New Saltwater Tank Enthusiast!

Hey Guys,

I'm Shane Roberie. I just started a new 10 gallon saltwater tank. It is still in the middle of it's biological cycle. The aquarium store nearby said that it would take a week for it to start the ammonia spike and what not but its been running for a little over a week now and nothing has happened. I have the live rock and everything but I am still waiting for the time to put the janitors in. Any suggestions or thoughts on how long it should take or what I should do. Thanks!

Shane Roberie

 

just let nature take its coarse when you start seeing some algea blooming maybe even add a damsel or 2 to move it along

 

Welcome aboard!!! Every cycle is different. Some are short, some are long, we can only guesstimate what a typical one will be in length. How much LR do you have in the setup? And what do you have in there to cycle? You need some form of waste, either a fish pooping, fish food, a piece of raw shrimp from the grocery store, or you could pee in the tank, in theory at least. You just need something waste like to decompose into ammonia, no waste no cycle.

Welcome to 3reeef!!!

 

Welcome to 3reef! Post some pics of what you got and that will help us, help you.

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>

 

Welcome to 3reef....Since your space is really limited, I would avoid putting a fish in there as you will need to catch it later.....unless you find one you want to keep. A damsel or a clownfish would do just fine IMO if you want it a permanent fixture in the tank. Both are pretty hardy fish.

 

I started my 72 gal tank 15 months ago. I added about 50 lbs of live rock and a bunch of live sand. The live rock was full of coraline algae. It was the best LR I've ever seen in a LFS. I never did experience an ammonia spike and my nitrite only went up to 0.1 ppm. The LR and LS basically eliminated the cycle since it came pre-loaded with all the denitrifying bacteria. This won't happen in every case though. I think the LR I got was much better than average.

Take it slowly. Haste truly does make waste in this hobby. I'd give it another week and add some blue-legged hermits and keep watching the ammonia.

 

Same basic thing with us. If you get live rock that is already cycled, you don't have to cycle it (obviously). There will still be a mini cycle as it "gets used to" the new tank and setup, but it's essentially a "move" instead of a completely new setup of an aquarium.

Was your rock pre cycled or precured? Or did you have to cure it yourself etc.

 

hello and welcome to 3 reef for a tank as small as yours you could get some your all of the 10 gal. from someone doing a water change and use there old water for starters and if you can barrow a rock or dirty media filter to put in your tank for several days. that will help you a bunch

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and words of advice. There is definitely some algae growing on the rocks so SOMETHING must be happening. The rock was pre-cured.

Does anyone have suggestions on what would be a good coral to start off with, for beginners that is? and what is the best time to start adding?

I will get some pics of the tank soon!