Quash Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 All right people, here is the week long update since I started the tank. After a week, are my tank params normal of cycling? I put a shrimp in to boost something I dunno what. Just anything, I had a small bloom of diatoms, now they are gone, I had hair algae, but they have dwindled due to less photoperiod. I put in a shrimp to see if my ammonia spikes. Here are tank test specs Trites: .3 Trates: 0 Ammonia: 0 alk: 7dkh pH: 7.7 Anything I should do next, or should I keep on waitin? Link to comment
seabass Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 Keep waiting. zzz Since you have LR, you shouldn’t need that shrimp (which the bacteria will break down into ammonia, then into nitrites, then into nitrates). Other 7 pounds of LR would be good. Once both your ammonia and nitrites are zero, your cycle should be over. Nitrates less than or equal to 10 are pretty good; if they are higher after your cycle has completed, a series of water changes will correct this as well as your other water parameters. When everything looks good, you can start adding your cleanup crew. Link to comment
Quash Posted September 22, 2003 Author Share Posted September 22, 2003 Originally posted by seabass Other 7 pounds of LR would be good. Did you just say another 7 lbs of LR would be good? Link to comment
seabass Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 Did you just say another 7 lbs of LR would be good? I was trying to. I like to use 1.5 lbs per gallon. Link to comment
Quash Posted September 22, 2003 Author Share Posted September 22, 2003 Another question, I hope you dont mind, But I dont have a heater in my setup, 1. because With my AC at 75, the tank is at 76-78. Should I put the heater in? Will it help? Link to comment
zizmans Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 Why? A heater is used to raise tempature. If you tank is at an acceptable temp than why do you think a heater would do anything to your cycle? duh? I also don't get your stats. You have an HOB and an Aquaclear? Link to comment
seabass Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 You won’t need a heater for your cycle, but I still think they are good to use. Even if your room temperature stays around 75, a heater will help reduce the fluctuation of temperatures throughout the day. Mine is set to 80 degrees and stays nice and steady. Link to comment
Quash Posted September 23, 2003 Author Share Posted September 23, 2003 I have a whisper HOB, and an Aquaclear 301 PH Link to comment
jasontatro Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Wow... you've had alot happen in just a week. My first week was fairly uneventful. In my second week I got my diatom bloom and it has since burned itself out. Starting to get nice (I say nice because I prefer it to cyano) green algae on some rocks. One of the most noticable things that has happened to my tank in the three weeks is the amount of pods. My LS is literally crawling!!!!! The pods have exploded by a factor of about 100. I'm told this is a good thing. It is amazing to see all the changes that go on in this environment even when I have not done anything to it. I plan on taking the advice of alot of the people here and waiting a couple of months before adding anything. With the exception of a cleaning crew which I have already added. On that note... astrea snails in my opinion are completely worthless!!! Out of 5 that I started with 2 are still alive. They fall onto their backs and unless I am there to flip them over, the hermits feast on them!!! Think I might try a different type or none at all. Just my story. Good luck to you Quash. Link to comment
seabass Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 The Nassarius snail is the only snail that I know of that can right itself when they fall on their backs (plus they are great snails). On occasion I have to help my Cerith snail over, but not that often (they are also very good snails). Although it's more common for Astraea snails to fall on their backs, I wouldn't consider them worthless. Link to comment
jasontatro Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Originally posted by seabass Although it's more common for Astraea snails to fall on their backs, I wouldn't consider them worthless. Yes... I'll admit that was a cruel thing to say. I do have to say that my one astrea snail is great. He could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. I'll have to check out those other species. Thanks Link to comment
dharned Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Get the heater and install it. Just because the temp is 75 during the day doesn't mean you can't get a cool night in texas... I keep mine at about 80 degrees. Why not be safe even if your heater only kicks on 2 times out of the year? Link to comment
Quash Posted September 23, 2003 Author Share Posted September 23, 2003 Well then, I went to the lfs today, and I got some large pieces of rock that were pretty lite weight. I got 4.5 lbs, for a total of 12 lbs in the tank. I took the shrimp out this morning, boy did that crap smell, (advise to all, dont put a shrimp in, just wait for ammonia spike, cause that crap STINKS) I wiped down the glass too, cause it was gettin cloudy, it looks like i had some growth on the glass, do snails clean that up? pH still at 7.7 tho. I think I will wait a coupla more weeks to see if it goes up, rather than to buy some pH increaser stuff. As far as the new rock in I dont know what else to say. I was planning on going FOWLR, but then some of them corals.... fack, things are gettin expensive hehB) Link to comment
mattie Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 if it smells bad its not cured and it well deifntly affect everything for a little while amonia nitrates and alga bloom some thing has been working for me is I have another tank with a little mini pengiun hob power filter and a basic florescent and I just leave it in the new rocks in there for a 2-3 weeks till the rocks smell more like dirt or slightly fish not like amonia or something really rotten the shrimp may not be able to hand the spike of nitrates if you don't have an extra tank to set up as a quarantine tank for new live rock or sick fish you may have to monitor the tank daily and do some very frequent water changes. snails do a good job at cleaning ,but on the glass you want to it clean yourself Link to comment
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