I THINK my cycle is almost over..

[kweckstrom]

Tested 5 nights ago, 0.25 ammonia (1 reading above 0ppm on the test card), Nitrite spiked off the scale, nitrate 20ppm.

 

Tested 2 nights ago, 0.25 ammonia, Nitrite about the middle of the 6 color scale (forget what it was), nitrate 30ppm.

 

Got home from work yesterday, brown stuff scattered throughout the tank (Diatom breakout maybe? I run the lights around 12-14hrs a day, could be algae). Tested the water again, 0.25 ammonia, nitrite one color reading above 0 (again, I forget the scale), didn't test nitrate because my daughter was making a mess in the kitchen.

 

Lights off all night, woke up and turned it on - most of the brown stuff (but not all, about 80-90% of it) is gone.

 

Looks like i'm getting close to the end of this cycle... and this is only after a week. Is it possible my tank has cycled this quickly? I used 18lb of LR, quite a bit in a 12 gallon nano-cube.

 

I figure i'll let the tank sit for a week or two after my readings hit 0, then add a cleaning crew. Any advice here as to what my cleaning crew should consist of? I know I want some smaller snails (ones that won't grow out of control and knock over my rocks - what ones would you guys recommend, and how many?)

 

I also know I want some hermit crabs (how many? How many extra shells should I grab?)

 

I DEFINITELY want a shrimp of some sort, like a blood or peppermint - or even a BCS if they're recommended above the others. I'm going to get the smallest one I can find. Which shrimp would you recommend as the best janitor?

[caja]

Yup, those are diatoms you saw. It is possible that your cycle went quickly if you use fully cured LR, but I applaud you for having the common sense to wait another week or two after your readings zero out to add any livestock. Wish more newbies had your patience!

 

As for clean up crew you want to go with some diversity in your snail selection. Nassarius and ceriths for the sand bed. Nerites, margaritas and astreas are all great glass and rock cleaners. Personally I go heavy on my clean up crews. In a 12 gal, you could put a couple ceriths, 4 or so nass snails and 2 each of the others. I have that many in a 7 minibow.

 

Hermits are up to you. Tiny blue legs are pretty industrious, toss about 6 or so in there and drop a bunch of larger shells of various sizes in there for them. I've also had good results with red leg hermits, but they don't seem to live as long as the blue legs in my tanks for some reason.

 

Blood shrimp are cool, not sure about their clean-up abilities. My pep is always digging around the tank scavenging for food, but they can be known to eat polyps, so that's something to consider.

[kweckstrom]

Originally posted by caja

Yup, those are diatoms you saw. It is possible that your cycle went quickly if you use fully cured LR, but I applaud you for having the common sense to wait another week or two after your readings zero out to add any livestock. Wish more newbies had your patience!

 

I've read too many horror stories about crashes and stuff. I'd feel horrible if I put a bunch of stuff in there only to have 'em die shortly after because I didn't "do it right".

 

Plus i'm a washed up married 35 year old guy with tons of patience

 

Out of the snails you mentioned, Nassarius, Ceriths, Nerites, Margaritas, Astreas - are any of those known to grow HUGE? I've read that some snails get really big (I think Astrea was mentioned) and knock over stuff in your tank... I hear Bumble-bee snails stay at a reasonable size. What do you think?

 

And yeah, I would also like to go heavier on the cleanup crew to keep things tidy. How heavily do inverts affect your bio load?

 

Anyone else have any experience with blood shrip with regards to cleanup? Or Banded coral shrimp?

[caja]

I have a couple astreas, had them for about a year now and they are about an inch. I've never had trouble with them knocking things over. Turbos get really big and are bulldozers in the tank. Bumble bees are nocturnal detritus eaters. I rarely see mine. Got them a year ago too and they have grown to about 1/2" or so and are covered in coraline. Pretty cool.

[Dingo]

Turbo's take down the tough algae, though. Mine is my hero!. Hair algae? Gone. Cyano? Gone. Macro algae taking over? Gone.

 

Everything is epoxied down, though. I have a smallish chunk of rock on my bed with GSP that gets moved around rather frequently.