The start of my cycle?

[jordon.l]

Ok so I set my tank up yesterday and put a cube of frozen brine shrimp in and about 3-4 pellets of nls thera-a to try and add an ammonia source. I did some tests today to see if my ammonia is starting to spike yet and the reading are at:
Ammonia- 0.25-0.50
Nitrite- 0.25
Nitrate- 0-5.0
I used Api test kits
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/30/76af596215aa02fa536f9f63f86f3b71.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/30/2059e2e711c52d47246ea485790f8399.jpg

[jordon.l]

Is this the Start of my cycle?

[Lunchbox360]

Is this the Start of my cycle?

Yep looks like your ammonia was spiked id give it a couple days your ammonia will go down and your nitrite will spike then thats when youll get diatoms all over your tank. after that ammonia and nitrite should read zero and your nitrate 10ppm or less will be safe to add life stock. if i was you i would add a clean up crew a pretty big one and leave it in there until your green algae bloom come and once your tank is cleaned out of all algae(that will take atleast a month) add one or two fish slowly. i made a horrible mistake of adding corals and fish after 3 weeks its a pain in the a** to clean with all of that in there and the water perameters are going go up and down during algae bloom so it will stress the fish out (PH and calcium and what not). post updates on your algae bloom and goodluck many water changes will come hahaha :thumbsup:

[jordon.l]

If I add a cuc what will they eat as I don't have any algae?Do I keep adding food or was that enough?and do I turn the lights on?thanks for your help

[Dkuhlmann]

Jordon, you are a not even close to putting in a cuc. That ammonia will continue to rise for about a week and then it will start to convert over to nitrites and the ammonia will go to 0. The nitrites will continue to rise and you will start to get nitrates, once the nitrites go to 0 which will take about two weeks your nitrates will be off the charts and you will be getting your diatoms and other algae start to bloom. Once the nitrites are 0 you can do a big water change and then you can add your cuc. This whole process will take about 4 weeks or so from start to wc. The algae will come don't worry, you will come home one day from work and your tank will be covered up in it. After the algae you will go through a Cyano cycle also. It's all a process that all new tanks go through, Sit back and enjoy the ride.

You will continue to feed until you no longer have ammonia, and you will run your lights on a normal daily schedule

[Lunchbox360]

Jordon, you are a not even close to putting in a cuc. That ammonia will continue to rise for about a week and then it will start to convert over to nitrites and the ammonia will go to 0. The nitrites will continue to rise and you will start to get nitrates, once the nitrites go to 0 which will take about two weeks your nitrates will be off the charts and you will be getting your diatoms and other algae start to bloom. Once the nitrites are 0 you can do a big water change and then you can add your cuc. This whole process will take about 4 weeks or so from start to wc. The algae will come don't worry, you will come home one day from work and your tank will be covered up in it. After the algae you will go through a Cyano cycle also. It's all a process that all new tanks go through, Sit back and enjoy the ride.

You will continue to feed until you no longer have ammonia, and you will run your lights on a normal daily schedule
If I add a cuc what will they eat as I don't have any algae?Do I keep adding food or was that enough?and do I turn the lights on?thanks for your help

DO NOT ADD any type of fish or inverts yet you have to wait till your amonia and you nitrites read zero and even then i would wait!

This is what it will look like.

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq8/Stephen_Trask/IMG_2230_zpsyskor5xc.jpg (http://s428.photobucket.com/user/Stephen_Trask/media/IMG_2230_zpsyskor5xc.jpg.html)


thats nothing it gets way worse your tank will get all foggy and what not but this is when you make sure your filtration is clean and you do your water changes BUT DONT WORRY ITS ALL NORMAL!

If i was you i would wait until you have your green algae bloom do a water change then add your clean up crew should take atleast a good month then once all the algae blooms are done your tank should level out then add fish. my tank is leveling out now after some really bad algae blooms. I know you wanna add stuff but it will be even more worth it and less of a hassle if you wait man

[Lunchbox360]

If I add a cuc what will they eat as I don't have any algae?Do I keep adding food or was that enough?and do I turn the lights on?thanks for your help

i forgot to mention id add some bacteria maybe a lil bit like bio spira here and there to help with the ammonia and nitrite come down. So no dont add anymore shrimp or decay to the tank and for lighting when the algae comes into play run your lights about 8 hours a day. algae needs photosynthesis to grow

[jordon.l]

Yeh I wouldnt add a cuc I'm waiting till my cycle is completely over to add anything

[Dkuhlmann]

DO NOT ADD any type of fish or inverts yet you have to wait till your amonia and you nitrites read zero and even then i would wait!

This is what it will look like.

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq8/Stephen_Trask/IMG_2230_zpsyskor5xc.jpg (http://s428.photobucket.com/user/Stephen_Trask/media/IMG_2230_zpsyskor5xc.jpg.html)


thats nothing it gets way worse your tank will get all foggy and what not but this is when you make sure your filtration is clean and you do your water changes BUT DONT WORRY ITS ALL NORMAL!

If i was you i would wait until you have your green algae bloom do a water change then add your clean up crew should take atleast a good month then once all the algae blooms are done your tank should level out then add fish. my tank is leveling out now after some really bad algae blooms. I know you wanna add stuff but it will be even more worth it and less of a hassle if you wait man

I'm trying to figure out why you quoted me? I said the same thing you just did but in more detail.

[Isaacs55]

I'm trying to figure out why you quoted me? I said the same thing you just did but in more detail.

Haha I was thinking the same thing!

He just wanted to include you in the conversation Dkhulmann :lolspin:

[Lunchbox360]

I'm trying to figure out why you quoted me? I said the same thing you just did but in more detail.

your trippin about me giving a better detailed answer hahah thats cute!

[Dkuhlmann]

LMAO now Lunchbox is tripping, I never said that YOU gave the more detailed answer. Read that sentence again... I said the same thing you just did but in more detail.

I still don't have a clue why you quoted me?

[Dkuhlmann]

Haha I was thinking the same thing!

He just wanted to include you in the conversation Dkhulmann :lolspin:

Hmmm :strange:

[Mark9]

Back to topic...

If you want, you can put in a bottle of bio-spira and an ammonia source to help the cycle along.

[jeeperrs]

Yes, those results indicate it is going through the cycle. You may have turned your lights on for the photo but I would not run much lighting while it is going through the cycle, or until I add a clean up crew. I would start my CUC with just a few snails and small crabs. Add more as you run your lighting longer and begin to notice algae or other buildup.

Your tank is looking great so far!

[LuciDog]

your trippin about me giving a better detailed answer hahah thats cute!

Your first post gives the impression he should add a CUC now.

LMAO now Lunchbox is tripping, I never said that YOU gave the more detailed answer. Read that sentence again... I said the same thing you just did but in more detail.

I still don't have a clue why you quoted me?

Just didn't want you to be left out ;)

[jordon.l]

So my reading of ammonia are still 0.50 is this normal? I've fed it once each day ( half a cube of brine shrimp and a couple pellets each day). Should I not feed as much? And should I feed today?

[LuciDog]

If your starting to read nitrites you don't need to feed the tank anything else. Let it do its thing now.

[jordon.l]

Ammonia, Nitrite and nitrates are showing? is it possible that my lfs that I got the water from got it from the ocean?

[jordon.l]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/01/e7e4042b4ac094870f218a4160976ffe.jpg
Ammonia- 0.50
Nitrite- 0.25
Nitrate- 0-5.0

[Isaacs55]

You've got a while before your cycle is over bud. Just sit back and relax. Read and learn about the fish you plan on putting in. What you could do to speed the process up is add some bio spira.

[LuciDog]

Anything is possible, but it wouldn't make much difference. The process your waiting on doesn't happen in the water column. The bacteria needed is forming, and evolving on your rocks and in your sand.

[Dkuhlmann]

Jordon, it's possible but highly unlikely. Most have large plastic vessels that they mix salt mix in. This way it's consistent every batch and how they can keep it stable. If it was ocean water that wouldn't necessarily be the case. IMO getting seawater from the ocean isn't a very good idea. Just my opinion.

LuciDog is correct!

[jordon.l]

Ok so should I keep feeding the tank?

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes until your ammonia goes to 0 then watch the nitrites, once they are at 0 and your ammonia is 0 you can do a wc to bring down the nitrates. About this time you will have an algae bloom and can go get your cuc. In about a week after this you can get one or two small fish. This is when most people add their clown pair.

[jordon.l]

Update:
It's been a week since I started the the tank and I'm reading 0.50 how long does it take to spike?there is pellets on the sanded should I keep feeding?

[blt4ever]

I started the cycle on a new 125 3 weeks ago, i dosed the tank with pure ammonia to start the cycle. Using dry rock and sand it took 2 weeks for the ammonia to hit zero, after 2 weeks it had zero ammonia, nitrite was off the chart and 0 nitrate. During the third week the nitrite has dropped to .50 and nitrate is off the chart. The first tank i set up was a 75 gallon and the whole cycle took 19 days. I don't think there is really any reliable timeline to go off for the cycle, you just need to sit back and let nature work. When your ammonia and nitrite are gone its done.... no other time frame is reliable.

[sde1500]

It will take some time. In the meantime, read the stickies at the top, they would answer a lot of the questions you are asking here.

[jordon.l]

Ok thanks guys and one last question there is pellets on my substrate that are rotting do I remove it? And do I keep feeding
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/07/1c01f2b3a96add9566e03803ee0594c1.jpg

[blt4ever]

I have never cycled a tank by feeding it, i always use pure ammonia, that being said if I were feeding a tank to cycle it i would continue feeding it until the ammonia reaches a higher level. I usually shoot for 2ppm on ammonia to start the cycle. Also I would not remove the pellets on your substrate, after the cycle your cuc should take care of that.

[jordon.l]

Yeh I'm aiming for 2ppm just waiting for it to happen

[Dkuhlmann]

You will leave the pellets in and wait. IT's easier to go to your grocery store and much faster to get the ammonia by asking to buy two raw shrimp or even better is to get a bottle of ammonia in the cleaning section. Just get one that doesn't have any additives like perfume or others, has to be pure ammonia.

But if you keep going the food route it has to be left in there. Feed daily as if you were feeding a couple of fish.

[jordon.l]

Thanks you've helped alot