Cycling Question

[Lucent28]

I just started my tank(90 gal RR) about 3 weeks ago. i just took my 1st testing and the results were:
PH 8.3
Ammonia .75
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 10

So where I'm I at on my cycle? Anything I should be worried about? There are only 4 chromis in the tank and the sump/refug is working fine. Should I wait a while longer before adding more? There's about 20 lbs of LR.

 

[Omni2226]

If I understand things correctly the cycle is not complete till you have 0 amonia 0 Nitrite and less than 10ppm nitrate.

Adding anything now could prolong the process. I would wait a little longer before adding anything.

 

[Lucent28]

but how long will this take?

 

[Omni2226]

Depends..some tanks cycle in days, some take weeks, some can take as long as 3 months.

Dont add anything else, do partial water changes to keep amonia down and wait is all you can do. Sucks having to wait and no "date" you can go by. It would be nice to say " My tank will cycle in 17 days and on day 18 I can add this fish." Sadly it aint so.

 

[mutley29]

I'd leave it a couple more weeks yet.

The one thing i have learnt is patience is a virtue in this hobby, when i started my 180 gal it took about 7 weeks for everything to settle down whilst the rock cured and i siphoned out out all the die off during a water changes, my current 240 took about the same, although i did seed with rock and sand from my other tank as well as new LR.

i presume you are running a skimmer and lighting ?

wait for it all to zero out then start adding to your Reef slowly, quarantining all new inhabitants, nothing worse than adding that one fish you've always wanted and paid a small fortune for and then to find it's sick and your unable to get it out without dismantling the whole thing or to find your clean-up crew chowing down on fresh sushi one morning.

A couple more weeks with frequent water changes won't hurt and in the long run it'll be well worth it

Please keep us posted, and we all love pics

HTH

Anton

 

[Lucent28]

I guess I'll just have to be patient. Is it safe to be adding snails and crabs?And, can I do some work to the refuge? I've got 1 piece of LR and 2 rock frags in it right now. there's also a red leg in there. I added a baf of live sand into the refuge today. I'm still getting microbubbles in the fuge but by the time it gets to the return chamber they're pretty much gone. Is this normal? It seeems like my flow rate might be high but I'm not sure.

 

[mutley29]

I would wait a while, keep the lights off whilst your finishing the cycle, what's your critter count in the tank like i.e. copepods/amphipods etc

By all means keep adding to the eco-system, add macro algea (chaeto) that will help reduce and help maintain low levels in your system, LR is good and piles of LR rubble are very good for pod nurseries, how big is it? one thing you can do when the system is up and running is have the lights on your fuge on an opposite light cycle to your main tank, it'll help with pH levels at night.

i would stay with snails in your main tank, you will get algae and cyano blooms but snails, conch's stirring up the sandbed and good flow will really help make it a short lived event.

I get micro-bubbles in my fuge but i don't worry about it as it drains back into my sump before it goes back to the main tank, as far as i know (i may be wrong) they don't do any harm, if they travel through your system to your main tank they will become unsightly and very annoying, but decent baffling in the sump can eradicate them, no problem.

I know its hard to wait, but your Reef will be all the better for it

I hope i've been of help :wink:

Please keep us posted

Anton

 

[Lucent28]

yeah thx. what about critters in the fuge? hermits ok? I got some Chaetomorpha coming in this week. How do you plant this stuff? let it float? or what? i've got a 65w PC spirl bulb in a shop light fixture above the fuge. is this enough? i've heard so. Anyone got any ideas for new items?

 

[Anonymous]

There should be NO livestock in t hetank when cycling. I dont know why LFS push this method.

IMO I would return the chromis' to the LFS until the tank is ready.

As for the cycle just let it go and finish its course. Keeping the lights on for a few hours a day will keep any beneficial light needing algae alive. Keeping the lights on too long will bring in some nusiance algaes.

If you are goign to keep the fish them I would do water changes weekly to keep the ammon, Nitrate levels down.
_________________
Honda CB77

 

[Anonymous]

I'd suggest a large waterchange to try to get ammonia below 0.5ppm, assuming that it hasn't already dropped below 0.5.