Thanks Niko ... yeah ... I'll keep you guys posted on the params. My digital camera is on the blink, but I'm sure I can get a hold of one from someone ... I'll post pictures as soon as I can 
Can a tank cycle in 2 weeks??!!
- Thread starter Yash
- Start date
Yash said:
If ammonia and nitrites are 0, the tank is cycled for what is has in it. If you do not add anything else, nothing will change. You won't have a spike. However, if you don't feed the bacteria in the tank with an ammonia source, the bacteria will die off. Then when you begin to add livestock, you might see another spike.
Personally, I don't think you'd have any problem adding a hardier type of fish right now. A false percula clown or a green chromis would probably be fine. Since your readings are 0, there should be no problem. What are your nitrates after the water change?
But if you want to wait it out, pretend there are fish present, and sprinke some food in the tank every so often so the bacteria have some ammonia to process. Otherwise you might have to wait for the cycle again, and you don't want that.
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Here, here sonicblast.
I'd either add a clown or feed the tank a bit other wise you'll loose some of the ammonia eating bacteria. FWIW, in one of my tanks I used all cured live rock and dosed to .75 ppm ammonia it was at 0 the next day repeated the same thing happened never had a nitrite reading and nitrates were low. I considered it cycled and it only took about 2 weeks.
I'd also encourage you to stress the tank just a bit .75 ammonia and see how long it takes to 0 our and check for nitrites if they are at 0 go for it. Start to stock slowly.
hth
Max
I'd either add a clown or feed the tank a bit other wise you'll loose some of the ammonia eating bacteria. FWIW, in one of my tanks I used all cured live rock and dosed to .75 ppm ammonia it was at 0 the next day repeated the same thing happened never had a nitrite reading and nitrates were low. I considered it cycled and it only took about 2 weeks.
I'd also encourage you to stress the tank just a bit .75 ammonia and see how long it takes to 0 our and check for nitrites if they are at 0 go for it. Start to stock slowly.
hth
Max
Thanks for your input sonicblast and Chris! That is exactly what was confusing me ... if my NH3 and NO2 were both at zero, I didn't know what would change if I waited? I got some pure ammonia today ... I'll add some of that tonight and check the params in the morning.
What would .75ppm ammonia equate to in terms of drops maybe? Or how do I measure that quantity to add to the tank?
One other thing Chris ... since I plan on having a pair of Percula Clowns, isn't it bad to add just one? I thought both needed to be added at the same time? As of right now, I plan on adding maybe a couple of firefish as well. Which of the two would you recommend adding first, the clowns or the firefish? Since we're talking about firefish, I was reading up on the species today and read that it is recommended that you have only one if a mated pair is not available? Is that correct? I should stay away from adding two if they're NOT mated?
sonicblast - I just checked my nitrAtes ... they're down to about 5 or 6 after the water change I did today.
Sorry about all these questions, but the points both of you made were exactly what was causing the confusion in me
What would .75ppm ammonia equate to in terms of drops maybe? Or how do I measure that quantity to add to the tank?
One other thing Chris ... since I plan on having a pair of Percula Clowns, isn't it bad to add just one? I thought both needed to be added at the same time? As of right now, I plan on adding maybe a couple of firefish as well. Which of the two would you recommend adding first, the clowns or the firefish? Since we're talking about firefish, I was reading up on the species today and read that it is recommended that you have only one if a mated pair is not available? Is that correct? I should stay away from adding two if they're NOT mated?
sonicblast - I just checked my nitrAtes ... they're down to about 5 or 6 after the water change I did today.
Sorry about all these questions, but the points both of you made were exactly what was causing the confusion in me
Clowns a mated pair isn't required get two Little ones from the aquarium as long as they aren't sexually mature they will work it out. First I've heard that about fire fish I have 4 in my 90 and no problems the aquarium keeps about 20 in their display with no problems.
I can't remember how big your tank is but, all your doing is seeing if it will reduce ammonia quickly and totally in other words no detectable nitrites etc. Just keep it under 1ppm to avoid toxic conditions.
Cheers
Chris
I can't remember how big your tank is but, all your doing is seeing if it will reduce ammonia quickly and totally in other words no detectable nitrites etc. Just keep it under 1ppm to avoid toxic conditions.
Cheers
Chris
To help you out a little bit, 5 drops of ammonia per every 10 gallons of water would give you an ammonia level of 5ppm so you can gauge off of that. I am willing to bet my shirt that if everything you are saying is true, your tank is cycled
This saltwater thing is just like freshwater tanks in that a person can almost instantly clone a tank from another. Using fully cured live rock that either is shipped to your tank in water or is out of water for a very minimal time (less than an hour at least, better though if less time is needed), will almost instantly give you a tank that is fish ready provided there is enough live rock...
For example, my 90 gallon tank had 80 pounds of cured live rock, 45 pounds base rock, and 80 pounds of live sand in it on day 1. The live rock and half of the live sand came from a tank at a LFS about 20 minutes away from my house and was in my tank in less than half an hour. Since the tank was about 3/4 full of saltwater and heated, the live rock had almost no die back and I saw a small ammonia spike that lasted less than a day or two. I waited, like you, for about two weeks and then tested out this seemingly impossible situation with two damsels. I have been keeping fish in it ever since.
I also do not use one peice of mechanical filtration other than a skimmer and rely solely on natural filtration from the live rock and live sand. My tank almost always has perfect water parameters and the biggest 'problem' I have had is with higher amounts of Phosphates in the couple of days before my water change.
Maybe you should try to test things out with a very hardy fish. In my area, clownfish are about 15 dollars a pop, so maybe it would be best to go with another type of damsel like a domino damsel. Green Chromis are also damsels, but not nearly as hearty as dominos or blue damsels/yellow tailed blue damsels. Just keep in mind that you may have some trouble catching them in the future when you are ready to get the fish that you really want. My four damsels (two domino, two yellow tailed blue), when I tried to catch them, took me to school pretty quickly but I did get them in the end but it took three nets and my wife and I to do it! :thud:
This saltwater thing is just like freshwater tanks in that a person can almost instantly clone a tank from another. Using fully cured live rock that either is shipped to your tank in water or is out of water for a very minimal time (less than an hour at least, better though if less time is needed), will almost instantly give you a tank that is fish ready provided there is enough live rock...
For example, my 90 gallon tank had 80 pounds of cured live rock, 45 pounds base rock, and 80 pounds of live sand in it on day 1. The live rock and half of the live sand came from a tank at a LFS about 20 minutes away from my house and was in my tank in less than half an hour. Since the tank was about 3/4 full of saltwater and heated, the live rock had almost no die back and I saw a small ammonia spike that lasted less than a day or two. I waited, like you, for about two weeks and then tested out this seemingly impossible situation with two damsels. I have been keeping fish in it ever since.
I also do not use one peice of mechanical filtration other than a skimmer and rely solely on natural filtration from the live rock and live sand. My tank almost always has perfect water parameters and the biggest 'problem' I have had is with higher amounts of Phosphates in the couple of days before my water change.
Maybe you should try to test things out with a very hardy fish. In my area, clownfish are about 15 dollars a pop, so maybe it would be best to go with another type of damsel like a domino damsel. Green Chromis are also damsels, but not nearly as hearty as dominos or blue damsels/yellow tailed blue damsels. Just keep in mind that you may have some trouble catching them in the future when you are ready to get the fish that you really want. My four damsels (two domino, two yellow tailed blue), when I tried to catch them, took me to school pretty quickly but I did get them in the end but it took three nets and my wife and I to do it! :thud:
Chris - my tank is a 36 gal. So, besides, 2 clown fish, I was thinking of adding at least 1 firefish and 1 gobby. Is that it for me or can I make that 2 firefish? How about pseudochromis? What is their temperament like - will they get along with the above fish or are they not to be mixed? I'll probably go to the aquarium tomorrow and see what they have. Also, the Aquarium has a 20% sale tomorrow, so I might be able to get a deal
Tommy - I had my tank up and running with heater, filtration etc, and then I added the LR. The LFS is only 5 mins away and they wrapped the rock in wet newspaper - so they had absolutely no chance to dry off. I currently have about 20 lbs of LR and 20 lbs of base rock, with a deep sand bed.
I'll add about 5 drops/gal of pure ammonia tonight and see what the params look like in the morning. The clowns at my LFS run at ~$19 for the Ocellaris and ~$40 for the Percula. I was leaning towards the Percula cos I like the broader black band that they have compared to the Ocellaris.
I'm not sure I want to start with Damsels cos I don't plan on keeping them given the other tank mates that I have in mind. I might go with the firefish tomorrow since they're much cheaper than the Percs.
A huge thank you to all of you for all the information. Its all making sense now I'll keep you posted on how things go.
Cheers!
Yash
Tommy - I had my tank up and running with heater, filtration etc, and then I added the LR. The LFS is only 5 mins away and they wrapped the rock in wet newspaper - so they had absolutely no chance to dry off. I currently have about 20 lbs of LR and 20 lbs of base rock, with a deep sand bed.
I'll add about 5 drops/gal of pure ammonia tonight and see what the params look like in the morning. The clowns at my LFS run at ~$19 for the Ocellaris and ~$40 for the Percula. I was leaning towards the Percula cos I like the broader black band that they have compared to the Ocellaris.
I'm not sure I want to start with Damsels cos I don't plan on keeping them given the other tank mates that I have in mind. I might go with the firefish tomorrow since they're much cheaper than the Percs.
A huge thank you to all of you for all the information. Its all making sense now
I'll keep you posted on how things go.Cheers!
Yash
"Chris - my tank is a 36 gal. So, besides, 2 clown fish, I was thinking of adding at least 1 firefish and 1 gobby. Is that it for me or can I make that 2 firefish? How about pseudochromis? What is their temperament like - will they get along with the above fish or are they not to be mixed? I'll probably go to the aquarium tomorrow and see what they have. Also, the Aquarium has a 20% sale tomorrow, so I might be able to get a deal "
Well, I'd skip the pseudochromis it might not play well with your fire fish or your goby. I can't remember what kind of clowns you are getting but, you should be fine with one or maybe two other small fish if you aren't getting one of the larger more aggresive species of clown. You'll also want to lightly stock the tank if you are going for a reef or mixed reef. I also wouldn't go to crazy at the aquarium tommorow I'd add my clean up crew and give it a week or so.
Then start slowly adding fish to the tank. I'd talk to one of the managers and see if you could buy two young clowns and have them hold the fish for you. Then you'll want to slowly stock the tank over the next few weeks . You don't want to over stress the tank or you migh have a :devil: of a problem.
Hth
Chris
Well, I'd skip the pseudochromis it might not play well with your fire fish or your goby. I can't remember what kind of clowns you are getting but, you should be fine with one or maybe two other small fish if you aren't getting one of the larger more aggresive species of clown. You'll also want to lightly stock the tank if you are going for a reef or mixed reef. I also wouldn't go to crazy at the aquarium tommorow I'd add my clean up crew and give it a week or so.
Then start slowly adding fish to the tank. I'd talk to one of the managers and see if you could buy two young clowns and have them hold the fish for you. Then you'll want to slowly stock the tank over the next few weeks . You don't want to over stress the tank or you migh have a :devil: of a problem.
Hth
Chris
I am currently planning on getting a pair of Percula Clowns. So, my question to you is, should I add the fish tomorrow or the clean up crew? I thought I would need to add the fish first since there really isn't anything in the sand right now for the cleanup crew to chow on? Are you saying I should add the cleanup crew first and then start adding fish after a few weeks?
Gotcha on the pseudochromis ... that's what I figured as well.
How does 2 Percula Clowns along with either 1 fire fish and 1 goby, or 2 fire fish by themselves sound like a stocking idea given the size of the tank (36 gal)? Of course, I won't add them all at once ... will add them slowly, probably over a couple of months or so.
I'll check with the managers at the store tomorrow to see if they can hold on to the clowns for me for a couple of weeks. That would be ideal!
Thanks again,
Yash
Gotcha on the pseudochromis ... that's what I figured as well.
How does 2 Percula Clowns along with either 1 fire fish and 1 goby, or 2 fire fish by themselves sound like a stocking idea given the size of the tank (36 gal)? Of course, I won't add them all at once ... will add them slowly, probably over a couple of months or so.
I'll check with the managers at the store tomorrow to see if they can hold on to the clowns for me for a couple of weeks. That would be ideal!
Thanks again,
Yash
