When to add CUC

[mtaswt]

When/how soon can I start to add my CUC. I am in the 2nd week of cyclying, but have not seen any real amounts of ammonia. As of yesterday it was at 0

[saltymight]

How did u start your tank up. Did you get sand/rock from a established tank. If so your cycle can be over quick. How often did you test. Did you kick start with anything like a piece of shrimp?

[mtaswt]

How did u start your tank up. Did you get sand/rock from a established tank. If so your cycle can be over quick. How often did you test. Did you kick start with anything like a piece of shrimp?

I started my tank with approx 150# of base rock, and 50# of live rock. I also added 2 shrimp, and tested every 2-3 days. My ammonia has never really spiked that I could see, and as of yesterday my ammonia was definately at 0!

[aleonn]

I would add the CUC once the algae starts popping up. What ammonia test kit are you using, and is it recently purchased? You also might try testing for nitrite and/or nitrates at this point to see where the cycle is at. Hopefully it'll be a relatively fast one :)

[mtaswt]

I would add the CUC once the algae starts popping up. What ammonia test kit are you using, and is it recently purchased? You also might try testing for nitrite and/or nitrates at this point to see where the cycle is at. Hopefully it'll be a relatively fast one :)

When can you consider the cycle as "being done"?

[israel.kendall]

When can you consider the cycle as "being done"?

When ammonia and nitrites are steady at zero.


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[lordofthereef]

Fuel the tank with an ammonia source. Most people recommend a blended shrimp, but fish food, etc. will do fine. Observe your ammonia levels. If the tank is done cycling, you shouldn't really see ammonia levels. If you do they should be very low and drop back to 0 within 12-24 hours. If you do add a CUC without anything growing on your rocks or feeding the tank, they will starve (or start consuming one another). That's one of the many mistakes people make I think. They toss in a CUC and let the tank run for another month+ without dropping anything into the tank in the mean time.

[saltymight]

Dont add any CUC before your nitrites go down our you will be hurting them.

[jonathansruelas]

you can add CUC when you see algae is growing and once your amonia and nitrite is at zero.. you can give them flakes and pellets to sink down while you wait til you add the real inhabitants also