need advice!

[Kross714]

Ok so my tank is about a week old now, running a 46 gallon bow , cf300 canister filter , 300w heater, 2 580gph wave pumps, 25lbs of live sand and about 25lbs of live rock. My recent water test results where ammonia 0 ppm , ph level between 7.8-8.0 and nitrate was at 0 ppm . Since then I added some rock and also about a 1.5 inch raw shrimp to kick start the cycle, anyone tried this before? I heard good so far about it but would always welcome more feedback and also what kind of ammonia levels should I be seeing? It keeps going from 0 to .25 and back again.

[Deftones2015]

I'm not sure on how high you want the ammonia to go, mine went to around 1 or so when I started mine. Main thing is the higher the ammonia the more bacteria you will have. Also make sure to test to make sure your ammonia spikes, then nitrites spike and ammonia lowers then nitrates spike and nitrites lower. Just take your time and let things settle, the longer the shrimp rots the higher everything will go, but your cycle will be longer to. after my tanks cycle I take things slow with stocking the tank. I added a small pair of clowns and tested the water every few days for 2-3 weeks to make sure water params were stable, then I added another fish, did the same thing, tested for 2-3 weeks etc. Hope that helps.

[Dkuhlmann]

Its easier and faster to just dose ammonia to at least 2ppm. You can buy the ammonia at any hardware or grocery store in the cleaning products section. Caution to not buy any ammonia with any additives in it. The easy way to tell is to shake the bottle and if there are no bubbles you're good to go. If there are bubbles go to the next brand etc. Any that have scent are what I'm talking about for the most part, but if you do the shake test and no bubbles that's the one you want.

This is a great calculator to use for dosing pretty much anything.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter_calculators_reef_chemistry_calculator.html

[Kross714]

Thanks, yeah I'm just trying to get the levels to spike and even back out, so in about 3 weeks I can start getting a clean up crew in there

[A1t2o]

How "live" was the live rock you put in there? If the rock was from a tank that was already setup then you may not see much of a cycle because the bacteria would already be on the rocks and eating the ammonia before it gets too high. I would just get all your live rock into the tank now and try to seed it with the initial live rock and feed it with additional ammonia. You should be good to go fairly quickly if it was seeded.

[Kross714]

I got the live rock from a LFS that was in tanks with only rocks in it, the rocks are white/purple. I'm thinking of going back and picking up some rock that he has in some of the fish tanks, and he also wants to give me damsels to put in there as well

[rsain]

Kross - you already have a thread on this topic. :-)

PATIENCE is the key here. I promise. And yes, again, the shrimp will work fine.

- ryan

[rsain]

I got the live rock from a LFS that was in tanks with only rocks in it, the rocks are white/purple. I'm thinking of going back and picking up some rock that he has in some of the fish tanks, and he also wants to give me damsels to put in there as well

Make sure that tank has cycled prior to adding any fish please. Also, QT your fish (good practice).

You already lost 2 fish (maybe 3 - not sure yet) - do not kill any more critters until you know the basics. Please.

- ryan