Banner image

Hello Everyone! Have a question (1 Viewer)

T

tasha6

Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Messages
26
Location
Cannon Falls
We have been trolling the site for a few months now and figured it was time to say Hi. We have been into saltwater for about 5 years and have moved into the area about a year ago. We tried to move our setup and had a catastrophic loss of all of our fish except for our zebra moray. She has been in our holding setup since February as we were not sure that we would be setting the display up again. Most of the inverts made the trip with no issues so still have some of those. We believe we borrowed a contaminated bucket and within a couple of months they were all gone. It broke our hearts to lose all of the fish that had been with us for years and were not sure we had it left in us to start over.

We have decided in the last couple of months that we were going to start over and could not imagine being without a tank. So that is where my question comes in.

We have always cycled our tanks with live rock so are familiar with that cycle. This time the rock out of our system was left in totes so we had major die off and would consider them dry by the time we started up. We did not clean the rock before adding it to the tank so there was alot of dead stuff on and in it.(Sponges, worms, etc.) We began cycling about 4 weeks ago and never saw the large ammonia spike that we expected too. Ammonia peaked at .5. We have added live sand in the last week and have seen no change in the water parameters. We currently have about 20 for Nitrates, ammonia and nitrites are registering 0. We do have diatoms and some green algae beginning to show on the rocks and the tank. We have been running the lights, skimmer, and using filter socks.

Is it possible for our cycle to be complete already or is there something way off that we need to account for? I need some other opinions as I feel this cycle was not enough for the amount of rock and the way the rock was left for the last year.

Thanks in advance and look forward to getting involved with the club here.
 
Welcome!
Could be that you missed the ammonia spike. If nitrates are starting to register then the ammonia is being cycled to nitrates. I would do a big water change and monitor for ammonia for the next couple days and if no sign then your cycle probably already happened.
Sometimes the dirtier the rock the quicker the cycle starts. I have noticed the cleaner the rock the longer it takes to start making ammonia.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to TCAS. I would sure think you would see a full cycle with organic matter on the rock as you describe. If it were me I would give it some more time and test parametes daily and see what it does. Should be able to get Nitrates to near zero with no fish and no fish food being added to the tank.

That being said, after 4 weeks I would think that you should be well through the initial amonia spike.
 
So is this a fish only ? If going to be a reef, best to do as near of a 100% water change as possible after the cycle so you start out with low nutrients ( nitrates in particular ). For a fish only probably not applicable just don't run the lights much or get low wattage ( a 50/50 Reefbrite LED strip works great. Good color to display the fish but not so much to cause massive algae ).
 
Last edited:
First welcome! Now I have a question, since you started your cycle, have you been running your lights and skimmer? If so why? First lights aren't needed and will only cause algae growth, second if you have been running a skimmer the entire time, it could be perhaps keeping you from getting your ammonia spike. Just some initial thoughts. What size tank? How many lbs. of rock? What skimmer?
 
We would consider ourselves more fish only but do like to keep some coral. Leathers, mushrooms, zoas, and anemones nothing to difficult.

For lights we have Aquaillumination LEDs that we have turned down in the last few days due to the growth that has started on the rocks.

Our display is 540 gallons with a 300 gallon sump. We probably have around 1500 - 2000 lbs of rock, the majority which is now in the sump. Wanted a more open tank but still wanted the filtration. We where running the skimmer to help take some of the organics out as it let go of the rock. This tank has not had a skimmer on it for over a year. We had been running an algae scrubber but the movers broke ours and we have not rebuilt one yet. The scrubber did a great job at keeping our parameters in check. The lights were just for us.
 
:pics: No more help till then! If no corals keep the lights really low. Just get them to a point that keeps you happy and that will keep most of the corals listed just fine.
 
tasha6 said:
We would consider ourselves more fish only but do like to keep some coral. Leathers, mushrooms, zoas, and anemones nothing to difficult.

For lights we have Aquaillumination LEDs that we have turned down in the last few days due to the growth that has started on the rocks.

Our display is 540 gallons with a 300 gallon sump. We probably have around 1500 - 2000 lbs of rock, the majority which is now in the sump. Wanted a more open tank but still wanted the filtration. We where running the skimmer to help take some of the organics out as it let go of the rock. This tank has not had a skimmer on it for over a year. We had been running an algae scrubber but the movers broke ours and we have not rebuilt one yet. The scrubber did a great job at keeping our parameters in check. The lights were just for us.
Click to expand...

If it were me, just to be on the safe side, I'd shut the skimmer off and keep testing and see if you get an ammonia spike, I'd be willing to be you do. Sounds like quite an impressive set up! Pics!!!:popworm:
 
I wouldn't shut off the skimmer. It won't stop a cycle. If you are making nitrates you should be good for ammonia, however your rocks may still be converting some decay. Wich the skimmer will help numbers keep under control. You biological filtration may not be up to snuff for a full bio load but if your moray will eat a damsel I would start with a damsel or a couple green chromis and go from there and see how they do. You can always wait longer which won't hurt anything but I would run a skimmer.
 
If we see no change over the weekend we were planning on getting the clean up crew going and then adding a dozen or so chromis.

Just a bit of information on the zebra moray. They do not eat fish, their diet consists of mollusks and crustaceans. In the past she has left the anthias, gobies and chromis alone.

Zebra morays are actually great for the reef tank as long as all of the coral is secure. They actually do not have teeth just hard plates, like molars, for crushing shells.
 
tasha6 said:
If we see no change over the weekend we were planning on getting the clean up crew going and then adding a dozen or so chromis.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan!
Never done much research on eels myself thanks for the info though. I defiantly learned something today!
 
tasha6 said:
Our display is 540 gallons with a 300 gallon sump. We probably have around 1500 - 2000 lbs of rock, the majority which is now in the sump.
Click to expand...

Now that's my kind of tank!!!!!! Must have needed a small city of people to move that around?
 
The rock was not left in water. I guess there could have been some moisture left in the rubbermade totes as they were sealed. We did have have major die off because the smell about a week after the move was terrible.

Still testing and no ammonia after this weekend.

Took about 8 guys to move in. Just thankful it's not glass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top