What to do?!?!?!........

[MooseDrool719]

Hello everyone!

So here is my situation, I started my tank 7 days ago (new to SW) I have a 20 Long with a koralia 240, 17 lbs of LR and 20 Lbs of LS. I let my tank run for 5 days and had a reading of (API Master Kit)
pH:8.0-8.2
NH3/4: .25
NO2: 0
NO3:0
Temp: 78°

I talked to 3 different LFS and 4 different people told me it "Mini" cycled and I should add a hearty fish and a small CuC. I bought a pink damsel ($11.00) and cared for the tank as usual....today I tested and nothing has changed, the parameters are still the same. I never saw an ammonia spike, nitrite spike or a nitrate spike. the fish is doing well and so is the shrimp (6 hours since the shrimp and 2 days for the damsel) I have some slight algae growth (not unsightly yet but I can see it) I put the cleaner shrimp in today after drip acclimating for 3 hours and he seems to be doing fine as well.... it seems like everything I'm doing is defying everything I have read......I don't want to kill these animals......any help out there?

[MooseDrool719]

Salinity: 1.025

[chueu]

You tank in still showing ammonia. Most people would say, take the fish back to the lfs if possible.

I would think that you do not want the shrimp in there with the fish.. possibly build up the bacteria slowly and keep the ammonia to a minimum instead of the pour in/shrimp method.. you are still showing ammonia.

[dmh41532]

you used live rock and live sand? then you may not have ammonia or nitrite spikes, but your test shows .25 ppm of ammonia? adding 'hardy' fish to cycle is generally considered to be outdated and cruel to the fish. Most people use fishless cycling. Some people buy all live rock and sand and are able to add fish without the cycling process.

[stingeragent]

+1 to above. I "cycled" my 20 with fully cured live rock and live sand and never really had a cycle. If your "live rock" wasn't cured, then youlll get die offs over the coming days and your ammonia will go through the roof. You can get away with not doing a cycle if the rock you use is from a well established tank, and your startup water doesn't contain ammonia to begin with (ro/di). When I changed my 20 to a 40, I just moved all the rock over which has been in the other tank for a year, and used all ro/di water and no cycle because the bacteria is already on the rocks. But if you buy "live rock" that has been sitting in a cardboard box shipped all over the world for the last 2 weeks, your prolly gonna have a cycle. Depending on the source of the rock and sand, if it didn't go straight from an established tank to yours I'd take the fish and shrimp back ASAP.

[MooseDrool719]

Well that's what I had planned to do (fishless cycle) but being new to the hobby and trusting two different LFS I forked up the 11 bucks believing that it would start the cycle...BUT nothing has changed. Does it seem like this has happened to me? (continuing without cycle?)

[MooseDrool719]

singeragent,

I'm 99% sure the live rock was cured, and I used RO/DI water to fill my tank initially.

[stingeragent]

If your 99% is correct you should be ok. I wouldn't add anything else in the meantime. If it's the 1% and your rock wasn't fully cured and full of bacteria there's a good chance you'll lose the fish and shrimp. My first tank I got fully cured live rock that had been sitting in a large system from the LFS for months. Had no cycle. My 2nd tank which was quite a bit larger I bought live rock online for the cost savings and within 12-24 hrs my ammonia went from 0 to higher than my test kit would register (higher than 8). Fish and shrimp are already in the tank. If you wanna be on the safe side your best bet is to take them back and not chance it. If you don't wanna do that, ride it out and continue to check your levels and if it starts getting higher your gonna want to take them back.

[OrQidz]

If you have ammonia and no nitrite or nitrate, your tank is cycling. It just hasn't gotten to the next step. I would remove the livestock or at least do water changes. The damsel will be hard to catch without tearing the rock down so if he isn't your long term fish you might want to take him back now.
Good luck - there's lots of info on here about cycling and such.
And welcome to the hobby! :) it is addicting in case no one warned you!

[MooseDrool719]

Thanks guys!, I'm going to leave the tank for a while and see if there are any major changes, I did a small water change recently but like I said, the shrimp and fish seem to be ok for now. Ill give an update doon.

[Reefwithareefer]

Thanks guys!, I'm going to leave the tank for a while and see if there are any major changes, I did a small water change recently but like I said, the shrimp and fish seem to be ok for now. Ill give an update doon.

Just curious... With you be new to saltwater, one question comes to mind. Would you know what the fish and shrimp looked like if they are not doing well?
Just asking...

[chueu]

Just curious... With you be new to saltwater, one question comes to mind. Would you know what the fish and shrimp looked like if they are not doing well?
Just asking...
He bought them the signs that they can hold up.. lol, sorry about that

But yea, u wont know if they are suffering

[nmotz]

Actually, your situation should be confirming everything that you've read about SW tanks rather than defying it. At 7 days you have detectable ammonia and no nitrites or nitrates, this is completely normal. I think you may have gotten confused about the cycle somewhere in your reading. There are rare circumstances where people "skip" the cycle by adding fully cured LR to a tank, but this is not the case for you because you have ammonia. The presence of ammonia indicates that there is a cycle ongoing. The next step in the cycle is for nitrites to appear as the ammonia is converted by beneficial bacteria.

I don't mean any offense to you because I had similar misunderstandings when I first started, but please try to reread the guidance in the stickies on cycling and that will help you out a lot. Good luck!

[julie180]

Actually, your situation should be confirming everything that you've read about SW tanks rather than defying it. At 7 days you have detectable ammonia and no nitrites or nitrates, this is completely normal. I think you may have gotten confused about the cycle somewhere in your reading. There are rare circumstances where people "skip" the cycle by adding fully cured LR to a tank, but this is not the case for you because you have ammonia. The presence of ammonia indicates that there is a cycle ongoing. The next step in the cycle is for nitrites to appear as the ammonia is converted by beneficial bacteria.

I don't mean any offense to you because I had similar misunderstandings when I first started, but please try to reread the guidance in the stickies on cycling and that will help you out a lot. Good luck!


What he/she said
Best to return the fish and shrimp instead of waiting for them to die.