cycle

[RMX]

hi, its the 3rd week since i started. ammonia is at 1ppm and nitrite is 0. this is the same result as 2 weeks earlier. is it not going to cycle??

i noticed small heaps of brown dust on the sand and live rocks. wasnt there when i placed the rocks in. what's those? and the coralline is flaking

any advice? i have abt 7kg liverocks, 1" sand, 2ft tank.

[Tanzy]

The brown dust could be diatoms. Quite harmless and self-limiting. I don't think you are going to get dinoflagellates at such an early stage.

The coralline could be flaking due to insufficient light, alk, Ca or low pH. Is the tank lighted? Don't worry too much about the coralline, they will grow back.

Do a test for nitrates and see if they are present. What did you start the cycle with? If in doubt, throw a few pellets of fish food in, then wait and test again.

[RMX]

i have 36w 10k, 15w 10k, and 15w actinic.

ph 8, dkh 9.

calcium and nitrate not tested.

started with clownfish and later added a snail to try clearing algae.

[Tanzy]

Test for nitrates, it's the only way to be sure that some ammonia has been converted into nitrates indicating that the tank is cycled.

[loonz]

Do you have any powerheads in the tank??One of the fastest way to get your tank cycled is to provide a lot of circulation to the water. It is very impt that you have circulation in the tank to avoid "dead" water which could prolong the length of the cycle.

[RMX]

2 180l/h. one top front of tank. one bottom back of tank. outlet of canister aim into centre of tank.

i believe circulation shd be enough?

[hongqixian]

The live rocks are sold by $x/kg right? If so then I think that 3 or so kilos or rock is just right for a 2 ft because too many rocks make tanks look messy and also difficult to clean.

Powerheads in a small tank will tend to heat it up so it is good if your tank can be kept cool by some means.

Make sure your alk, mag and calc are all in proper order and keep the calcium at about 450 ppm and all should be fine. If the coralline die off then I think it might be a bad idea to add corals.

[RMX]

tested for nitrate already. its present in the water. does it mean the tank is cycled?

ammonia is still at 1 and nitrite still at 0

i have an airpump bubbling into the tank. is it required at all?

im not sure if the power head is making enough surface movement for gas exchange.

[Tanzy]

OK, that's good. The presence of nitrates means the bacteria are doing their job. When the ammonia and nitrite hit zero, do one total water change if possible and you're done. Becareful and add livestock slowly because it seems your tank is a little slower in the bacteria department.

Air bubbling is good to have but they cause salt spray and salt creep in marine tanks. I assume you don't have a sump right? Aim one of the powerhead output at the surface to cause surface aggitation and stop the bubbling. If your tank runs low on oxygen then return to bubbling, but lets see if you can do without it first.

[RMX]

i didnt know if the 1st nitrate test was accurate or wat. i have since retested a few times and nitrate didnt show up.

ammonia STILL at 1, and nitrate STILL at 0. tested using american pharmaceutical test kit.

i've even tested my 4ft planted tank for nitrate. none showed up. now im suspecting the nitrate test kit.

its a sera nitrate test kit bought from petmart.

[Tanzy]

Hmmm, that nitrate testkit and ammonia testkit seems suspicious. I would recommend that you get good testkits like Salifert.

Chuck a piece of prawn or squid into the tank and let cycle again. If the testkits still show zero nitrate after ammonia spikes and goes down to zero, then throw the lousy testkit away.