No diatoms in cycle?!?!

[01jvergos]

I have had my nano tank for over 3 weeks. I have had spikes in ammonia nitrites and nitrates. Ammonia is down to 0 and so is nitrites. Nitrates are at 5. I have live carab sea sand and dry reef saver rock. I have done ghost feedings and put 150mL of brine shrimp too a few weeks ago. Also I did 1 50% water change a week and a half ago. Can I add a hardy pair of clowns or a small CUC to eat all the food from the ghost feedings? Or should I wait till diatoms show up?? Thank you!

[Json]

5 minutes ago, 01jvergos said:

I have had my nano tank for over 3 weeks. I have had spikes in ammonia nitrites and nitrates. Ammonia is down to 0 and so is nitrites. Nitrates are at 5. I have live carab sea sand and dry reef saver rock. I have done ghost feedings and put 150mL of brine shrimp too a few weeks ago. Also I did 1 50% water change a week and a half ago. Can I add a hardy pair of clowns or a small CUC to eat all the food from the ghost feedings? Or should I wait till diatoms show up?? Thank you!

You can already add the CUC. Actually. It's advisable to add it now so they can clean up all the leftovers. Just be mindful of the number of CUC you are adding. Make sure the bacteria colony can support the bioload.

 

How big is your tank? You can add a single clown first then monitor for a week or two before adding the second one. Better be safe than sorry. Always remember, only bad things happen quickly in saltwater.

[Subsea]

3 hours ago, 01jvergos said:

I have had my nano tank for over 3 weeks. I have had spikes in ammonia nitrites and nitrates. Ammonia is down to 0 and so is nitrites. Nitrates are at 5. I have live carab sea sand and dry reef saver rock. I have done ghost feedings and put 150mL of brine shrimp too a few weeks ago. Also I did 1 50% water change a week and a half ago. Can I add a hardy pair of clowns or a small CUC to eat all the food from the ghost feedings? Or should I wait till diatoms show up?? Thank you!

Welcome to the wet & salty club. 

 

What does “ghost feeding” mean?  Not understanding your point about adding 150ml of brine shrimp.  In your tank, what eats brine shrimp?  Not all cycles get diatoms.  Depending on how big your tank is, I would add both clowns at the same time, thus preventing aggression from established fish to newly introduced fish.

[seabass]

I'm not sure why ghost feeding (feeding a tank when there isn't anything in it, with the intention of causing an ammonia spike) is still that popular.  It adds a bunch of organics and nutrients into the system (besides the ammonia) that you end up battling down the road.

 

With dry rock, you're better off dosing ammonium chloride, and following the fishless cycling method to build up the biofilter (nitrifying bacteria).  It's much cleaner, and can simulate a larger bioload.  Before you add anything, I'd thoroughly clean the tank (including the sand).

 

I agree with Subsea, you won't always have a diatom bloom.  However, at 3 weeks, I wouldn't rule it out.  You could easily introduce diatoms into the system with the fish (snails, corals, etc); and if there is a lot of silicate in your system, you could have a bloom down the road.  However, that usually isn't that big of a problem.

[Clown79]

It's a misconception that diatoms are required for a cycle to occur and it's not necessary one will have diatoms at all.

 

My 55g had no diatoms at all. I also never had cyano.

 

My 20g, 10g, and 5g had diatoms after cycle.

 

My 15g didn't have diatoms till around 2 mnths age. Well after the cycle completed.

 

My 25g upgrade didn't have diatoms until 4mnths after transfer.

 

 

[01jvergos]

7 hours ago, Subsea said:

Welcome to the wet & salty club. 

 

What does “ghost feeding” mean?  Not understanding your point about adding 150ml of brine shrimp.  In your tank, what eats brine shrimp?  Not all cycles get diatoms.  Depending on how big your tank is, I would add both clowns at the same time, thus preventing aggression from established fish to newly introduced fish.

My tank is 16 gallons! Ghost feeding is when you add food to the tank with no fish or CUC. Also my fish shop lets me buy brine shrimp from how many mL of a measuring cup they pour in! They use like a cooler with a button you push to dispense the shrimp into a measuring cup! They were packed closely! So it was a few hundred to say the least. So should i add a snall CUC to eat the food off the bottom? Like a few snails and crabs? Or add 1 or 2 clowns? Thats all I plan on adding in the tank for awhile with hardy corals like zoas in the following months! Thank you!

[Subsea]

Keep the crabs out of your tank, if you want a diverse CUC.  Detrivores in sandbed is the most important function of your janitors.  Cerith Snails will reproduce to food supply, as will micro stars, pods and bristle worms. 

 

If your tank is showing any film algae, you can add snails.  Micros Stars, pods, bristle worms and reproducing snails all recycle nutrients into live food for tank filter feeders, which includes coral.  

 

 

[01jvergos]

11 hours ago, Subsea said:

Keep the crabs out of your tank, if you want a diverse CUC.  Detrivores in sandbed is the most important function of your janitors.  Cerith Snails will reproduce to food supply, as will micro stars, pods and bristle worms. 

 

If your tank is showing any film algae, you can add snails.  Micros Stars, pods, bristle worms and reproducing snails all recycle nutrients into live food for tank filter feeders, which includes coral.  

 

 

Sweet thank you! Also should I add fish yet or no? If so one clown or the pair at the same time?

[Subsea]

If you are interested in establishing sustainable intank  populations of micro inverts, like amphipods & copepods, you should hold off on fish.  If that be the case you should get copepods from AlgeBarn and seed your tank.  If you have a sump in your set up, pods could populate there.  Feed pods like fish until month three, then add fish.

 

If you are not interested in pods, then add both clowns.  Have prepared salt water on hand for any partial water changes that may be required.

 

[Subsea]

I must comment on adding baby brine shrimp to a tank..  I see no merit to it.  If you don’t like ammonia, throw in a whole shrimp and take it out before weeks end.

[Clown79]

Ammonia dosing is the cleanest method of cycling when using dry Rock

 

When you use food to cycle- you have no control over the amount of ammonia produced.

It also adds unwanted nutrients to a tank.

 

Same thing with deli shrimp method. You are more likely to have nitrate and phos issues- not to mention the smell.