Quick cycle question

D

Davidl

AC Members
Oct 19, 2004
35
0
0
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?
 
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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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?
 
do a water change to lower nitrates
 
Davidl said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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..
 
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.
 
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
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom