Frequency Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I have an 18 gallon tank, with 20 pounds of Live Rock and Sand. There is one Penguin HOB and Powerhead. Tank temperature has been a constant 78F and I added two turbo snails. The snails appear to be in good health, very active. My ammonia has droped to zero, Nitrites are really low but what concerns me is that Nitrates are even lower. It has been steadily falling for the last few days. I have noticed a groth in green algage on my rocks which I suspect maybe be eating the nitriate? But I don't ever remember anyone mentioning this anywhere. At anyrate I'm including my log files. Hopefully the cycle is over and I can add a shrimp and some fish! Thanks for your time. Link to comment
fishbabies Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 How long has your tank been up? My nano never cycled to the point where it was detectable thru testing. green algae is a very good thing and indicator. Are you using a penguin with a bio-wheel and filter insert? i would take those out and continue testing. rinse the filter insert with conditioned feshwater and let dry. the reason behind taking out the wheel and insert is to get your LR and LS to carry the entire load of the biological filtration. Link to comment
Frequency Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 My tank has been cycling for seven days. Over the 7 days, a few rocks have become extremely green considering they were not green at all when I put them in the tank. There is no bio wheel on the filter, but I left in the floss just to pick up some of the floating matireal. But I'll see what I can do about the entire load. Although I was planning on using the floss throught the life of the tank? Link to comment
Frequency Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 Sorry I had to add an extra reply. I've been taking a log of the tank daily, Here is what is been going on. Ignore the numbers on the left there just adjusted So I can get a better Idea of how the conditons are moving in terms of each other. Link to comment
cuteios Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Frequency: I think your tank is just beginning to cycle... and not done with it yet. Though I've heard that some people have tanks that cycle fairly quickly, but never that fast if yours is done cycling. Link to comment
fishbabies Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 using floss is good for mechanical filtration. you want to prevent biological activity from starting in the floss (and carbon) though when you are using LR and LS as your bio-filter. all you do is rinse out your floss (and carbon) in conditioned tap water and let air dry. this keeps your floss and carbon working on a purely mechanical level to keep your water crystal clear. and yes...wait a little longer after taking out your insert for a week or so Link to comment
onthefly Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Did you set it up with dead sand or LS? Did you use cured LR or what? It is possible to have a quick cycle! One problem would be that number of organisms in the tank maybe too low and if you go to stock it, you could overpower them (e.g. add a pair of clowns) and see another cycle. I'm setting up mine with LR from my 45 and dead sand. So I would assume that I won't even see a cycle, unless I add some NH3Cl or a piece of shrimp. Link to comment
fishbabies Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 throw a piece of raw shrimp from the deli section of the supermarket into the tank....a piece the size of a skittle or something....that'll prep your tank for a larger bio-load Link to comment
myelin Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 You will know when you cycle is just about over when the Nitrites go to 0 and the Nitrates are at 0 or a little above. It sounds like to me you are right on schedule. Link to comment
Frequency Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Well I took more readings for today this is how I observer them. Ammonia: 0 to 0.01 Nitrate: 1 to 2.5 (Really Light blue color) PH: 8.2 Nitrite: 0.1 - 0.2 When I enter the data I usually take an average of the range to get a better a hopefully closer measurement. So I'm going with, O say Ammonia: .005 Nitrate: 1.75 PH: 8.2 Nitrite: 0.6 That’s my story and I'm stickin to it :-p To answer onthefly and cuteios, I suspected I wouldn't get much of a cycle. I set up my tank using 20 pounds of live rock that had been cured for I don't know how long. The rock was actually sitting in a tank that appeared to be cycling the same water as all the other fish. So I wondered how much would die off when I added it to my tank. I used a 20 pound bag of live sand, and distilled water. So I think it might have been a good idea to toss in a shrimp as not much could probably die for the cycle. Still a little weary of taking out the Bag in that I have two turbo snails that leave crap all over my beautiful sand . It is literally in little green piles... But I'm afraid a large spike in nitrites will kill the snails so I kind of wanted them to survive. Probably shouldn’t have added them but you know how that goes :-D. Ugh sorry this was a boring post. Link to comment
onthefly Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 With those readings, you proly could throw in some herimts and they'll take care of the detrius Link to comment
Frequency Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Oh ok, How many snails and crabs should I have in an 18 gallon. Do you think I could also get a cleaner shrimp too? I won't add everything at once. Maybe one crab and a shrimp, as to slowly increase my bio load. Link to comment
onthefly Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Start with the herm's, then add some more snails, then the cleaner (he'll be the most sensitive to water conditions). I'd say 1/2ga on the herms and snails.....so 9 each, maybe more down the road. And one cleaner or a couple of peps. Link to comment
NanoBound Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Hey Frequency, Were did you get the graph to monitor your tank? Is it a computer download? If so, were could I get the download at? Link to comment
Frequency Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Hehe I got 2 eletric blue hermit crabs, and the graph is just an excel spreadsheet. So if you have excel your already set . Link to comment
NanoBound Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Thanks Frequency! Heck I didnot even know I had excel on this computer until you mentioned it and I ran a search....and to my amazement, I have it !!! Link to comment
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