cycling of tank

[nicken]

hi.. i'm currently starting to cycle my tank... i'd just put in some LRs

. My sump run with some wools and a DSB only.. is it sufficient to

start the ball rolling ? or do i miss out anything? Any suggestion reefers?

Keen to hear fom you all

[lightningstrike]

throw in a pc of raw market prawn and let it dissolve.

[nicken]

will the water be smelly or cloudy ?

then how long it will take for the NO2 to rise ?

[lightningstrike]

will the water be smelly or cloudy ?

yup, it will be during cycling.

then how long it will take for the NO2 to rise ?

each setup is different and the duration for cycling to completed varies from a couple of wks to months.

[nicken]

is it ok for the tank to run without the skimmer for the moment ?

[hammy]

is it ok for the tank to run without the skimmer for the moment ?

i cycle my tank without skimmer

[moxa]

me too cyclyingthe new tank without skimmer.

Guess since no LS therefore no bioload. Unless skimmer will help to clear the tank water.

cheers,

Moxa

[nicken]

oh.. si its ok to cycle without skimmer lor ?

so i just have to measure the No2 and No3 for the coming few weeks

right ?

[lightningstrike]

oh.. si its ok to cycle without skimmer lor ?

so i just have to measure the No2 and No3 for the coming few weeks

right ?

yup. and ammonia too.

[nicken]

currently now my No3 is quite , how come huh ? 20.0mg/l

Can measure the ammonia using those tester pasted on the glass of the tank one ? or need to buy those with solution tester ?

my sump tank water seems to have a thin layer of bubbles formed up, think is cause by the raw prawn. i have to wait for my skimmer to come.

cheers

ken

[nicken]

currently now my No3 is quite , how come huh ? 20.0mg/l

i meant my NO3 quite high, how come ?

[DeepBlue]

oh.. si its ok to cycle without skimmer lor ?

so i just have to measure the No2 and No3 for the coming few weeks

right ?

Actually read from a few books and magazines...run your skimmer from DAY 1.

[nicken]

My skimmer haven come yet.

now the prawn start to turn red and abit of moudy.

My ammonia tester that sticks on my tank still reading safe.

hw come leh ? is it the tester not accurate ? or the ammonia not yet start growing.

i notice that the prawn is bcoming bigger

cheers

ken

[aStRoBo|]

how long into ur cycling period? dun worry, let ur prawn dissolve, and u will see ammonia.

[nicken]

eh.. sunday just put the prawn in only.

[don]

add a wavemaker, one that within your budget,for water circulation add a phosphate remover

[supremo]

unless your water or salt already has high NO3 I don;t think it's possible to have high NO3 before the Ammonia and NO2 rises. By the way, what NO3 tester are you using?

[nicken]

i'm using the 'Aqua' Test kit

[nicken]

add a wavemaker, one that within your budget,for water circulation add a phosphate remover

wat kind of wave maker can i get if my budget is around $100?

any suggestion ?

now during the cycling period can put phosphate remover ma ?

[terryansimon]

it is best to put a PO4 removal media right from the start of the tank's birth. this is to prevent the PO4 from rising to astronomical levels, and to prevent the algae from gaining a stronghold within your tank.

[nicken]

oh, so even the prawn in my tank dissolve already , the tank is still not completly cycled is it ? when then consider fully cycled, and can add LS?

[terryansimon]

theoretically, your tank is never fully cycled. just that the intial phase of the cycling part is to establish a bacteria colony capable of breaking down harmful NH3/NO2/NO3.

get a test kit to test for NH3 and NO2. you should monitor an increase in NH3 within a certain number of days, and then a drop which will co-incide with the increase of NO2. and then a drop which will co-incide with an increase in NO3.

once you check and you are certain that you have no readings of NH3 and NO2, and you are certain that your tank has actually experienced the spike, do a massive water change. like 50% of the tank at least. I was recommended to do 75%. this water change will help bring down the NO3 by dilution, so that you'll get a better chance of fighting this *easier to fight when its small, rather than when it spirals out of control*

as for addition of LS, you can either add it a few days after the cycling is over, or a few weeks after the cycling is over. this is due to the fact that even though the important parameters are stable, the other micro-climatic factors that we can't see/test may not be stable yet, and they may still be in a stage of limbo. I personally got a pair of clowns that were killed three days after addition...even though my tank was cycled. after that, I allowed my tank to run fishless for a month...before adding in another pair of clown fish and a flame angel.

hope that helped! (=

[nicken]

thanks for ur guidence terryansimon

do u change water when any fish die or coral die ?

[terryansimon]

it'd depend on the size of your tank. I have a 4ft by 2ft by 2.5ft, with slightly over 110kg worth of live rocks. I can afford to let the fishes rot in there, or let them be eaten up by the critters/other fishes. and besides, if I had to take out the corpse, I'd have to dismantle my whole rock work! not easy!

but if yours is a small tank, say...2ft or something along those lines, it'd make a world of difference if you took out the dead coral/fish. this is to prevent an astronomical increase in NH3, thereby causing detrimental damage to your other lifestock. (=

[strat]

oh, so even the prawn in my tank dissolve already , the tank is still not completly cycled is it ? when then consider fully cycled, and can add LS?

Take your time to stock up even after your tank is cyeled. This is to allow the bacterial to cope with the bio-load.