new tank cycle

[dial]

hi guys. i have my tank cycling for just over a week now.
ph is 8.1 to 8.5 (but im using sacham ph buffer to bring it up to 8.3)

my amonia is .6 << pretty highy

but the rest nitrite,nitrate is 0

tmy LFS said this will happen then the nitrite will spike then the nitrate will spike then when everything comes down it all shoul dbe good.

curyently i have mollies in my tank.

ruffly how long am i looking at for the cycle to finish. and am i ment to do anything (water changes etc.. i shouldnt think so)

cheers. aron.

 

[dbacksrat]

are you using live rock to cycle? why the mollies? a cycle can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks, depending on if you seed your tank

using live rock is highly recommended because it provides a suitable habitat/hiding place for saltwater fish, contains organisms (food), and allows bacteria and other organisms to grow (filtration)

 

[1979camaro]

yah, its tough to really button down a number of days...2-4 weeks is a good estimate, but like your LFS said you need to wait until ammonia and nitrite are zero and you see an increase in nitrate.

why are you using mollies? i thought you were going to cycle with live rock?

 

[dial]

LFS said to use mollies. there cheaper..

$2.50 for 4 mollies

$9.90 for 1kg of LR

 

[dbacksrat]

if you were to add cured live rock when your tank is cycled, you might have minimal die off--do you just have sand/water/mollies in your tank? live sand hopefully?

 

[dial]

no.

water, mollies, crushed coral..

cheersa aron.

 

[1979camaro]

going to need the LR some day though...doesn't do you any good/make sense to cycle with mollies and then throw in some LR which is going to have some die off and re-cycle the whole tank

 

[dial]

realy.

damn.. see this its wats so confusing. LFS say one thing. and this forum says another.

ok ill look at getting some live rock in.

the amonia being so hi isnt going to kill them is it

cheers aron

 

[schrophi]

yeah LR cycle very good! And as said they look neat and have a lot of other benefits for the fish too.

 

[1979camaro]

the ammonia might kill them but if you get some LR in there they actually have a better chance of surviving if it is high quality stuff because some of the gfood bacteria will be present

 

[dial]

ahhhh man. is sooo confusing. ok well ill look at going live rock buying on the weekend.

cheers aron.

 

[dial]

ok. well the amonia looks like its going down. was .7 last week saturday and last night was .5-6

well ill proberly go get 5 - 10 kg of live rock

cheers aron.

 

[1979camaro]

best of luck

here is the formula i (and others) have followed with great success:

tank -> equipment -> saltwater -> live rock -> cycle -> substrate -> stock (slowly)

 

[dial]

why substrate after live rock???

 

[wayne]

Easier to clean out any mess that falls off/out. Just easier.

It really shows you haven't done the normal recommended reading. It's really worth it because it stops you wasting your time and effort, especially if you have a dodgy lfs. It also offers a better overall picture than asking piecemeal question on here as a book will give you the whole picture and hopefully then you will be able to predict what will happen and equip for it rather than just asking reactive questions as you limp from crisis to crisis before giving up.

Have you at least read the stickied stuff at the top?

 

[DustinKeating]

As far as conflicting information from this forum and the lfs is concerned, you should generally always believe the forum. There will be times that the lfs will know what it's talking about because it knows what it's selling you, but for the most part this forum will be more accurate. Because we're only looking out for your success, not a sale. also, we have your tank information...your lfs might not.

Take that with a grain of salt, but it's true.

Good luck.

 

[dial]

wayne.

why do you think im posting all these questions on the board. because what the books say conflit with the LFS.

see my fish shop said i was stupid for following the forums. then another fish shop tried to sell me all these other things that the forum said i didnt need.

anyway im follow 99% of the advice from the forum. except for the substrate after LR as iv already put substrate in. on the weekend ill be getting an internal skimmer and 5 - 10KG of LR.

but dont get me wron i do appreciate all the help people are giving me on the forum

thanks DustinKeating

cheers aron.

 

[JEP]

As was advised I would get some live rock asap. Any amount you can afford will help. You might also want to look into getting some biological water conditioner which will help your cycle and speed it up. I used this product with success:
http://www.petco.com/product_info.a...1=Marine+Products&ct2=Water+Conditioners&ct3=
This product by Seachem is also supposed to be very good:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1114095147454

However I'm not sure what is available locally in your area. Good luck!

 

[JEP]

Another thing, I think you said you are running a Fluval with no media right? If you can't afford LR right now, you can put the ceramic bio rings that came with it in the trays and put them back in the cannister. That will give any bacteria present in your tank a place to live and propagate until you can get some LR.

 

[aresgod]

the biological water condition is crap, it is not worth the money, LR and LS will do it way better, that stuff is often known as polution in a bottle, just my opinion