mak Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Hi , I am new to this hobby and started with a 20 gallon tank. The following are my setup: 1- IM fusion nano tank with media filters 2- 16 lbs of real reef rock 3- Red sea coral salt. 4- Red sea live sand 5- Skkye LED LIGHT 18W 6- Hailea 75 w heater 7- Digital thermometer Now after my leak testing and satisfactory result. I mixed the salt with aqua safe drinking water bottles from grocery store. I haven't used any de chlorinator as my LFS store advised , it's not require. After I have mixed the salt and successfully got the salinity at 1.025 / 35 ppm. The live sand and reef rocks were placed in the tank and salt water was poured. After two three days the milky water was clear and tested the water with API master test kit. The following results were obtained: Ph- 8.2 to 8.6 KH- 10-15 Ca- greater than 500 Nitrate -0 Nitrite-0 Temperature- 26 degres celcius Later I have used API quick start solution as per instruction dosage and left the tank for 24 hours. Is the above parameters showing some positive sign or whether cycling has started , I am not sure.. I haven't added any fish and would like to cycle fishless. Please let me know if I am moving correctly or anything is being missed out. Or else anything extra needs to be checked or any thing more to be added. Kindly share your valuable experiences and provide guidance,,, Link to comment
GTi Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Welcome! To start the cycle, you need a source of ammonia to feed the nitrifying bacteria so that there will be enough of them to break down all the fish waste, uneaten food etc in to nitrites then nitrates and hopefully some in to nitrogen, although the last one is usually very difficult. Fishless cycling is the right thing to do. Some people use a deli shrimp, others a pure source of ammonia (e.g. Dr Tims, bleach). With bleach it's hard to know if you have additives. Link to comment
mak Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Thanks..so I need to add some pure source of ammonia...Dr.Tims..or else can fish food flakes can be used a source of ammonia. Can used suggest some other market products for ammonia source.... Link to comment
piano15 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 You're on the right track. For a 20 you could use a few more lbs of rock. You need to test ammonia to know if your cycle has started and you do need something to spike the ammonia. There are a few ways to cycle a tank: With liverock With a livefish(this is cruel imo) With a deli shrimp (put it in a filter media bag so it doesn't make a mess) Adding liquid ammonia You could add 4lbs liverock which will have die off on it which will cause an ammonia spike and feed the tank every day with food food Are you using bottled spring water? I'm not sure how safe that is but using Ro/di or distilled is the better choice. I would suggest not running the lights during cycling, it will aid in increasing algae What I meant was fish food can be fed to the tank, not food food.lol. Do you have a powerhead for flow? Link to comment
mak Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Hi piano15, I have tested ammonia..and it shows milky colour not exactly matching with any of the colour on the chart... I suppose there is no ammonia... Can you clarify "with a deli shrimp in a filter media bag to avoid mess". Also, I am not using any power head now. but plan to buy the nano powerheads... Also any liquid ammonia brand you can suggest. Thanks dude for your valuable suggestion... Cheers... Link to comment
uwdanno Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Welcome to the Fusion 20 gang. Such a great tank. I would grab a couple pieces of live rock. They almost always have some cool hitchhiker that you can watch while the tank stabilizes I'm never a fan of chemicals unless it's necessary. It'll be tough but be patient during the cycle process. Use the time to plan out future equipment needs and stocking plans. Good luck! Link to comment
mak Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 I have drop one shrimp in my tank ...today is the second day...how much time approximately it takes to decompose... And how frequently can I check the ammonia? Link to comment
Huffy Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I have drop one shrimp in my tank ...today is the second day...how much time approximately it takes to decompose... And how frequently can I check the ammonia? I would test ammonia every couple of days. Once you see the ammonia spike you should still keep the shrimp in so that you have a consistent ammonia source for at least a few days. Hope this helps! Link to comment
mak Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 I have dropped another 2lbs of live rock from a established tank of my LFS. Will that help in starting the cycling of tank.... I haven't detected any ammonia till now with my shrimps still in the tank for the 5th day.... the salinity is 1.025 / 35 ppm and only top up with fresh water every couple of days to compensate the evaporation... Link to comment
mak Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Hi, The shrimps are there for past 11 days and I have checked for ammonia... The test results shows a different color which is not matching to any of the benchmarks to know whether ammonia spike has started. The color is of light bluish type.... Please let me know whether more time is required to see some results of ammonia spike... Link to comment
mak Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hi , I would be going on vacation for 1 week. My tank is still under cycling. Do I need to run my pumps & heaters continuously during my vacation or can I keep the tank leftover with pumps , heaters on switch off mode. Kindly advise. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hi , I would be going on vacation for 1 week. My tank is still under cycling. Do I need to run my pumps & heaters continuously during my vacation or can I keep the tank leftover with pumps , heaters on switch off mode. Kindly advise. You need to keep the pumps and filter running. If not the water will be stagnant- smell bad and grow algae Heater on 77 would be good as well, you don't want to kill your LR. You should upload a picture of your testing if you need more advice Link to comment
mak Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Thanks... I shall update with my latest testing results very soon... However a couple of days ago...I have tested the water and ammonia spike was not seen.. the color appeared were of light bluish color which was not matching to any of the benchmarks for different ammonia level... Link to comment
mak Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Hi , It's almost more than a month now ...I haven't seen any ammonia spike...the color which appears on the test are not matching with any benchmarks...it appears bluish color...ph, kh , salinity, temp are all within range... is there something wrong....the shrimps are still in the tank decomposing...do I need to change water.... kindly help me out.... Link to comment
mak Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Any suggestions on above... Link to comment
Martin reefer Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 +++++ on more rock Link to comment
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