Quick cycle question

[Davidl]

I am on a tight budget so my tank is going a bit slow , so farI have water , sand and some base rock.. an aquaclear 402 and a penguin 400 filter. The water seems ok and clear finally so I was going to do that shrimp cycling thing.

Does it matter that I don't have a heater in there yet, when it comes to doing the fishless cycling?

 

[Gealcath]

The bacteria dont care what temperature the water is, as long as they get thier food (ammonia)

 

[Davidl]

When is the cycle done?

My ammonia and nitrites are down to 0 and my nitrates are at about 40ppm or so. at what point is the cycle done? I don't want to plop animals in there until it's safe for them. I read someplace about doing a water change to lower the nitrats and another thread said they would go away.. my sandbed is about 1-1 1/2 inches deep so I do'nt know if that is enough to act as a filter.. my tank is a 46g bowfront.

 

[VDub90]

How long has the tank been set up? Have you put the shrimp in yet? I don't think you can get an ammonia or nitrite spike unless you put something in the water first.

 

[Davidl]

I did the fishless cycle, its in it's third week, the ammonia and nitrates went up and then down (over the 3 weeks) I am just wondering about the nitrates.. do they go away also, or do I need to do a water change at this point?

 

[chunksofpoooo]

do a water change to lower nitrates

 

[TinaFishGirl]

I did the fishless cycle, its in it's third week, the ammonia and nitrates went up and then down (over the 3 weeks) I am just wondering about the nitrates.. do they go away also, or do I need to do a water change at this point?

Everything will read 0 accross the board, then your nitrates will climb again. That's when you do your water chamges. If you don't have enoughLR or LS then your nitrates may stay.

 

[Davidl]

I keep reading about brown algae growth, I never had any algae growth, is this a sign that I did this cycle thing wrong? I hope not, 3 weeks is along time .. I want to get some critters in there (cleanup crew of some sort) and maybe some small fish..

 

[OrionGirl]

The lack of brown algae is not a problem--in fact, it's more a blessing. While small algae blooms are part and parcel of a tank, they are not a requirement. I've never had one in any of my FW tanks, and only a few small ones in the SW tanks--just depends on silicate availability and nutrient loads. Without silica that's bio-available, brown algae can't grow. Of course, brown algae isn't the only thing that uses silica, so you may have problems supporting sponges and some corals--but that's down the line a ways.

 

[superstein61]

Quick, related question:

I have a 72 Gal FW tank and am thinking about starting a small nano SW tank - probably 12 gallons. I fishless cycled my FW tank using Ammonia (your basic bottle from the grocery store ). Can I do the same with SW or do I have to toss in the old cocktail shrimp instead?

Seems to me that in setting up FW - my ammonia from a bottle worked quite well.

Thanks