dunno joe.
They gotta go somewhere! I hardly ever do water changes (anymore) and my trates are always at 0. If they didn't vanish they'd accumulate.
Even a brand new tank, after all the parameters rise, then they eventually hit 0.
I realize the nitrates are used up by the algaes and such, but whatever happens...they disappear.
http:///forum/post/2679046
How exactly does one starve out their nitrates
I dunno joe.
They gotta go somewhere! I hardly ever do water changes (anymore) and my trates are always at 0. If they didn't vanish they'd accumulate.
Even a brand new tank, after all the parameters rise, then they eventually hit 0.
I realize the nitrates are used up by the algaes and such, but whatever happens...they disappear.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2679280
I dunno joe.
They gotta go somewhere! I hardly ever do water changes (anymore) and my trates are always at 0. If they didn't vanish they'd accumulate.
Even a brand new tank, after all the parameters rise, then they eventually hit 0.
I realize the nitrates are used up by the algaes and such, but whatever happens...they disappear.
LOL ok disappear it is
http:///forum/post/2679280
I dunno joe.
They gotta go somewhere! I hardly ever do water changes (anymore) and my trates are always at 0. If they didn't vanish they'd accumulate.
Even a brand new tank, after all the parameters rise, then they eventually hit 0.
I realize the nitrates are used up by the algaes and such, but whatever happens...they disappear.
LOL ok disappear it is
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by prime311
http:///forum/post/2679122
I never said it wasn't possible, I said it was unlikely.
Actually you said it was highly unlikely
http:///forum/post/2679122
I never said it wasn't possible, I said it was unlikely.
Actually you said it was highly unlikely
hmcklveen
Member
Okay so i took my water to the lfs and all of it came back normal
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
So do you think she should get a few more damsels just to be safe since thats the way she decided to go? I told her to just wait before she got the damsel in the first palce because i perfer cycling with the live rock. She didn't have the money for the rock and was impatient. I just don't know how theres anyway to know for sure if theres a cycle since i didn't test the water til 2 weeks later. If she would have told me she got the fish i coulda came over and tested it and monitored the process. Any idea of what to tell her?
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
So do you think she should get a few more damsels just to be safe since thats the way she decided to go? I told her to just wait before she got the damsel in the first palce because i perfer cycling with the live rock. She didn't have the money for the rock and was impatient. I just don't know how theres anyway to know for sure if theres a cycle since i didn't test the water til 2 weeks later. If she would have told me she got the fish i coulda came over and tested it and monitored the process. Any idea of what to tell her?
sepulatian
Moderator
Originally Posted by hmcklveen
http:///forum/post/2680037
Okay so i took my water to the lfs and all of it came back normal
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
So do you think she should get a few more damsels just to be safe since thats the way she decided to go? I told her to just wait before she got the damsel in the first palce because i perfer cycling with the live rock. She didn't have the money for the rock and was impatient. I just don't know how theres anyway to know for sure if theres a cycle since i didn't test the water til 2 weeks later. If she would have told me she got the fish i coulda came over and tested it and monitored the process. Any idea of what to tell her?
I say wait another couple of weeks and see if there is a nitrite spike or nitrates show. If she is planning on getting rock then she can get just a few pieces to start. It is cheaper to order it online and cure it herself.
http:///forum/post/2680037
Okay so i took my water to the lfs and all of it came back normal
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
So do you think she should get a few more damsels just to be safe since thats the way she decided to go? I told her to just wait before she got the damsel in the first palce because i perfer cycling with the live rock. She didn't have the money for the rock and was impatient. I just don't know how theres anyway to know for sure if theres a cycle since i didn't test the water til 2 weeks later. If she would have told me she got the fish i coulda came over and tested it and monitored the process. Any idea of what to tell her?
I say wait another couple of weeks and see if there is a nitrite spike or nitrates show. If she is planning on getting rock then she can get just a few pieces to start. It is cheaper to order it online and cure it herself.
aztec reef
Active Member
Agreed, wait a couple of weeks, feed fish daily..
check ammonia nitrites and nitrates, if ammonia don't rise or if u get nitrates/trites by the end of the 2 week period. you're cycled...or in the middle of it..
if u get nothing, then its been cycled..cause 2 months is plenty to show nutrient accumulating , unless u misssed the nitrogen cycle.
Nitrates don't apper or dissapear like a fart in the wind... they are the end product of nitrified ammonia( unused organics). Ammonia, Nitrites,nitrates are linked together..
you cannot get one and not the other, neither can ur tank process one without the other..(unless one of those its coming from a manmade source)..
uneaten food/fish poop/excess nutrients all break down into their organic components and must be dealt with. to start this There must be an initial source of organic material to seed the cycling process. (AKA CYCLING)
Now, ammonia will be the first detectable nutrient. Ammonia is deadly to marine life, even in tiny concentrations. Nitrifying bacteria will convert ammonia into nitrite, which is also toxic to marine life, and then further convert it into nitrate, which is much less harmful. Deep sand beds allow populations of anaerobic bacteria to thrive and convert nitrate into nitrogen gas and water. which can be and must be exported by anymeans..
Always add new livestock to a cycled tank slowly to make sure that the tank's bacteria population has a chance to adapt to the increased bioload..
Nitrifying bacteria ABUNDANCE + aneorobic bacteria colonies defines the resulting end product accumulation, regarless of skimmer and mechanical filtration used..
skimmer and filters are just insurance against nitrates. but they're not exporters...thas when the dsb's,macro algea,waterchanges,ect come in handy..
check ammonia nitrites and nitrates, if ammonia don't rise or if u get nitrates/trites by the end of the 2 week period. you're cycled...or in the middle of it..
if u get nothing, then its been cycled..cause 2 months is plenty to show nutrient accumulating , unless u misssed the nitrogen cycle.
Nitrates don't apper or dissapear like a fart in the wind... they are the end product of nitrified ammonia( unused organics). Ammonia, Nitrites,nitrates are linked together..
you cannot get one and not the other, neither can ur tank process one without the other..(unless one of those its coming from a manmade source)..
uneaten food/fish poop/excess nutrients all break down into their organic components and must be dealt with. to start this There must be an initial source of organic material to seed the cycling process. (AKA CYCLING)
Now, ammonia will be the first detectable nutrient. Ammonia is deadly to marine life, even in tiny concentrations. Nitrifying bacteria will convert ammonia into nitrite, which is also toxic to marine life, and then further convert it into nitrate, which is much less harmful. Deep sand beds allow populations of anaerobic bacteria to thrive and convert nitrate into nitrogen gas and water. which can be and must be exported by anymeans..
Always add new livestock to a cycled tank slowly to make sure that the tank's bacteria population has a chance to adapt to the increased bioload..
Nitrifying bacteria ABUNDANCE + aneorobic bacteria colonies defines the resulting end product accumulation, regarless of skimmer and mechanical filtration used..
skimmer and filters are just insurance against nitrates. but they're not exporters...thas when the dsb's,macro algea,waterchanges,ect come in handy..