Cycling Questions

[*GSP*Fan*]

I began the cycling in my 60 gallon on October 16th with 50lbs of live rock and tested the tank a few hours later, results below.

salinity- 1.024
pH- 8.0
ammonia- 1.0
nitrite- 1.0
nitrate- 80

Test results from day four, October 20th.

salinity- 1.023
pH- 8.0
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 5.0
nitrate- 160

Test results from day six, October 22nd. (PWC later that day)

salinity- 1.023
pH- 8.0
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 5.0
nitrate- 160

Test results from day nine, tonight.

salinity- 1.024
pH- 8.0
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 80-160

So I guess its cycled? Seemed faster than I expected, but definitely great news.

Now I had no intention of any fish until next Thursday, that is the soonest I would be able to knowing when my LFS gets their shipment.
I am concerned that with that much of a wait it will mess everything up without an ammonia source. I don't have any pure ammonia here and would have to look around to know if I could get some locally.

I also intended on adding hermit crabs and a few different snail as a clean up crew, and I know they will become food sooner or later. Most of them I planned on getting from reefcleaners online but I can get Netrite snails and hermit crabs from a LFS. Would it be okay to get say five hermits and a few snails and would they even provide enough ammonia to keep the bacteria alive? Or any other suggestions?

Also, I know I need to and will do PWCs to bring down the nitrates. I have some water ready to do one tonight. Any suggestions as to how much and how often to help get my nitrates down?

Thanks.

[Pufferpunk]

The ammonia source was your LR. With the die-off on there, it created ammonia. No more die off--now you have rock packed with nitrifying bacteria. You'll be fine. Just do an 80% WC, to reduce the nitrate, before adding fish.

[*GSP*Fan*]

The ammonia source was your LR. With the die-off on there, it created ammonia. No more die off--now you have rock packed with nitrifying bacteria. You'll be fine. Just do an 80% WC, to reduce the nitrate, before adding fish.

Thanks.

Oh I know thats where my ammonia source was but where I wasn't sure of the rock's history, I guess you could say, so I didn't know what to expect with the length of time it may take. Just barely over a week, I was surprised. I'm just concerned about there not being an ammonia source now and how long before that causes any harm. I can get the snails and hermits tomorrow but it will be until next Thursday, so right at a week, before I'd be able to get my fish.

Would the snails/hermits provide enough ammonia for the bacteria? I do want the snails and hermits but if it won't be a large enough source I can do something different.

I'll definitely do the 80% water change. How long do I have to wait before I'd get and accurate reading from testing after? And I know I've read it somewhere but I'm blank at the moment, what levels should I aim to get my nitrates to?

[Pufferpunk]

Stop thinking that a SW tank is like FW. You're fine.

[*GSP*Fan*]

Stop thinking that a SW tank is like FW. You're fine.

Haha, thanks.

I have to say I wasn't really thinking about it in those terms. I mean I've kept freshwater but it was quite a while ago and I definitely didn't go about it the right way.

Seems like I had read somewhere that an ammonia source needed to be present to prevent the die off of the bacteria. Just wanted to be sure and not have any issues down the road. Glad to know its one less thing to worry about.

Now off to finish aquascaping.....

[*GSP*Fan*]

So another question came up.

Setting up this tank is the first time I've dealt with cycling in the correct manner (fishless, testing, etc) and it did cycle quite a few days ago now (nitrite finally reached 0 and ammonia had hit 0 a few days before). Afterwards, I did two large water changes (around 80% or so), added the sand(dry aragonite), filled the tank all the way, and also added two HOB filters to help clear the water after adding the sand. I had some LR rubble and placed it in the filters along with the filling/batting stuff (from the fabric/sewing section at walmart). I didn't run into any issues then and the tank cleared up quickly. Well two days ago I added 10 red-legged hermit crabs and a starry blenny (I'd say he is around 3inches). I did acclimate them using the drip method and they all seem to be doing well, blenny had begun to move around more.

Anyway, I tested the water last night and again this evening. Last night I had a small spike in ammonia, about 0.25ppm, I just thought maybe the bacteria had to catch up with having a little more of a bioload. This evening I tested and the ammonia is about the same but not the nitrites have the same small spike as well. Now I know the ammonia has to be converted into the nitrites and all but I didn't expect to really see a spike in anything other than nitrates because it was cycled and I didn't add like a lot of fish or anything at once.

So are these spikes normal? I have water prepped for a PWC but wasn't sure how long I should give it to go down before a change. Is there anything else I can do? Really appreciate advice here as I'm not sure whats going on, if its normal, etc. I never thought to ask about the testing and results after a cycle, I just assumed the only reading I would/should get would be nitrates.

[PufferMe!]

That can happen and I believe it's because you don't have enough of the good bacteria to handle the die off of waste. It eventually all works out, but when a system is so new you want to be very careful about feedings and adding fish slowly. When I was raising my salinity slowly (.02 per week) in my puffers smaller tank, he was one day acting strange, and when I tested the water I had nitrites at .025. I also was surprised because I was going very slowly and the tank had cycled. When tanks are new or going through changes, things are much less stable. You could add some seachem stability if you want. I did that to help the cycle. Hey, you're already spending a fortune, what's another $12!

My nitrates are consistantly at 0 now, after a few weeks at 10ppm. I only have one fish in 68 gallons, but will be adding a few damsels, and hope I can still keep it at 0. I had a large bloom of diatom algae soon after my tank was cycled. I wonder if that help bring my nitrates to 0. Being that your tank is new, you'll likely see diatoms too. They do no harm, and I can't help but wonder if they've helped.

[*GSP*Fan*]

That can happen and I believe it's because you don't have enough of the good bacteria to handle the die off of waste. It eventually all works out, but when a system is so new you want to be very careful about feedings and adding fish slowly. When I was raising my salinity slowly (.02 per week) in my puffers smaller tank, he was one day acting strange, and when I tested the water I had nitrites at .025. I also was surprised because I was going very slowly and the tank had cycled. When tanks are new or going through changes, things are much less stable. You could add some seachem stability if you want. I did that to help the cycle. Hey, you're already spending a fortune, what's another $12!

My nitrates are consistantly at 0 now, after a few weeks at 10ppm. I only have one fish in 68 gallons, but will be adding a few damsels, and hope I can still keep it at 0. I had a large bloom of diatom algae soon after my tank was cycled. I wonder if that help bring my nitrates to 0. Being that your tank is new, you'll likely see diatoms too. They do no harm, and I can't help but wonder if they've helped.

Yea another $12 certainly isn't much compared to what I've spent already. I'm sure I'm up to at least $700 and I'm not done!

I figured it was because there wasn't enough bacteria yet I guess I expected it to be covered with adding such a small load. I had it in my mind that it would take more fish added at once to up the load enough that the bacteria couldn't handle it just yet. I just hate seeing the spike lol. I thought I was good.

I'm surprised you had a spike as well. I know you were upping the salinity by the recommended amount. Though I have read there are two points I believe when dealing with salinity that you're supposed to stay at for a little bit I think due to the bacteria kinda switching over. I forget exactly but I know I've read something of that sort on this forum when I've been browsing.

Thats good your nitrates are staying at 0. I'd think that the algae bloom helped keep them down some. I have yet to have any algae show, though I'm sure it won't be long. Mine were at around 10ppm when I tested last. I went ahead and did a PWC before going to bed last night so hopefully things have dropped. I check as soon as I get home tonight.

That