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Unread 10/06/2009, 07:07 PM   #1
alyfrudakis
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Question cycling

hello, i am trying to find out how to cycle a tank and i had a few questions i couldn't find myself.

do you have to have a specific type of water to cycle with? is tap ok?

when can you introduce fish to help cycle?

and does the size of the tank effect how long the cycle is?


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Unread 10/06/2009, 07:21 PM   #2
thegrun
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1. Salt water made from RO/DI water or bought pre-mixed. Tap water will add all kinds of things you do not want in the water and end up causing algae blooms amounst other problems.
2. You need to wait until after the cycle to introduce fish, it is cruel to make them endure ammonia poisoning that is likely to kill them. If you want to speed things along, add a dead raw shrimp to the tank, but the cycle is most likely going to take 4-6 weeks. Spend the time reading up on the hobby to help you avoid costly and frustrating mistakes.
3. No, the size does not effect the durartion of the cycle assuming a proportional amount of live rock is used.


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Unread 10/06/2009, 07:22 PM   #3
lReef_lKeeper
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^^^ what he said ^^^


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Unread 10/07/2009, 12:06 PM   #4
alyfrudakis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thegrun View Post
1. Salt water made from RO/DI water or bought pre-mixed. Tap water will add all kinds of things you do not want in the water and end up causing algae blooms amounst other problems.
2. You need to wait until after the cycle to introduce fish, it is cruel to make them endure ammonia poisoning that is likely to kill them. If you want to speed things along, add a dead raw shrimp to the tank, but the cycle is most likely going to take 4-6 weeks. Spend the time reading up on the hobby to help you avoid costly and frustrating mistakes.
3. No, the size does not effect the durartion of the cycle assuming a proportional amount of live rock is used.
thanks for the information!


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Unread 10/07/2009, 12:13 PM   #5
wooden_reefer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alyfrudakis View Post
when can you introduce fish to help cycle?

and does the size of the tank effect how long the cycle is?
First, you DO NOT introduce fish to help cycle. You first cycle and then welcome your fish to an ammonia and nitrite free environment.

Second, the size of the tank only has marginal impact on the time of cycle. May be just a few days. The more volume of water vs the same nitrification bacteria population means just slightly longer time for ammonia and nitrite to rise to a high concentration and then drop to zero. 1 ppm N Ammonia in 100 gals of water has twice the ammonia of 1 ppm in 50 gals; the same number of bacteria will take just a bit longer to process 100 gals of 1 ppm.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 01:25 PM   #6
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+2 some good advise here.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 02:04 PM   #7
Michael
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alyfrudakis View Post
hello, i am trying to find out how to cycle a tank and i had a few questions i couldn't find myself.

when can you introduce fish to help cycle?

and does the size of the tank effect how long the cycle is?
when you introduce water to your tank its best to start monitoring ammonia and nitrite, and in most cases but not all cases you will see them rise, ammonia first and then a week or so later the nitrite, eventually ammonia and nitrite will fall and nitrate will become evident and this will start to rise, when ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for several days do a 25% water change and then you can introduce some snails. however some times if live rock which has been cycled elsewhere is introduced its very unlikely you will witness anything at all, the key imo is testing and only then will you know whats happening.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 03:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael View Post
when you introduce water to your tank its best to start monitoring ammonia and nitrite, and in most cases but not all cases you will see them rise, ammonia first and then a week or so later the nitrite, eventually ammonia and nitrite will fall and nitrate will become evident and this will start to rise, when ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for several days do a 25% water change and then you can introduce some snails. however some times if live rock which has been cycled elsewhere is introduced its very unlikely you will witness anything at all, the key imo is testing and only then will you know whats happening.
i am thinking that is the boat i am in. I moved LR from someone elses tank immediatly into mine with only a seperation of a few hours during which time the rock was in a bin of saltwater from his tank. its been in my tank for 6 days now and my ammonia and nitrites are still at 0.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 03:36 PM   #9
Michael
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you have already introduced cycled media into your water, i doubt you will see a spike at all, just keep monitoring for a few days, id add some snails if no readings after a week or so as the dreaded diatoms will probably show its face


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Unread 10/07/2009, 03:36 PM   #10
wooden_reefer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blownsvt View Post
i am thinking that is the boat i am in. I moved LR from someone elses tank immediatly into mine with only a seperation of a few hours during which time the rock was in a bin of saltwater from his tank. its been in my tank for 6 days now and my ammonia and nitrites are still at 0.
A major percentage of nitrification remains intact.

Some is loss not due to death of bacteria on the LR. It is because a lot of bacteria in the old tank do not live on LR. There are many substrates for bacteria that are not transfered, typically.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 03:53 PM   #11
Blownsvt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael View Post
you have already introduced cycled media into your water, i doubt you will see a spike at all, just keep monitoring for a few days, id add some snails if no readings after a week or so as the dreaded diatoms will probably show its face
tested again today. my ph was a little low but the ammonia, nitrites,nitrates are all still reading 0 ppm.


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Unread 10/07/2009, 03:58 PM   #12
Michael
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Originally Posted by Blownsvt View Post
tested again today. my ph was a little low but the ammonia, nitrites,nitrates are all still reading 0 ppm.
proviing the ph isnt below 7.8-7.9 and stable, i wouldnt worry too much at the moment


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