Things to do while Cycling?

Hi so I am in the cycling phase. I bought some live rock. I have been running my lights for about 11 hours a day. This started last week. So is there anything else I should be doing? Can I do anything else like trying to promote coraline? I have been having trouble finding any info on cycling other than wait. Which may be the best advice. But I figure there has got to be other prepping I could be doing.

Other questions:

Should I be running my protein skimmer?

Should I keep running the mechanical filter?

I added a cooked shrimp before I saw other say raw, and yet other say nothing. Do I need to worry about that?

Some say I should expect 3 algae blooms, and some seem to say get a cleaning crew when you see the algae? But then I got the impression the water wouldnt be able to handle it?

I read that I should run the antics 24/7 to promote good coralline?

Should I be moving power heads around?

I get the feeling I could probably just leave it all well enough alone.

Thanks, if theres a thread that really covers Cycling well could someone sticky it?

Thanks.

 

I'd loke to hear more about this topic myself. Heres a good spot for ALOT of reading...

Curing Brown Algae Problems in your Saltwater Aquarium

I'd sure like to know the secret to getting coralline to start.....

I ran all my stuuf from day one...skimmer, everything....

but I've yet to have any coralline grow...but my setup is still very new....


Scoffer

 

Hi,

I don't want to sound like a broken record but the first thing cycling takes is patience. Cycling is a good time to consider the future of your tank. Are you planning on housing fish in a FOWLR tank or looking to go into coral? This can help you decide on any next steps. Now that I got that out of the way let's talk about some ways to kick it up a notch.
The first and best things to speed up your cycling are live sand and good quality water. After that live rock is the next thing. So, you at least have one of the three. I don't know about the rest. I'll assume you are using RO based water or ocean saltwater. This should go without saying. Next, stop your protein skimmer. You don't have anywhere near the bio load for skimming yet. Right now it is actually removing toxins you "want" in the tank. Do continue to run your "mechanical" filter. I'll again make an assumption and guess this is a canister filter? If so, only run the sponges and the bio media. Don't run any charcoal, phosphate remover or nitrate reducers. It is actually good to get your tank a little "dirty" while cycling. This may result in an algae bloom or possibly just the amonia, nitrite and nitrate spike. Now, remember I said a little dirty. A little bit of toxins will actually feed both bad algae and coraline algae. the other thing coraline algae needs is high carbonate levels. Many companies sell "Reef Builders" to up the alkalinity and carbonate hardness. Finally, I have found that coraline algae, like true coral, likes calcium. You can start to add calcium with suppliments as well. The end goal is to get your water to the point where you will be running it in the future. FOWLR tanks have slightly different requirements and do better with different water than what feeds coral.
Now, let's talk about the final trick. If you have a friend with a fish tank, ask to get some of his water. Already cycled water from a good tank will have tons of useful critters and chemicals in it for you. If you don't have a friend, ask your local LFS nicely if they can spare a few gallons.
Once the water is where you want it, you can start adding a small bio load with hermit crabs and snails. Feed the crabs a pellet or two and let the snails clean up the algae that will inevitably come.
I hope this helps. best of luck and keep us posted.
Hope these suggestions help.

 

yes thank you. I am definately not trying to rush things. More so I just want to be working on doing the right things now when there are relatively few things for me to worry about. Just turned the protein skimmer off and removed the charcoal. I am planning on having corals.

Alkalinity, Carbonate Hardness, and Calcium are all things i need test kits for, and i guess i buy supliments to buffer all of those?

I came home today and saw my live rocks are all covered with a light greenish/orange algee so i guess things are moving along.

How often do i need to be testing the ammonia nitrates, nitrites? Daily Weekly?

Thanks guys.

 

OK, so the final goal is a nice coral tank. Now we know where we want to end up. With this in mind I say again "Take it slow". I know it's hard, but having stable good water is key to a healthy reef. Yes, do get yourself a test kit and some water additives. You want your PH to be at 8.3, your DKh between 9-12, your calcium should be ~440-450 and your salinity should be at 1.024. Another important consideration is temp. Your light should not greate too much heat, but make sure that your temp is stable throughout the day. You want it to be ~77 degrees. You MUST used treated RO water or natural ocean saltwater. For most coral your nitrates need to be at or very near 0. You won't be able to get this with your current filtration without chemical assitance. I am not a fan of chemical filtration, but unless you want to invest some money in an overflow/sump/refugium setup, chemical filtration will be your only option.
The fact that you have algae in your tank means that your tank is just getting started. For now you only need to test nitrates and amonia every few days. It's not "crucial" until you have living creatures in the tank. If you see more algae growing, then you have nitrates. This is understandable. Just take it slow for the next two weeks. After this your water should be at a level where you can introduce hermit crabs and snails. They will help complete the amonia cycle. After this start checking your water every day and if your nitrates are consistently ~0, then you can probably add fish another 1.5-2 weeks after this. Just think about it, in ~3-4 weeks you will probably have fish. Time will fly through Christmas and New Years so get your supplies in order. Remember, remember, remember having stable, well cycled water may seem like a pain now but it will make a huge difference down the line.

 

You don't need to leave your lights on for that long a duration right now! Continue running filtration!
Don't be to concerned about coralline algae at this point in time as the main thing is the cycling of your tank properly!
Forget feeding crabs etc. as they will get their food requirements from the algae growing on your live rock!!! All this does(especially pettet and flake food is pollute your water as they contain more phosphates than frozen foods!
Monitor the water parameters regularly so to be able to track the tanks progress through the cycling!
If you can get some live sand from and established, mature tank-that will help to expedite the process a bit. Check with a friend or local pet shop!
Other than that let nature take its course!!!!! Take your time with it and don't try to rush or alter nature's course!!!!
Best of luck-keep us updated!!!

 

I made a post before, but I will just spin off this one. I have a few questions. The process goes, amonia to nitrite to nitrate, does a refugium break down nitrate to a less acidic counterpart?

Secondly, I have been cycling for two days now, my protein skimmer is brand new and does not do squat for now. I have no other means of filtration. Do I need another mode of filtration? My lfs said my skimmer should be enough for a couple weeks, are they right?

Thirdly, should i get a nitrate test kit, which will inform me when my cycling is in the final stage?

I mainly want a reef tank, my tank is 45 gallons and is only filled half way. I have 20 pounds of lr and 10 pounds of live sand with 10 pounds of dead sand. Is it all right if i cycle my tank in this fashion? Oh yeah, im using 100% ro water. Does anyone see any problems with what i am doing?

I almost forgot, I add purple up every day and i also put one of those disolving calcium tablets in as well.

 

I put in the live rock yesturday for about seven or eight hours. The amonia levels were through the roof, appx 1.5 mg/l and rose throught the day to about 3.0mg/l the nitrite was about .5 mg/l. 24 hrs later the amonia is at about .10mg/l and the nitrite is at about 1 or 2 mg/l.

Those numbers cant be right, can they? Ill test again.

 

So I tested again and it seems that the amonia is close to zero and the nitrites are through the roof.... I also added a packet called "bio spira" about 24 hours before i added my live rock. It claim that it is, "the only nitrifying bacteria that makes saltwater aquariums fish-safe over night."

Well, If my nitrates are pretty high (i dont have a tester for nitrates, i bought a test kit that has a lot of stuff i dont need and doesnt have what i do need, took a little loss on that purchase i guess), it seems that my tank will be ready in no time. Im probobly wrong though :-/

listen to what it says on the back of this package, "...accelerates the establishment of the bio filterin newly setup saltwater aquariums.. contains patent pending strains of nitrosopira, nitrosomonas, nitrospira, and nitrococus bacteria discovered and cultured by marineland labs. It is the only bacteria product that works overnight to eliminate fish loss due to ammonia and nitrite toxicity."

The dude at my lfs told me to put it in as it will contain all the bacteria that i will need in my tank. I only read the directions, I didnt really pay that much attention to what it claimed to do as far a cycling a tank over-night goes.....is this packet some freak of nature or something? I hope that i did not put some un-natural bacteria in my tank!

 

A refugium can contain Macroalgaes that absorb Nitrates. Then you export some of the macroalgaes and the Nitrates go right into the trash with the algae.

Depending your circulation, setup, a brand, a protein skimmer is likely all you will ever need. Definately get a Nitrate test kit.

I see no problems with cycling halfway filled.

If you are using Purple Up, make sure that you are testing both Calcium Levels and Alkalinity levels. If you don't know those two numbers, discontinue dosing until you do. This product can get Calcium and Alkalinity unbalanced if you're not careful. I'm assuming the blocks are Sea-Lab number 28. If so, discontinue use of this product until you know your Calcium and Alkalinity numbers. (Actually, if that is the product, i would throw all remaining blocks in the trash or try to return them).

Those are the exact same strains that your tank would have developed merely by having a little die-off from the addition of your live rock. Does this product do what it claims....I haven't a clue. I've never used it. I'm trying to figure out how you could keep the cultures of each of the species together and alive in the same package. Maybe they figured out how to do it.