Cycling New Tank

[Bill S]

I respectfully disagree.

I think he's showing no ammonia because there isn't enough life dying off to cause a large cycle. Without enough of a decaying biomass, the tank will sit in the status it's in. With just the decaying bacteria to go, the bioload is so small, it's cycled to handle the biomass it's at now. You add a fish and there will be no more then enough bacteria to handle it. As we are finding out, sand plays a small part, the huge ammonia processing comes from live rock. Considering the live rock was "dead" the bacteria have to repopulate.

Nitrifying bacteria are only a part of the cycle, how can a tank be considered cycled without going through the diatoms, green algae, etc? That shows a maturing tank because the organisms are reaching a state balance. Without that being reached, adding life will throw the tank for a whirl.

I'm always up for learning more, so if you have any research that helps support your view, please feel free to link it here, i'd love to read it. I am not saying the above statement sarcastically either, if it's out there i'd like to read it. The vast majority of literature out there (combined with the experiences of most people on this board and others) show that it takes a long while to cycle a tank. There are products out there that claim to help speed up a cycle, and that's partially true. But that only is with the ntirifiying bacteria. It does nothing for the other life, etc in the tank (algaes, pods, etc).

As do I. PLEASE wait for your tank to properly cycle. With quite of bit of risk, it's POSSIBLE to shortcut the process - but you will likely lose some or all of your fish. Just review the posts in the Emergency Forum, and you'll see.

[Aqua-Dome]

Everyone is entitled to disagree. My research comes from 30+ years of experience. The fact is that biological cycling is what determines when you can add inhabitants, not algae or diatom production. Everytime you add animals to a closed system you will increase ammonia production, the reason you go slow is to keep the ammomia peaks very small so that the beneficial bacteria have time to catch up each time with the increase in bioload. This is independent with any other thing going on in the tank. It is these biological aspects that actually allow closed systems to work. Blane, you should follow advice that you feel is sound and fits comfortably with your plans, most of them will get you to the same stage at some point, some will just prolong your ability to add fish.

[Bill S]

Everyone is entitled to disagree. My research comes from 30+ years of experience.

Yes, that is the reason why it might be OK for you to do this. However, please understand that we are GENERALLY dealing with neophytes here. Just like we don't recommend "expert only" fish and corals to those new to the hobby, we instead recommend the methodology most likely to produce a positive result.

In over 35 years of keeping SWF, the long-term cycling method has proven to be a winner. It produces a system capable of handling a dead fish, without crashing a tank. That's the aim.

[recoiljpr]

Everyone is entitled to disagree.

Of course we do, that's what makes life interesting! I was choosing my words carefully because I do love to learn and find other viewpoints, even if I do happen to disagree with them. So please understand i'm not trying to pick a fight, etc I do enjoy discussion.

The fact is that biological cycling is what determines when you can add inhabitants, not algae or diatom production.

There are countless different #'s of microscopic life that live on our tanks. Diatoms, algae are but one part of it (just like nitrifiying bacteria are just one part). But, they are good pointers in a cycle to show systemic maturity IMO. Since diatoms and algae are higher life forms then bacteria, that usually tells me the bacterial load on the system is in healthy check. Since we cant see the bacteria, the diatoms and algae give us good visual indicators of the health of the system.

Everytime you add animals to a closed system you will increase ammonia production, the reason you go slow is to keep the ammomia peaks very small so that the beneficial bacteria have time to catch up each time with the increase in bioload.

Agreed. Thats why I am supporting adding shrimp. That will get the bacteria ready so that when the first fish is introduced, it's already populated in large enough numbers to not spike the system. That way you don't stress the fish out with high ammonia.

Blane, you should follow advice that you feel is sound and fits comfortably with your plans, most of them will get you to the same stage at some point, some will just prolong your ability to add fish.

My only suggestion is Marine fishkeeping is part art, part science. You have 30+ years of experience to fall back on. People like Blane are just starting out. They don't have a feel for their tanks yet. It's not as easy for someone new to shoot from the hip on a system. Even people with loads of experience also get into binds from time to time.

While i've only had 3 different SW tanks, i've been studying marine environments since the mid 90's. I've also assisted research for the effects of saliinity on brown shrimp in the Laguna Madre, and i've taken my share of biochem, etc (shudder). Even with that under my belt, I have messed up quite a few times, and I will mess up even more. That's why I love learning from everyone, those with 2 years experience, to those with 50 years. Two people can do the same things to two systems and get totally different outcomes. Anything anyone says can only ever be a guide, since you the reefkeeper are the one actually doing it.

That being said, the slow road is the safest road in this hobby. It stops people fromhaving Ammonia, nitrite problems that could have been avoided by going slow.

[BigKGlen]

Slowly!

[blane1983]

ok new update. I checked water parameters again tonight and they came back as follows: Ph 8.0, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, alkalinity 4.5, temp 81, salinity 1.023. I added a table shrimp tonight to try and get this cycle started. Its been 10 days with no ammonia spike at all. Im just trying to be as safe as possible so that when I do add fish and corals I am confident they will survive.