PDA

View Full Version : setting up my 135g FOWLR


sean A.
06/24/2009, 07:24 PM
I just set up my 135g FOWLR tank. How long should I let it run before I try putting fish in it?

johno4
06/24/2009, 07:44 PM
Until everything is stable.

sean A.
06/24/2009, 07:53 PM
right now everything reeds goods except for my PH level is low. I added a PH buffer to it today.

MatthewLaw
06/24/2009, 08:04 PM
did you put in some bacteria or some decaying food to get the cycling going?

saltyguy51
06/24/2009, 08:18 PM
If you just got it going today you need to wait 6-8 weeks at a normal cycle unless you have live rock, sand or if you are cycling with pure ammonia then that speeds up some

sean A.
06/24/2009, 08:29 PM
put some food in there

MatthewLaw
06/24/2009, 08:30 PM
do you have any LR, LS, in there?

since you put the food in TODAY i dont think the cycle has started at this point

sean A.
06/24/2009, 08:43 PM
Yes I have some live rock in there and it is a BB.

MatthewLaw
06/24/2009, 08:47 PM
i would wait until the amonia, nitrite and nitrate start to show up respectively before putting any fish in there

sean A.
06/24/2009, 09:17 PM
Ok thanks for the info

LisaD
06/25/2009, 03:56 AM
It will help if you regularly test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. It doesn't have to be daily, but every other day or couple days. Keep track with a chart or table. You should see ammonia go up from the food you added, then go down as nitrite spikes, then nitrite become undetectable as nitrates slowly go up. If you don't see this, the tank is probably not cycling.

I've seen situations where people put a tank up, add no or very little ammonia source, or assume the live rock will cycle the tank. Check the tank in two weeks, all readings are zero. They add fish, and everything is fine for a week or so... until the tank starts its FIRST cycle.

sean A.
06/25/2009, 05:47 AM
Now would ading some water from one of my other tanks to this tank help it start cycling?

MatthewLaw
06/25/2009, 06:19 AM
i dont think adding water from the old tank would HURT the new tank and may help with the cycle.

I would suggest taking a piece of your LR and leaving it exposed to the outside air for maybe an hour; essentially turning it into uncured rock. During that exposure the rock would start to die off and once you put it back into the 'new' tank that 'die-off' would help get the tank cycled.

sean A.
06/25/2009, 07:02 AM
Ok I will try that

LisaD
06/25/2009, 07:58 AM
Personally, I wouldn't want to kill anything on my LR. Cured live rock can help speed up your cycle! I'd rather add some mysis or table shrimp to the tank. If you have live rock, why make it dead? If you have cured live rock, it should already have nitrogen fixing bacteria on it, and simply feeding it should help the colonies increase to handle more bioload.

Adding water from your cycled tank won't hurt, but it will not do much to accelerate your cycle.

Here is a an article with the basics:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bionitrogencycle/a/aa073199.htm

sean A.
06/25/2009, 08:31 AM
Thanks LisaD that helped out a lot

sean A.
07/05/2009, 10:07 AM
I've been testing my water for almost 2 weeks & so far my Ammonia went up to .25. Nitrates & Nitrates are still at 0.

sanchoy
07/05/2009, 10:23 AM
I hate the cycling process as well, however you $ave in the long run. It's a waiting game.

sean A.
07/08/2009, 11:22 AM
Well there is still no real change yet. Now I was also told that since all of my LR is cured LR then there won't really be a big cycle. How true is that. I have about 90 lbs. of LR in there as of rite now.

danorth
07/08/2009, 09:59 PM
Hard to say, just keep checking once a week.

MatthewLaw
07/08/2009, 10:01 PM
i would throw some food in there since that will either start the cycle or confirm that the cycle has been completed.

sean A.
07/09/2009, 06:00 AM
I threw some food in there and thats what bumped the ammonia levels up to .25 and thats as far as went. I even threw some more food in there too. Now the LR I have in there the guy said was cured LR. How can I tell if it was cured LR? Would that make me not really have a cycle? I also added a few pieces of LR from my already established 55g FOWLR to try to bump start the cycle.

MatthewLaw
07/09/2009, 06:03 AM
if the amonia has come up and nitrite and nitrate are still zero, then I might lean towards the tank has NOT cycled and is just starting now