Tank cycled???

[Reef Swimmer]

How do I know if my tank is cycled? It's been up and running for two weeks now and my water looks like poo. I added fritz9 and started dosing micro bacter 7 that night and I ran out about 2 days ago. I have anthelia, gsp and some trash palys in there that look good but the gsp ain't as green as it was when I got it (no LEDs). I got two hermit crabs an they are very active. I've been testing my water and ammonia is 0 nitrites are .25 and nitrates are 80. Skimmer has been off since I set the tank back up with new sand and new rock with a few pieces of lr. Just about all the rock is turning brown. I'm frustrated and I got people telling me to do this and not that as others telling me just the opposite. All I want is a nice reef tank to come home from work to and watch and relax. I don't mind what I need to do to keep it healthy and thriving and not sick and dying.

[footballdude2k3]

I would wait until the nitrites are 0 before adding anything else, but you are getting very close.

[350gt]

listen to those that have been around and actually have nice tanks... Chris (big pun) would be one, allan, Ace, and there is a few others that dont post too often....

Been seeing to many others give advice that dont have impressive tanks themselves, even I stopped trying to help others as my tank was going through some issues... its bouncing back as I have found that I needed to up my water changes from 20 to 30 gallons.......

Another thing is what works for some will not work for others.... thats just something you have to figure out on your own...

[Big_Pun]

we have gone through this via pm i explained what you should do and you obviously dont warrant any info i took the time to give you. i explained you should have the skimmer on not just for nutrient collections but for oxygen and many other suggestions. but hey, who ever is giving you bad advice is obviously not working as you keep posting the same questions and not taking any advice.

good luck

[350gt]

just dont jump into chris's beliefs on biopellets and gfo just yet lol......


imo simplicity when your first stepping into this hobby, that and patience..... make sure your filtration is up to par, you have good flow and proper lighting for what you plan to keep......

Im still a beginner by far IMO but I can say Ive never had poopoo sand or any other major algae outbreaks....... by keeping it simple and not rushing things....

[BBQHILLBILLY]

patience you will be fine, keep using ro/di sw, sometimes cycles take more time, enjoy the journey. your in the hobby. this is part of it. understand whats happening so you can help the next sw fan. you know more than you knew yesterday.:bigsmile:

[Big_Pun]

just dont jump into chris's beliefs on biopellets and gfo just yet lol......


imo simplicity when your first stepping into this hobby, that and patience..... make sure your filtration is up to par, you have good flow and proper lighting for what you plan to keep......

Im still a beginner by far IMO but I can say Ive never had poopoo sand or any other major algae outbreaks....... by keeping it simple and not rushing things....

lol i didnt go that far with bio pellets and gfo! but yes ive been trying to keep this simple and just the fundamentals no dosing or tricks to speed cycles. but like you said bad advice is confusing him

[Reef Swimmer]

Yeah there's something's I'm doing and some I'm not. For one I'm done dosing ammonia to cycle my tank.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

curious who's idea to use fritz9 and micro bacter 7 , doesnt matter, dont need to do anything, keep it simple

you will have a great looking tank, it doesnt happen overnight

[Reef Swimmer]

Yeah Chris I should have listened. Too much advice from the wrong place.

[Reef Swimmer]

Pollys

[footballdude2k3]

For future reference, the bio pellets, the bacteria in a bottle, the ammonia, the purple up, the quick fixes, are not something that I would suggest putting a lot of stock in. Nothing good in this hobby comes fast, this takes time, and patience, and learning. Ask advice from anybody, but before you do anything, research it yourself. Google will be your best friend, Reef Central has a TON of information, and their search function will be your best friend. In the end, you are the one that will be responsible for anything that happens in your little box of the ocean, so no matter what, make sure you are confident with what you are doing, but always consider the source of the information.

[Reef Swimmer]

Yep I learned the hard way.

[ramsey]

Google will be your best friend, Reef Central has a TON of information, and their search function will be your best friend.

+10000000 When there's something I want to know, I google it and see what opinions are out there. If I think the idea, i'll do it, if it sounds off to me, I won't. You're going to get different opinions from everyone you ask because there's more than one way to skin a cat. I think most people that have been in the hobby a while have different methods for everything. Sometimes it's just trial and error.

One other thing I like to do is go look and read up on Reef Central's (and other sites) TOTM. When I find thanks that I want to mimic, I see what they're doing and try to replicate it. A lot of times, I try something and it doesn't work for me. Other times, I try something and like the results.

[ducati996]

curious who's idea to use fritz9 and micro bacter 7 , doesnt matter, dont need to do anything, keep it simple

you will have a great looking tank, it doesnt happen overnightfritz #9 super great stuff shane u should try it

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I never knocked it. All the many tanks Ive cycled, Ive never needed to use this. Who knows maybe I will try it.:bigsmile:

[BBQHILLBILLY]

FritzZyme® 7
http://www.fritzzyme.com/

contain specific strains of live nitrifying bacteria proven to reduce fish loss due to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite. Nitrifying bacteria can take weeks to naturally establish colonies in new aquariums while ammonia and nitrite can reach lethal levels in only a few days. FritzZyme provides the proper balance of bacteria proven to rapidly seed biofilters, greatly reducing the natural cycle time allowing for safe, immediate addition of livestock.

[Reef Swimmer]

I'm done listening to pet shops. Chris and ace have the best 100+ gallon tanks I have ever seen and Zack's 40 breeder is nice as well. Advice from people with tank that nice are people I'll listen too.

[hobogato]

ok, so how deep is your sand bed?

[Reef Swimmer]

I think it's 1 in. I put 40lbs of new sand in my tank.

[350gt]

I'm done listening to pet shops. Chris and ace have the best 100+ gallon tanks I have ever seen and Zack's 40 breeder is nice as well. Advice from people with tank that nice are people I'll listen too.


There are a few others, that have been around as long if not longer and have great looking tanks too. Paul who is featured this month is a tank that has been up for years and still looks great... but ace and chris are great brains to pick for info..

[SABOB]

Best advice I can give is look at how long individual giving advice has been in this hobby.Not to say some newbies don't have good advice but those that have been doing this successfully for a long time, have great advice.Some LFS and employees give good advice some dont."If it seems to good to be true....it usually isn't"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hobogato]

I think it's 1 in. I put 40lbs of new sand in my tank.

ah, ok. i thought you had decided to go deeper in the other thread.


Ok I think I'm going with a 2 in sb.

anything between 1" and 4" is asking for continuing trouble. be patient, it will take a while for the tank to settle in. you can expect several algae blooms including the diatoms you have now, cyano and hair algae. some tanks have heavier blooms than others.

[Reef Swimmer]

I don't know how many bags I need to make a dsb.

[Big_Pun]

i think your sand bed is fine as is, you will need to vacuum sand with shallow bed(i do). buddy take it slow learn your tank, every tank is diff. dont add any coral or fish for a lil bit. im sure you can get some rubble or sand from someone to help tank, but it seems like your in middle cycle so wait.

[footballdude2k3]

Personally if you want a dsb, I would or it remotely, less headaches if/when you need to change out the sand. The point of a dsb is to have it undisturbed because shifting the sand around can have bad affects on your tank.

[ramsey]

I never knocked it. All the many tanks Ive cycled, Ive never needed to use this. Who knows maybe I will try it.:bigsmile:

I've used bio-spira to cycle several tanks because I'm impatient when it comes to cycling. What I will say is, the bacteria products absolutely work, but I'm not sure how much time they save over the long run. In my 38, I decided to add bacteria after about 3 days. The day after I had 0 ammonia and nitrite. However, I suspected I would have a diatom bloom and algae bloom, which I did. It took a couple of months for things to settle down in the tank. With that said, I'm not sure "quick cycling" my tank really saved time in the long run since you still have diatom/algae blooms that you'll have to wait out anyway.

What I like most about these products are that they're great for tank moves or an unexpected ammonia spike. I think they'd be great for a quick set up (like a frag swap) too, though properly seeded bio media would also work and is much cheaper.

Long story short, they work but I'm not sure they actually save you time if you're cycling a display tank.

[Reef Swimmer]

Not getting a sand sifter at all no snails either. Just hermits.

[ramsey]

Not getting a sand sifter at all no snails either. Just hermits.

I'd be careful with that for two reasons. First, they're not going to be able to clean the back of your tank (the glass) so you might end up with a wall of algae. If you can get to the back of your tank and scrap algae off the back from time to time, I guess it's not as much of a concern. They're also not as thorough when cleaning algae. Second, and this is just personal preference, I never trust a crab. I haven't had much problems with hermits besides them killing snails, but I've certainly had them with emerald crabs. Crabs in general are opportunistic so they may turn on you at any point. You don't really have this same risk with snails.

[jcnkt_ellis]

No sand sifters is a good idea, especially for a deep bed, as most sift the sand and eat the microscopic life that helps support the nitrogen cycle. However, there are some sand dwellers who are beneficial. Nessarius snails are detrivores who live in the top inch or so of the sand and they help bury organic waste into the sand bed so bacteria, et. al can do their work better. Also, certain cucumbers like tiger tails take in the top layer of sand but only digest microscopic algae and cyano off of it. Long story short, do your research and try to setup a complete ecosystem for the nitrogen cycle for best long term results. Predators are not needed as populations are kept in check by the size of the habitat, but everything else is somewhat necessary.