I think my tank has cycled, what is my next step?

[gmyers0203]

Hey y'all,

I tried searching for an answer but felt my questions would be answered best in an individualized thread. I know there are tons of threads on cycling but bear with me :wavehand:

A little background.. I started my first saltwater tank (75g DT w/ 29g sump) in August. It was up and running August 22nd. I have approximately 80 lbs of dry rock and 3 lbs of live rock from my LFS. I used about 75 lbs of Caribsea sand.

Shortly after the above date, I added a raw shrimp in a filter sock and it sat in the tank for approximately 24 hrs before the wife vetoed that method.

At this point the only equipment I was running were my heaters, lights, and return pump. While reading up, I saw someone mention to not use lights during the cycle so I turned them off. As I continued to read, I saw others recommend to keep them on for shorter amounts of time, so I did this and have not adjust it since then (about a week ago).

I had not received my test kit yet so I was unable to test the water for about another 5 days. I did replace the shrimp method with throwing in flake food. I have also been adding Seachem Stability to aid in bacteria growth.

The day I got my test kit (Sept 6) I did a test on my DT. The first time I tested I only did Ammonia and Nitrite as I wasn't expecting to see Nitrate yet.

Sept 6.
Ammonia: .00 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm

I dosed Stability again and put in some more flake food. I tested the next day and got these results.

Sept 7.
Ammonia: .00 ppm
Nitrite: .00 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

I continued my regimen of Seachem Stability (I would always test before adding the Stability as to not affect the results) to this past week and tested my levels every couple days, still occasionally adding some flake food.

I have yet to see any ammonia spike and my levels have remained constant despite the food being added. My thinking is that the ammonia spike occurred prior to me receiving my test kit and I believe that is supported by the reading of .25 ppm of Nitrite the first day I tested.

So with that, I now believe my tank has pretty much cycled (kinda quick, I know) and I am looking for advice as to what my next step should be.

The piece of live rock I have has some algae on it and I can see that it has just started to spread to some of the surrounding rock.

Would not be an appropriate time to start my skimmer? Or do I need to wait longer before I do that?

Is there anything else I should do? Maybe add a few clean up crew members? Definitely not the full squadron. If so, should I stick with cerith, nassarius, and nerite snails? What would be your suggestions?

My main question is about the skimmer and whether I should turn it on, any other suggestions for my progression forward would be greatly appreciated!

I'm still waiting for my QT tank to cycle before I get fish.

Thanks in advance for any responses!! They are certainly appreciated as I don't want to get into anything too quickly or in the wrong order.

[drew930]

Anyone will have different opinions to cycle as you saw lol. IMO in a couple of days,i would just go get about 3 blue green chromis and add them in, See how they do. They are very hardy and if you cant keep them alive, you cant keep nothing alive. Then add A cup or your sand from your DT to your QT ( after the chromis has been in for a week ) This will speed your cycling process us in both tanks.. I really dont like the blue green chromis a whole lot, but a lot of people add them or damsels for there first fish in their first tank. Then go from there.

[Frankfish]

I would hold off on starting the skimmer until just before I was ready to put the fish in. I would hold off on the cleanup crew also. Keep it completely dark to avoid algae, and let the biological filter establish.

Once you add fish and a small CUC, Only turn the lights on for an hour or two a day for a while.

While your fish are in QT, do frequent small water changes.

Remember to add livestock slowly. Your tank is still very young, and won't be able to handle big changes.

Good luck

[Sk8r]

A baby sandbed groans when even a snail or two starts poo'ing into the sandbed---so acquire your cuc little at a time, little guys first: cerith snails, zigzag periwinkles, bristle worms (you may have some already, micro hermits, limpets, brittle star; and then when you've had these guys work for a month with no problem, you can have been quarantining your first fish (separate tank, not linked water system) for 4 weeks. Fish goes in, quarantine another fish, etc. After your tank has been running 3 months, add a couple of true nassarius snails, because by then your sandbed will be full of nutrient you want taken care of. You can add coral (but not anemones) whenever you feel your lighting is up to it and your tank is stable.
Establishing an autotopoff will save your sanity, so you don't have to top off daily.

[thegrun]

[QUOTE=drew930;19286830]Anyone will have different opinions to cycle as you saw lol. IMO in a couple of days,i would just go get about 3 blue green chromis and add them in, See how they do. They are very hardy and if you cant keep them alive, you cant keep nothing alive. QUOTE]

Well, I can keep one chromis alive for years, but I've never been able to keep multiples. It's always been the strongest survives and kills off the weaker ones. On the positive side, it was a great way to teach my children subtraction when they were young...7-2+5, 5-1+4, 4-2+2, 2-1+1. I gave up years ago and just keep one.

[gmyers0203]

Thanks for the replies y'all.

Sk8r, I think I will probably pick up a few cerith snails and possibly a few zig zag periwinkles. I am thinking no more than 2 or 3 each. I noticed on reefcleaners.org, they mentioned that the periwinkles should not be kept in an aquarium with no lid. I am using egg crate as my lid, but that obviously won't stop a snail. Will this likely be an issue? Should I just get cerith snails?

Drew, I am very hesitant to add fish until I feel my tank is ready for it. I don't want to get a sudden ammonia spike because the bioload is too much for my biological filter now. Thanks for the suggestion though!



As far as keeping the lights and skimmer off, would it not be beneficial to have at least the lights on to let the inevitable algae bloom begin? I feel that I'd just be putting it off when I'd rather get it over with.

If I put in small cleanup crew, should I start the skimmer? Or should I let it go for another couple weeks without it and start it up maybe a week before I put fish in?

[Sk8r]

Your rock and sand contain a load of phosphate. Algae growth will help export it. So can a GFO reactor, but they can be too efficient. The skimmer will work, or not, depending on the bioload, so yes, you can start it when you add the cuc. It's hard to get your temperature balanced at 80 until you have your full equipment cycle working, and best do your balancing with simple creatures who are pretty tolerant.
Eggcrate is fine as a lid. It does restrict light a bit, but not too bad. Some fish (firefish) can aim for the holes when they jump, I do swear, but most will be stopped. Periwinkles climb; probably they will be diverted by the gridwork, but maybe not. As a substitute, ask about strombus grazers aka dove snails---tiny but potent cleaners---two or three will multiply like bandits, and many fish stores will just give a few to a good customer. They mostly come out in twilight, and they are very good at getting into little places. Bristleworms, good, too, because they can get into holes to clean.

[gmyers0203]

Sk8r, thanks for sticking with me here. I appreciate the input greatly!

Because you made the mention of phosphate, I decided to test for it since I had not yet. Is it strange that the results were 0 ppm?

And because we're on that topic, I figured I'd measure everything and post it to see if anyone saw any immediate issues as I move forward.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5-10 ppm
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Calcium: 360 mg/L
Alkalinity: 6 dKH
Salinity: 1.0255
Temp: ~80F

I'm pretty sure I did calcium and alkalinity properly, but I may have lost count by one drop or so.

I will start the skimmer when I put the CUC in... I gotta figure out how to get it operating properly anyway.

I think I will keep the lighting on.. it currently runs Actinics 9:45am - 6:45pm Whites 11:00am - 3:00pm and Moonlights 6:45pm - 10:00 pm

[gmyers0203]

Would I be ill-advised to purchase this live rock?

A guy on a local forum is selling a big archway live rock with a hole in the middle. It has at least 1 blue mushroom and two bumpy-blue-rimmed ones that he is not sure as to their name. It also has a stalk of pulsing xenia on it.