no clue wahts going on...

It's been just around 3 weeks now. My levels arent changing at all. Ammonia is at .025 everything else is 0. I put about half a shrimp in the tank at the end of week 1 and its completely melted away now. I have algae thats starting to get out of control...nasty looking green stringy stuff (I think it's gha). I'm tempted to get a small cuc but I don't want to rush anything and risk killing any of the critters.


SETUP:
29 gallon
premixed saltwater from LFS
about 30-32lbs of LR
hob aquaclear 50

 

Well if you only put the shrimp in there two weeks ago you are really on "week 2" and not "week 3" - the tank will really not start cycling until you have given it a starter culture or something to cycle with. The shrimp provides the jumpstart - but you will still have a few weeks until your cycle is completed. I would not expect to see nitrates within two weeks of putting the shrimp in there. Also you may benefit from the addition of a powerhead. At under 300 GPH you are just hitting 10 turnovers/hour in your tank. That might also be why the cycle is taking a little longer - the bacteria do not have a lot of water passing by, so there are fewer interactions/encounters of the bacteria to their respective waste products.

 

thanks for the reply. I guess it just a waiting game. If nothing else this hobby will teach you patience. I'll just have to break out my buzz clippers and give that gha a high and tight in a few weeks!

I forgot to list it but I do have a hydor nano 425

 

I recently set up a 15 gallon that took a month and a half to cycle, no joke, make sure you have enough live rock and a chemical bacteria supplement. Good luck!