Did I miss my cycle? I see Diatoms!

[aesp533262]

I started my tank about 4 weeks ago. I added a pc of shrimp to start off the cycle, 2x 20lbs bags of figi pink live sand and 50lbs of dry rock. I didnt test the first week, but tested the second and "thought" i saw a change in the ammonia reading. I have not tested in two weeks and when I tested last night, I noticed everything at 0.

After further inspection in the tank, i see brown spots on some rocks. Diatoms i presume. Is it possible I missed the cycle and Im ready to go? Is there a way to test and see?

[ajmckay]

You must be pregnant, congrats.

 

Hahaha!

 

So you're testing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? And when you've tested you haven't detected anything the whole time? I don't typically use diatoms as proof that a tank is cycled...

 

I have a few questions:

1) Are your test kits good? Like not really old? And youre sure youre doing it right?

2) Is the dry rock you used clean? Did it have dead stuff on it or was all that stuff removed?

3 How big is your tank? How big was the shrimp? Has the shrimp completely decomposed?

 

Typically a new tank will at least register nitrates... If you have any level of nitrates that means things are working as they should.

 

If you dont see nitrates then add something to the tank to decompose. Usually this will be some fish food or something (search ghost feed) and then run your tests for the next 2 days or so - may want to turn the skimmer off. Is your skimmer skimming anything?

[Azedenkae]

I started my tank about 4 weeks ago. I added a pc of shrimp to start off the cycle, 2x 20lbs bags of figi pink live sand and 50lbs of dry rock. I didnt test the first week, but tested the second and "thought" i saw a change in the ammonia reading. I have not tested in two weeks and when I tested last night, I noticed everything at 0.

 

After further inspection in the tank, i see brown spots on some rocks. Diatoms i presume. Is it possible I missed the cycle and Im ready to go? Is there a way to test and see?

Glad you asked this. Yes there is a way to test it. Ghostfeed your tank (feed as if you already have fish in there).

 

If your filtration system can handle it then you should not see any increases in waste levels over a long duration. If say ammonia increases and over a day still remains then you know your tank is not ready.

[aesp533262]

Test kits are new (api, not the best but should give something)

Rock was clean, not dead. completely dry reefcleaners rock

50gal cube, medium size shrimp. The shrimp mostly decomposed, but there is still a jelly like pc in the tank.

 

The skimmer is not skimming anything, but i will take the suggestion to turn it off.

 

I do have a bottle of seachem stability. should i use that. I tried not to but was thinking it might help. Any suggestions?

[ajmckay]

I don't necessarily mean to turn the skimmer off all the time, more just if you add something to the tank. I like to put in something that will decompose quickly and easily like maybe a cube of frozen fish food, finely chopped. The skimmer could remove some of the proteins before they have enough time to decompose.

 

I asked if your skimmer was skimming anything because that would indicate the presence of waste in the tank (could be from rock, or the shrimp) I suppose I would expect to see something though.

 

I would definitely use some sort of bacterial starter... There are a few popular ones I'm not sure if the seachem is the right one to use when establishing a new tank though. You'll have to check the bacteria it contains and compare it to a product like biospira by instant ocean. It should contain a variety of nitrifying bacteria. Personally I would have dosed this stuff weeks ago and then started adding livestock... Cycling a tank the "natural" way can take a really long time - longer than 4 weeks in many cases.