Is my tank cycled or not started? NEED HELP!

[littlea8]

Hello,

I am a beginner when it comes to saltwater tanks. I am trying to establish a fish only with live rock tank. I added my live rock about two weeks ago with live sand and started testing ammonia about 3-4 days after and had gotten no readings. The salinity was good and the tempurature was good as well. After about a week I tested both ammonia and nitrite and still got no readings. Finally after being fed up thinking the cycle didn't start I tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH today (approx 2 weeks after adding the live rock and sand) and I got 0 levels of ammonia, 0 levels of nitrite, and small levels of about 5-10ppm of nitrate reading with a PH of 7.2. I am very confused at this point as to what i should be doing or where my tank is at in terms of the cycle. Could someone please help me as to what the further steps are and where my tank is at after 2 weeks of adding the live rock?

 

[Lotus]

Welcome to the site

Was the live rock straight from a fish store's holding tanks? If it was, and you took it straight home and put it in the tank, it's possible your tank is already cycled.

Your pH is very low right now. Have you checked alkalinity?

 

[Lorna]

You don't say what your sg is either...what temps etc. It is possible as Lotus states it may have cycled with the live rock which may be providing enough bacteria for the minimal bioload. I woud suggest that you add a small amount of flake food and then measure your ammonia the next day, if you show nothing than chances are you are cycled. When adding any fish or inverts make sure you are prepared to do a water change should you see an ammonia spike, but my feeling is go slow with stocking, measure and make sure you don't see any spikes and allow your tank to adjust to the additional bioload slowly. Welcome to mft...

 

[littlea8]

Yes the uncured live rock was straight from the holding tanks but it was left in a box for about 2-4 days, however I did pour some saltwater on it in that time period. I'm not sure how to check the alkalinity and I'm not sure what sg is? Like I said I'm a beginner lol. The temperature is always approx 75 degrees F and the salinity is 1.023. What type of food would I have to add? Is there any specific type? Also how often should I be checking for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and the PH during the cycle and after?

 

[Lorna]

You say the rock was out of water for 2-4 days? Was it kept wet all that time....it must be either submerged or kept wet otherwise it will become base rock without any of the beneficial bacteria......I would think that having it out of water should create enough die off to start a cycle, you should have seen some ammonia, if not you need an ammonia source such as food or some other source. I would maybe try the cocktail shrimp as you can't be sure you started a cycle.....place a cocktail shrimp *frozen uncooked* in your tank for a couple of days, once you see an ammonia spike....take out the shrimp (place it in an old clean nylon stocking to ease of use) then watch for the ammonia to turn to nitrite and you will then be sure you have a cycle......

 

[sunnymittu]

cycling in SW tanks is just like new honey moon....waiting with unsuppressed feelings
buddy
your tank is not cycled and is not cured atall
you need to put fish in there
food wont give enough of enough
your live rock is already cured if it was not then you should have seen amonia
you can listen to lorna about using flakes 2 twice a day for a week then you will see where tank stand
try adding two damshels for cycle

 

[littlea8]

okay I will try adding the uncooked shrimp into the tank and see if the ammonia spikes. I'm just confused as to why I got a reading of nitrate? and yes i kept the live rock wet with saltwater for the 2 days it was left in the box.

 

[Joeyb1731]

I had a similar thing with my nano. I added the live rock, It was fully cured. I tested the ammonia on day 2, and i had barely any. I tested everything on day 3, 4 and 5 and I had no ammonia but a nitrIte of 1.0 ppm and ive been testing everyday. I have some nitrate but not much and my nitrite has climbed up to like 2.0 im now at day 9, im not sure how it works with uncured rock, but im just waiting on my nitrite to fall before adding fish.

Your pH is wayy low though unless that was a typo, but it should be 8.2-8.4 ish

 

[littlea8]

it wasn't a typo but i have no idea how to get the PH higher

 

[Joeyb1731]

something is not right because I do nothing to get my pH high, what kind of salt mix do u use? i use instant ocean

 

[littlea8]

coral life salt i think...btw i just tested the water again...my nitrate went up to 20ppm and ammonia and nitrite are still at 0...im so confused lol

 

[Lorna]

do the shrimp thing.....test for ammonia, then for nitrite. Believe me you will get an ammonia spike with the shrimp. Once everything comes down to zero you should then retest your ph etc. If it isn't reading 8.2 then use some Kent's buffer to buffer it to the proper ph. I think you should mix up some of your salt mix and measure the ph it may mix up on the low side. I am not sure of that brand as I use Reef Crystals or Tropic Marin Pro....It is a good habit to get into to check your water you use for water changes after you mix it, check for ph, sg, and alk to make sure that it matches that of your tank, in this case though you would need to buffer it higher as well as your tank to get it to the right ph. I wouldn't worry too much about it until you are done cycling.....sometimes cycling will throw the parameters out also

 

[littlea8]

okay thank you I will try that and let you know what the results are

 

[MatthewLaw]

use a buffer...I use Kent's pH buffer

 

[littlea8]

okay so after having the raw shrimp in my tank for 2 days I testing everything once again. My results were as follows:

Ammonia still stayed at 0ppm
Nitrite increased to 0.25ppm from 0ppm
Nitrates stayed the same at 20ppm
PH stayed the same at 7.2

So the only increase I noticed was a very small increase in nitrites. What does this mean and where do I go from here? Is my tank cycled?

 

[Whiskers]

Imo i would say yes your tank is cycled since your nitrites went up. if you had tested your tank sooner you might have seen the ammonia rise a little but the process was faster than you hahaha. watch your tank and test again and see if your nitrites go down, im sure they will. as far as your ph goes i don't have salt tank so i don't know if you can put anything else in your tank other than what was suggested by others which is the kents ph buffer. my ph is naturaly high around 8.0 to 8.4 so if and when i go to salt i know my water prams are gonna work well.

 

[Lotus]

If you have nitrites, then your tank isn't cycled. Nitrites need to be at zero.

 

[littlea8]

the nitrites were at 0 before i added the shrimp....so what stage is my tank at right now and what should i be doing?

 

[Whiskers]

ok im lost lotus. if the ammonia in a tank is intentionly jacked up won't the nitrites go up as the ammonia goes down? then the nitrites go down as bacteria eats it up turning it into nitrates? am i wrong? if the shrimp was added to make ammonia go up wouldnt this be the process it goes through ? just wondering if i've got it wrong.

 

[Lorna]

Whiskers you are right.....she may have missed the small ammonia spike up....the nitrites would then go up and the ammonia down....in a few days the nitrites should be at zero and then we will know that the tank is cycled for sure.