is this cycled?

molsen187

molsen187

Member
i set up a 4g finnex a week ago. i used water from an established system and some dry rock and marco sand i had laying around. i'm in no rush to start the tank and decided i would do my first test today. i did the test and my results were: ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-20

now my question is, is the tank cycled? it appears to me that it may have cycled but that seems really quick. like i said i'm not in any rush but was wondering what people thought. should i do a 50% water change and try an easy coral like gsp? this tank isn't going to have any fish in it just coral. maybe using the water from the established system helped the tank cycle faster but i don't really know. all suggestions welcomed and appreciated thanks in advance.
 
Wolfgang8810

Wolfgang8810

Active Member
What are the parameters on the "established" aquarium? Its possible the 20 nitrate is what that tanks parameters are.

Did you "feed" the tank to create an ammonia spike?

I suspect you have yet to start a cycle.

What kind of light do you have over the tank?
 
PAnanoguy

PAnanoguy

Member
Molsen, Its kinda hard so say for sure. You're right about maybe having a quicker cycle due to using the water from an established system. And a small 4 gal. tank may cycle quickly too. I would do a couple small water changes (1 gal or less) nothing too drastic. If you have some gsp sitting around it probably would be ok to put it in. Just keep an eye on the params for another week or so and watch for ammonia.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I'm with WG there...

NO3 could have come from the other thank.

Unfortunately very little beneficial bacteria is floating randomly in the water column so adding water from an established tank helps very little.

Was the rock cured? what about Live Sand?

The only way to KNOW where you stand in the cycle is to FEED the tank and test daily to see what's going on.
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
i got the water from my lfs system. i tested it before i put it into the tank and everything was at 0. i have been ghostfeeding the tank. the rock was from my old 55g and the sand was just some marco sand i have laying around. like i said i'm not in any rush i just wanted to see what people thought. i have a coralife 12" 36w over the tank.

Al i figured that using water from the established tank would work. i've seen a lot of people that start nano using water from their larger tanks. that is why i went about doing it this way. you know a lot more than me so i'll know the next time thanks.
 
T

TylerHaworth

Active Member
You said you were using dry rock. Was there an ammonia spike? If not, then no, your tank has not cycled...

Test daily, and after youve seen Ammonia and Nitrite both spike and decline to zero... then it has cycled.
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
i waited a week before i tested since i figured it would take at least that long for the ammonia to spike but there is only nitrates present so i thought maybe i missed the ammonia spike possibly.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
molsen if you don't "see" an ammonia spike then you really have no idea. I'd drop a "deli shrimp" in there and watch to see how it is processed by the system. Worse case is you're out (1) deli shrimp and a week of testing. :D
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
i was planning on waiting anyway just wanted to see what other people thought. do you think i should do a water change to get the nitrates that are in there out or just leave it as is and deal with them at the end?
 
1

1Reefer

Active Member
Your fine just leave it, specially if your going to re-cycle with a shrimp.... I'm in this same boat. My 10 gallon is setup (water, sand, filters, and pumps) I just can't afford the rocks and a light right now so that's gotta wait... its going to be a Nano Reef/Mantis Shrimp display... I will also have a fish with him.... (an experiment yes)

Anyway after all that rambling being said I'm going to subscribe to your thread and follow along to give me a better idea pf what I need to do....
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
my 55g crashed a couple of months ago. there was some stray electrical current going through my tank lost a lot of stuff. i had some aptasia going on so i soaked the rock in ro water for a couple of days. so it is basically dry rock. i have a piece of live rock from the lfs in there. this isnt' a build thread or anything.
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
makes sense. well i figured i'd post this here instead of another thread. ive been testing for the past week and a half. my ammonia spiked at 0.50, my nitrite got up to 0.25 and my nitrates got up to about 40 or so. the levels over the past three days have been
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-20-40 it is somehwhere in between the two colors. hard to tell so i'll say 30.

does anybody think it is time for a couple of water changes? i feel like it has cycled since the numbers had a spike and have remained at 0 for the past couple of days. i was thinking about doing a water change thursday or friday and then adding a test coral like a gsp or zoa.
 
1

1Reefer

Active Member
I think it would be time for a WC, as far as getting a starter coral.... if it were me I would wait an test for a day or two after your WC an decide from there.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Yeah do a large (safe) water change and see where your NO3 falls to. Then watch the tank for a few days (watch = test) to see how things pan out. The test results will guide you but I'd say you're VERY close! Just watch how quickly NO3 comes back up.
 
molsen187

molsen187

Member
thanks everyone. since it is only a 4g it will be easy for me to do 50% water changes. i figured i would do one check for two days and then do another one if need be. i'm looking to have less than 10 or 5 of nitrates in here.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Thats a good goal. Heck you may be able to maintain less than that if you stay on top of water chemistry and feeding :)
 
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