problem with reef cycle...weird?

[ebaybrad]

i have set up a new 65 gallon reef tank...i satrted the cycle with 6 damsels...later (one week) i added 2 4 inch catfish to accellerate thins...and also 70 lbs of live rock...problem is i got an ammonia spike of about 2 ppm and now that is dropping off...no measureabel nitrite or nitrate...ammonia stands now at .25....what gives?...could it all be over in just 2 weeks?...i run a wet/dry (soon to be removed)..a fluidized bed (keeping that) ..no substrate...shouldnt i have a buildup of nitrate at least at this point>? What should i do>? any help or advise would be appreciated. I have up untill this point kept salt fish tanks only and am used to a full and drastic cycle...

 

[davelin315]

Settle down Beavis (sorry, I guess I'm still part of that MTV generation). Let your tank do its thing and stop adding stuff. If you're going to cycle with fish, then put them in right away, don't wait a week, then add them. Also, don't add more fish and live rock to a cycling tank. You will mess up the cycle, and it may need to start again. Don't know why you're not seeing nitrites and nitrates, except maybe you don't have colonies of bacteria to convert ammonia over (I'm skeptical of this, since you added live rock). Anyways, I would leave the tank alone, and give it about a week, then test again and see where you're at. You might also want to remove the fish. If you kill them during the cycle (more likely the catfish) you'll just make it take longer. I always cycled with damsels, but with today's theories, you don't really need them. Good luck, but remember to be patient.

 

[naesco]

I agree with Dave. Personally, I would take the catfish back to the LFS.
The biggest mistake I made and I notice others make is moving too fast. Patience in this hobby provides you with success. Go really slow with adding stuff to your tank; one at a time a month apart and you will save yourself grief (cyno, algae, death etc.)