first cycle

Profiler · 01-19-2008, 03:27 PM

Hi,

I have a question about the first cycle when starting a saltwater tank. First off this is a 125 gallon tank with livesand. I'm using a megaflow sump 4 and an Aqua C (in sump) skimmer. The salinity is 1.022 with a constant temp of 80 degrees.

The amonnia started to rise and in using the "instant ocean" test kit the local lfs sold me it seemed to peek at .6 before dropping and I showed the nitrites rise to .2. The ammonia dropped to 0 but the nitrite tests didnt seem to rise much above .2 before dropping to 0. When i tested the nitrate the the water color appears just a bit lighter than the lowest measure.

I'm curious if I should be looking for the nitrates to rise over time and if the nitrites only peeked at about .2-.3 or if the cycle was somehow interrupted. As of right now all tests show 0 (for ammonia and nitrites) and very low nitrates. Also just to add this is day 22 from starting the tank up and diatoms started to show on the live sand floor about a week ago.

dobejazz · 01-19-2008, 03:31 PM

Do you have any live rock in the tank?

dobejazz · 01-19-2008, 03:32 PM

Oops and bad manners Welcome to RS !

Profiler · 01-19-2008, 03:54 PM

Hi and thank you

No, I dont have any live rock. The lfs was my guide to setting up the tank inbetween reading "saltwater Aquariums for Dummies". He had me set up for a fish only tank with live sand and provided me with 6 domino damsels that he said to return to him for credit once the cycle was complete. I understand after reading these last few weeks most people dont like to use this method but I was already 2 weeks into it before finding this out.

So just to recap just live sand, 6 damsels, 1 megaflow sump, 1 skimmer, 2 flourecent lights, and a lot of diatom starting on the live sand (but not on the glass...yet).

Tru2nr · 01-20-2008, 12:18 PM

i would say that ur cycle for the most part is done i wouldn't really have any delicate fish for a while and watch your levels, especially after you add things to the tank...if your gonna add live rock i would start to do it now and wait a while cuz when u add LR no matter how much ur rock is cured, your still gonna have some die off, so you'll experience some spikes

ReefGuy69 · 01-20-2008, 01:08 PM

i agree with tru2nr. Do you plan on getting any live rock? if you do add it now and wait on more fish. Youll cause a cycle by doing so. If you dont add any live rock then it appears youll be relying fully on your sump and sand do be your filtration. What do you have in your sump? any macro? if not youll want to look into maybe doing a DSB and/or Macro to help reduce nutrients for the algae. And take your time adding fish. youll probably see alot of mini cycles each time you add a fish if you dont have live rock, or another means to keep the benifical bacteria and keep it growing.

Profiler · 01-20-2008, 06:13 PM

Thanks for the advice, I had not planned on doing any live rock since I have had no experience with it (buying / or taking care of). Many years ago I had a 55 gallon fish only (saltwater) tank but I used 2 canister filters which had the media I would change as needed.

I've never used a megaflow sump system before and was curious myself about adding media for filtration. should I be looking for some type of bio bag (carbon + ???)? I retested everything today making sure the tests were not human error and again Ammonia 0 , nitrites 0, and nitrates just about unreadable (saying that cause although the color isnt completely clear it is still lower than the lowest reading on the test kit).

Also didnt know if I did not go with live rock if a uv ster. would benefit, i've seen units that are made to fit in the sump as well and since its a megaflow 4 I have plenty of room at the moment.

thanks again in advance.

AQTCJAK · 01-21-2008, 11:03 PM

Welcome Aboard

framerguy · 01-21-2008, 11:27 PM

Welcome to RS!!

I would give Live Rock some serious consideration. Once it's cured, there is very little direct maintenance other than blowing it off with a turkey baster occasionally. It is the only biological filtration you will need once it's up and running. A good protein skimmer is a must also IMO. If you do get some LR, do me, yourself and your Damsels a favor and return them for credit before putting the rock in. It's quite stressful on animals to be in the tank while the cycle is going on. Go to the grocery store and buy a deli shrimp or two, put it in a mesh bag and put it in the tank. It will begin the cycle in a humane way. (The shrimp is already dead so they don't care!)

tbittner · 01-22-2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by framerguy

Welcome to RS!!

I would give Live Rock some serious consideration. Once it's cured, there is very little direct maintenance other than blowing it off with a turkey baster occasionally. It is the only biological filtration you will need once it's up and running. A good protein skimmer is a must also IMO. If you do get some LR, do me, yourself and your Damsels a favor and return them for credit before putting the rock in. It's quite stressful on animals to be in the tank while the cycle is going on. Go to the grocery store and buy a deli shrimp or two, put it in a mesh bag and put it in the tank. It will begin the cycle in a humane way. (The shrimp is already dead so they don't care!)

JWarren · 01-22-2008, 10:36 AM

I concur with all the advice given here. You must remember, your tank will cycle every time your bio load changes. You are basically altering the equilibrium of the environment. The good bacteria will have to catch up and stay ahead of the bad bacteria. Putting in 100 or more pounds of live rock is a big adjustment, which will require a larger adjustment time, compared to a few fish.

You are going to stay very busy maintaining a salt tank without the live rock. This is what is going to keep your tank parameters from swinging all over the place. It’s your bio buffer, so to speak.

01-19-2008, 03:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Profiler Tunicate Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 4 View Gallery Karma Komment	first cycle Hi, I have a question about the first cycle when starting a saltwater tank. First off this is a 125 gallon tank with livesand. I'm using a megaflow sump 4 and an Aqua C (in sump) skimmer. The salinity is 1.022 with a constant temp of 80 degrees. The amonnia started to rise and in using the "instant ocean" test kit the local lfs sold me it seemed to peek at .6 before dropping and I showed the nitrites rise to .2. The ammonia dropped to 0 but the nitrite tests didnt seem to rise much above .2 before dropping to 0. When i tested the nitrate the the water color appears just a bit lighter than the lowest measure. I'm curious if I should be looking for the nitrates to rise over time and if the nitrites only peeked at about .2-.3 or if the cycle was somehow interrupted. As of right now all tests show 0 (for ammonia and nitrites) and very low nitrates. Also just to add this is day 22 from starting the tank up and diatoms started to show on the live sand floor about a week ago.

01-19-2008, 03:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
dobejazz Elegance coral Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,246 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle Do you have any live rock in the tank? __________________ Kelli

01-19-2008, 03:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
dobejazz Elegance coral Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,246 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle Oops and bad manners Welcome to RS ! __________________ Kelli

01-19-2008, 03:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
Profiler Tunicate Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 4 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle Hi and thank you No, I dont have any live rock. The lfs was my guide to setting up the tank inbetween reading "saltwater Aquariums for Dummies". He had me set up for a fish only tank with live sand and provided me with 6 domino damsels that he said to return to him for credit once the cycle was complete. I understand after reading these last few weeks most people dont like to use this method but I was already 2 weeks into it before finding this out. So just to recap just live sand, 6 damsels, 1 megaflow sump, 1 skimmer, 2 flourecent lights, and a lot of diatom starting on the live sand (but not on the glass...yet).

01-20-2008, 12:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tru2nr Elegance coral Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,169 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle i would say that ur cycle for the most part is done i wouldn't really have any delicate fish for a while and watch your levels, especially after you add things to the tank...if your gonna add live rock i would start to do it now and wait a while cuz when u add LR no matter how much ur rock is cured, your still gonna have some die off, so you'll experience some spikes

01-20-2008, 01:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
ReefGuy69 Plate Coral Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 747 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: first cycle i agree with tru2nr. Do you plan on getting any live rock? if you do add it now and wait on more fish. Youll cause a cycle by doing so. If you dont add any live rock then it appears youll be relying fully on your sump and sand do be your filtration. What do you have in your sump? any macro? if not youll want to look into maybe doing a DSB and/or Macro to help reduce nutrients for the algae. And take your time adding fish. youll probably see alot of mini cycles each time you add a fish if you dont have live rock, or another means to keep the benifical bacteria and keep it growing. __________________ Dennis ________ http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...journal-3.html 55gal AGA w/ built in overflow 15 gal acrylic DIY sump/fuge 75lbs Fiji Live Rock 45lbs of Live Sand 1-1/2inch (1) 96 watt Super Blue Actinic Power Compact (2) 96 Watt 10,000k Power Compacts (2) Ebo Jager 200 watt heaters Seaclone 150 Skimmer (2) Hagen 50's Power Heads for flow (1) Hagen 70 Return Pump DIY ATO system (5 Gal) Mini Aqua Lights for fuge (10k/Actinic03) TLF 150 Phosban Reactor 12X turnover rate 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, 1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Peppermint Shrimp, Neon Green Hairy Mushrooms, Red Zoanthus Polyps.

01-20-2008, 06:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Profiler Tunicate Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 4 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle Thanks for the advice, I had not planned on doing any live rock since I have had no experience with it (buying / or taking care of). Many years ago I had a 55 gallon fish only (saltwater) tank but I used 2 canister filters which had the media I would change as needed. I've never used a megaflow sump system before and was curious myself about adding media for filtration. should I be looking for some type of bio bag (carbon + ???)? I retested everything today making sure the tests were not human error and again Ammonia 0 , nitrites 0, and nitrates just about unreadable (saying that cause although the color isnt completely clear it is still lower than the lowest reading on the test kit). Also didnt know if I did not go with live rock if a uv ster. would benefit, i've seen units that are made to fit in the sump as well and since its a megaflow 4 I have plenty of room at the moment. thanks again in advance.

01-21-2008, 11:03 PM	#8 (permalink)
AQTCJAK Tiger Shark Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 7,224 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: first cycle Welcome Aboard __________________ A Wiseman once said build a stage add a pole & they will dance - Jack 2007 www.aquaticaggression.com Projects & Chronicels http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...car-buffs.html http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...nts-tanks.html

01-21-2008, 11:27 PM	#9 (permalink)
framerguy Manta Ray Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Mount Airy, Ga Posts: 3,660 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: first cycle Welcome to RS!! I would give Live Rock some serious consideration. Once it's cured, there is very little direct maintenance other than blowing it off with a turkey baster occasionally. It is the only biological filtration you will need once it's up and running. A good protein skimmer is a must also IMO. If you do get some LR, do me, yourself and your Damsels a favor and return them for credit before putting the rock in. It's quite stressful on animals to be in the tank while the cycle is going on. Go to the grocery store and buy a deli shrimp or two, put it in a mesh bag and put it in the tank. It will begin the cycle in a humane way. (The shrimp is already dead so they don't care!) __________________ ___________________________________ Greg All time fav quote: "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."-Guillaume Apollinaire "Being happy can be as easy as deciding to be!"-Greg Kimsey (framerguy) Still Workin' on it! 375gDT built in wall, Gargantuan DIY Beckett Skimmer, 100g sump, Sequence Hammerhead closed loop, 75 gallon seagrass/mineral mud refugium, 55 gallon crushed coral/live rock refugium, 30 gallon DSB/ cheatomorpha refugium, algae turf scrubber, DIY calcium reactor, DIY kalkwasser mixer, DIY light system w/4x 250MH & 4x54w T5, etc, etc, etc... chronicles-akwareum

01-22-2008, 10:36 AM	#11 (permalink)
JWarren Reef Lobster Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Port Saint Lucie, Florida Posts: 1,425 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: first cycle I concur with all the advice given here. You must remember, your tank will cycle every time your bio load changes. You are basically altering the equilibrium of the environment. The good bacteria will have to catch up and stay ahead of the bad bacteria. Putting in 100 or more pounds of live rock is a big adjustment, which will require a larger adjustment time, compared to a few fish. You are going to stay very busy maintaining a salt tank without the live rock. This is what is going to keep your tank parameters from swinging all over the place. It’s your bio buffer, so to speak. __________________ John Typhoon RO/DI filter unit. My Saltwater web site. Help build ReefPedia!

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