My Ammonia level still maintaining at 0.2ppm

[hamannbmw]

I start cycling my tank about a week ago, using new sand and all cured rocks from existing tank n fellow reefers, i dump in a market prawn. I had check the ammonia level few 2 days ago n it shows 0.2ppm.... i did a check today again but its still the same

Should i put in more market prawns

[hotsoup]

Did u check the NO2 and NO3? Some of the NH4 might have converted into NO2

[xiggie]

using cured live rocks .. y do u have to add market prawn?

cured rocks means u already have bacteria and good stuff on them .... meaning u dont need to cycle so long .. adding market prawn into the tank will only cause an amonia spike making your cycle longer ...

[hamannbmw]

My NO2 is about 0.3ppm too.......

[hamannbmw]

using cured live rocks .. y do u have to add market prawn?

cured rocks means u already have bacteria and good stuff on them .... meaning u dont need to cycle so long .. adding market prawn into the tank will only cause an amonia spike making your cycle longer ...

meaning i have to throw away the balance market prawn ? Can some experts verify or comments on this please.... jus to play safe

[tdmrider]

IMO(correct me if i'm wrong), even if u bought cured LRs, u still hav 2 establish the nitrogen cycle. putting in a MP i dun c anything wrong. i guess the only mistake was u shd not hav bought cured LRs, unless the price is the same as those uncured ones.

[Godzilla]

meaning i have to throw away the balance market prawn ? Can some experts verify or comments on this please.... jus to play safe

bro..think u can remove your remaining prawns cos your bacteria have already started working..meanwhile just b patient n allow your water to stabilise..my 2cents.

[scarab]

If you used cured rocks normally the ammonia detected is minimal as your rocks already have some bacteria colony. Putting in market prawn is good to simulate the bioload of your tank and increase the bacteria count. Your nitrite should increase and then will drop. And at the same time nitrate will increase.

Let it cycle longer. 1 week is still early even though you used cured rocks. When I cycled my tank using semi cured rocks, I totally didn't detect ammonia at all. but I have nitrite and eventually nitrate which means the bacteria colony is growing and working. Leave th market prawn inside and let it rot totally. It's ok (I put in 5 market prawns that time )

[terryansimon]

using cured live rocks .. y do u have to add market prawn?

cured rocks means u already have bacteria and good stuff on them .... meaning u dont need to cycle so long .. adding market prawn into the tank will only cause an amonia spike making your cycle longer ...

cured rocks doesn't mean no need for cycling.

the addition of market prawn is merely to stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. its also a form of ensuring that there is adequate BB to break down the ammonia generated by the decaying market prawn.

and PS. cycling longer = better. I cycled my tank for two months. short compared to my upcoming 2ft tank. I'll cycle it for FOUR years. (=

[hammy]

IMO, will be better if u cycle longer and wait for the whole system to stablise ....

[penyu]

I think using uncured rocks will cause the whole house to sting during the cycling process.

[lightningstrike]

be patient bro..... dun rush things, trust me, u wun regret it...... heed the advice from scarab and terryanisimon.

[RAV-65]

be patient bro..... dun rush things, trust me, u wun regret it...... heed the advice from scarab and terryanisimon.

I agree, gotta patient bro.... wait till ammonia and no2 become zero, den u can slowly start adding fish... slowly...

Vincent Ho

[ah^siao]

or do it the CF method... after cycling add in the corals after cycling and dun add any fishes.. only after 3 months then add in the fishes..this way.. there will be lesser outbreak of disease also

[hamannbmw]

Thanks all for your precious comments...

[bwilly]

fren..

I decide to cycle my tank for abt a month even I am using all the old rocks..

I suggest to run your tank as per normal.

dose calcium, run skimmer (remove breakdown organic) n lights..

only introduce the fishes when your tank water parameter is good.

then u introduce your fishes n corals..

[xiggie]

cured rocks doesn't mean no need for cycling.

the addition of market prawn is merely to stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. its also a form of ensuring that there is adequate BB to break down the ammonia generated by the decaying market prawn.

and PS. cycling longer = better. I cycled my tank for two months. short compared to my upcoming 2ft tank. I'll cycle it for FOUR years. (=

what i know is market prawn is used when .. using dead rock ... or no rocks at all only sand where there is totally no BB to start the BB growth ....

when using cured live rocks u already have BB so y is there a need to put in market prawn ... all u need is to cycle until all excess ammonia and nitrite (die offs from rocks) is gone before adding live stock ....which will take lesser time ...

[hamannbmw]

dose calcium, run skimmer (remove breakdown organic) n lights..

Bro, I thought cycling dun need lights n skimmer, i had off my skimmer liao

[hamannbmw]

what i know is market prawn is used when .. using dead rock ... or no rocks at all only sand where there is totally no BB to start the BB growth ....

when using cured live rocks u already have BB so y is there a need to put in market prawn ... all u need is to cycle until all excess ammonia and nitrite (die offs from rocks) is gone before adding live stock ....which will take lesser time ...

I think market prawn is use their there r less die off , meaning using cured rocks etc....

if using uncure LR's there will be lots of die off where u do not require to add additional prawns etc...

[xiggie]

what is the objective of cycling ?

to cure live rocks

to let all die off/ammonia/nitrite/harmful stuff turn into NO3

to cultivate beneficial bacteria to remove ammonia/nitrite

cured live rocks already have BB in them

so when cycling with cured liverocks u will have minimum ammonia/minimum nitrite coz u have little die offs and the BB are already there ready to convert the ammonia/nitrite ... so u only need a shorter time for cycling

by adding market prawn u are causing an ammonia spike turning the water bad ... thus making cycling time longer ....

what u should do instead is just cycle with cured rocks and test the water for ammonia/nitrite and nitrate .

u should have minimal ammonia and nitrite coz u already have BB in those cured liverocks...

that is y cured liverocks are more expensive than uncured ....

[terryansimon]

urh. my live rocks were cured for two over months in a local LFS that many people know. yet I still threw in two prawns to ensure that I have adequate amounts of bacteria to cope.

yes we may be intentionally overdosing, but its better to be safe than sorry. just don't overdose to the extent of having the stench of rotten eggs all over the room. (=

[tdmrider]

what is the objective of cycling ?

to cure live rocks

to let all die off/ammonia/nitrite/harmful stuff turn into NO3

to cultivate beneficial bacteria to remove ammonia/nitrite

cured live rocks already have BB in them

so when cycling with cured liverocks u will have minimum ammonia/minimum nitrite coz u have little die offs and the BB are already there ready to convert the ammonia/nitrite ... so u only need a shorter time for cycling

by adding market prawn u are causing an ammonia spike turning the water bad ... thus making cycling time longer ....

what u should do instead is just cycle with cured rocks and test the water for ammonia/nitrite and nitrate .

u should have minimal ammonia and nitrite coz u already have BB in those cured liverocks...

that is y cured liverocks are more expensive than uncured ....

tis is wat i learned

objective is to develop the nitrogen cycle.

there is only 1 kind of bacteria in the deep pores of LRs(tat is the reason y when choosing LRs, those porous type r better). tis bacteria is only capable of breaking ntrate 2 nitrogen gas.

to cycle, u hav 2 cultivate the 1st 2 bacteria, to let it gain a strong foothold in the aquarium.

using cured LRs do not hav such bacteria. and using cured ones might not give u an ammonia spike at all.

cured LRs r more 4 those who wish 2 add more LRs to their existing tks.

[xiggie]

tis is wat i learned

objective is to develop the nitrogen cycle.

there is only 1 kind of bacteria in the deep pores of LRs(tat is the reason y when choosing LRs, those porous type r better). tis bacteria is only capable of breaking ntrate 2 nitrogen gas.

to cycle, u hav 2 cultivate the 1st 2 bacteria, to let it gain a strong foothold in the aquarium.

using cured LRs do not hav such bacteria. and using cured ones might not give u an ammonia spike at all.

cured LRs r more 4 those who wish 2 add more LRs to their existing tks.

Qustion .....

how do u cure live rocks?

how do live rocks cure?

[JuzzMarine]

cured rocks doesn't mean no need for cycling.

the addition of market prawn is merely to stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. its also a form of ensuring that there is adequate BB to break down the ammonia generated by the decaying market prawn.

and PS. cycling longer = better. I cycled my tank for two months. short compared to my upcoming 2ft tank. I'll cycle it for FOUR years. (=

Need some clarifying

1. Does extra long cycling = better?

2. Will all the BB die off due to no bio-load?

From my understanding

Cycling is considered complete when you got Zero reading on Ammonia and Nitrite Then do a water change of 20% to lower a bit of nitrate. And you can start adding LS slowly.

IMO cycling can be fast or slow, depending on the amount of LR and size of the tank you have.

My tank conmpleted the cycling in 1.5 weeks, but only started adding LS slowly when its 1 month old.