New tank issue

[chriskessha]

Hei everyone..

My new 4ft tank has been cycling for around 2 weeks.

1) ammonia seems to be at around 5.0ppm.. Don see it dropping..

2) Don see any algae growing at all.. is that good or bad?

[chriskessha]

And can I use sand that is picked up from east coast beach?? I know must Wash for sure.. any issues?

[jxlex]

Did u add anything to kick start the cycling (eg liverock, market prawn, fish food, etc)

How are you cycling ur tank?

Regarding sand from beach - i will say no go

[chriskessha]

Cycling with live rocks,added market prawn and bacteria

[chriskessha]

Can I know y u say sand from beach is a no go?

[jxlex]

Is the prawn rotting away? Monitor for awhile more la...

Our sand i cant trust, dunno what sort of parasites, disease, micro organism living inside.... Also, u do realise we do not have the cleanest beach around.

Theres a thread smwhere in here also mentioning u can collect worm eggs from sand...

I think the savings from this sand not worth the cost and efforts should problems arise in the future

[rekian]

I have one pail of sand remove from my old tank. Foc! Self collect at Bukit Merah. PM me if you want.

[chriskessha]

I actually added 2 prawns and Don see them anywhere.. I did see the prawns change colour and bits of prawn floating around. Yeah I guess will skip on the sand.. worm egg.. that's inviting trouble

[jxlex]

Monitor for NO2 see if it coming up... Also NO3

[chriskessha]

I checked.. shows 0

[patricklhc]

Why not try dosing bacterial to see if it helps? I may be wrong but i will see it as your ammonia spike has not reach at peak.

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[chriskessha]

Have been dosing bacteria.. how often to dose by the way? Currently I dose when started up and last was 2 days ago

[chriskessha]

Have been dosing bacteria.. how often to dose by the way? Currently I dose when started up and last was 2 days ago

[chriskessha]

Wat about algae? Don see any at all

[Kelvin81]

Diatom will only appear at the end of your cycle.. For me when I was cycling my tank.. I dose bacteria every day..

[chriskessha]

Ic. Will start dosing everyday also. Will stop if water becomes too cloudy. Which means bacteria bloom right?

[chriskessha]

Now just wondering y my ammonia level is like that? Should I add another prawn or just monitor first?

[lazydevil]

From my experience, its not necessary to add another prawn.

The cycling is already in process. I guess cycling will take longer for a 4 ft tank.

The diatom will bloom shortly and the signs are that the rocks you have will turn brownish.

More importantly is to test your water parameters - No2, No3, Ammonia.

[chriskessha]

Will do. Will monitor the tank and look out for the changes

[Nickel]

Just curious, how to get rid of the brown diatom? Or it will disappear when tank mature over time?

[chriskessha]

Good question Bro nickel, I was wondering that also

[magical26]

It will disappear overtime when the tank matures. It's part of the cycle, do read up more bro.

[chriskessha]

Thanks for the info Bro

[jxlex]

Just so that u have a clear idea, the ANN cycle is smthg like this:

1)increase in Ammonia

2)decrease in Ammonia concurrently an increase in Nitrite

3)decrease in Nitrite concurrently an increase in Nitrate

4)considered complete upon testing with 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite and elevated Nitrate levels

Dosing bacteria helps to quicken up the process but even if u do not dose, the process will still take place...

Its best if u could track ANN during this period

The whole process could take anywhere btw 2-8 weeks! Goodluck!

[chriskessha]

Thanks for the details bro.. just 1 question. Can I leave it to continue even after the last stage?