Is my tank cycled?

[turbo5000c]

Hello all,

I have a question about cycling. About a year ago I put 50pds of BRS Pukani Dry Live Rock into a trash bin with 2 power-heads and a heater. The rock was only suppose to be the the trash bin for a month of curing. Instead (due to life events) it turned into 10 months. I would occasionally refill the trash bin and check the salinity.

Two and a half weeks ago I finally finished my tank and set everything up. I added new crushed coral to the bottom and moved the cured rocks from the trash bin into the new tank. Also took out the two biggest rocks from my old reef to seed this one. Finally I also added 3 cups of sand from my old tank on-top of the new crushed coral. Every-other day I added some frozen food and didn’t check the water for a week. At this point I'm assuming the tank will cycle.

After the first week passed i didn’t notice any smell of ammonia and finally started to test. Only on the first day i noticed a small trace of ammonia. Ever since then ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate have been 0's.

My question is; since I had the rocks curing in the trash bin for so long does this mean my tank is cycled?


NOTE: I started to add Seachem Stability 3 day ago to maybe jump start a mini cycle and still nothing.

[sde1500]

Sounds like it is cycled.

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by turbo5000c

.....
After the first week passed i didn’t notice any smell of ammonia and finally started to test. Only on the first day i noticed a small trace of ammonia. Ever since then ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate have been 0's.

Isn't that the definition, more or less, of a "cycled tank?" Of course, I would put something inexpensive in for a few days and test again. I use Pajama Cardinals. They are relatively cheap and don't hide. And they're not difficult to net out of the tank if you want.

But I'd bet your fine.

[jlmawp]

Originally Posted by turbo5000c

Ever since then ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate have been 0's.

Nitrates at 0? You sure?

Regardless, if the other two are at zero, you're cycled.

[slief]

Dead rocks in a trash bin with water doesn’t really equate to curing. Curing is more related to taking live rock and placing it in a bin in order to allow the dying or decaying matter common to fresh live rock to clear out of the rocks and for the rocks to become healthy and free of decay. That said, having dead rocks in a bin of water won’t necessarily build up the denitrifying bacteria that is part of cycling a tank unless you are adding something to the water such as food, raw shrimp or ammonia to kick off the bacteria or unless you used natural unsterilzed sea water and even then, without a constant supply of food or waste, the populations of denitrifying bacteria would dwindle.

Conversely, putting that dead rock that was stored in salt water for several months into a newly setup tank with dead crushed coral and a scoop of live sand won’t necessarily circumvent or expedite the typical cycling process even with the addition of food to the new tank. As such, I would say your tank is not yet cycled and unless you are putting sufficient amounts of food into the tank or raw shrimp or ammonia, the cycle may actually have been slowed down. I will also note that I have never really smelled ammonia in a cycling tank unless there was a high amount of waste in the newly setup tank.

Now if your rock bin had some waste going into it to build up a healthy bacterial population, then that would shorten the cycle time and in which case, your tanks cycle could be more or less complete but keep in mind that denitrifying bacteria populations are relative to the load. As such, if you start adding fish now, add them slowly over the course of weeks or months so that bacterial population can grow. Otherwise, you will have an ammonia spike which more than likely will result in casualties.

[turbo5000c]

Thanks everyone for all the help.

jlmawp, its been a couple days since i tested for nitates. I will test again and let you know.

Slief, when the rock was first put in the trash bin I did my best to clean the dead sponges and dirt from the rocks. However Pukani dry live rock it is really hard to fully clean thoroughly. For the first month the basement where the bin was located had a horrible smell. Almost making its way upstairs.

It does sound like the tank is cycled based off your last paragraph. I'll test for nitrates one more time and move a hermit crab over from my 20 gallon tonight. It will give me tomorrow to observe during Thanksgiving. If a LFS is open on Friday ill buy a Green Clown Goby. I have always wanted one.

[slief]

Originally Posted by turbo5000c

Thanks everyone for all the help.

jlmawp, its been a couple days since i tested for nitates. I will test again and let you know.

Slief, when the rock was first put in the trash bin I did my best to clean the dead sponges and dirt from the rocks. However Pukani dry live rock it is really hard to fully clean thoroughly. For the first month the basement where the bin was located had a horrible smell. Almost making its way upstairs.

It does sound like the tank is cycled based off your last paragraph. I'll test for nitrates one more time and move a hermit crab over from my 20 gallon tonight. It will give me tomorrow to observe during Thanksgiving. If a LFS is open on Friday ill buy a Green Clown Goby. I have always wanted one.

I’d honestly pass on the clown goby. Their survival rate is horrible to start with and if the tank isn’t fully mature which takes a good year, the chances of it surviving are pretty slim in my experience. They just aren’t hardy fish.

[JUNBUG361]

Agree with SLIEF & get a hardy fish to start with

[turbo5000c]

It seems that the tank decided to finally start showing some ammonia today. On the left is the control. Right is the new tank.