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#1
08/27/2004, 11:37 PM
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Unbelievable cycle time
After almost a week
Ammonia levels are 0 mg/l. Nitrate level is <0.3 mg/l Nitrate is between 12.5 mg/l and 25 mg/l Im using the Tetratest is this a good chemical test? current tank 60 gallon with 125 lbs of live rock that came from a 2 1/2 yr tank (i know overkill) and 60lbs of live sand. |
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#3
08/29/2004, 02:37 AM
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[welcome]
I'm not quite sure if you're saying it's unbelievably short or long?? It seems about as I would predict for a tank being started up with fully cured LR. I bet your nitrite will be 0 within the week. It's not uncommon to get very little or almost no detectable spike in ammonia or nitirite is there is no real significant die off and you don't feed the nitrification cycle with an organic source, such as some fish food, a piece of shrimp or my favorite, ammonium chloride. Good luck with your tank and don't hesitate to ask questions. There are lot of very expericned reefers on this board. Larry
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Larry |
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#5
08/29/2004, 02:41 PM
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I tested it again today for nitrate on the color test using tetratest chem. Its still at the 12.5 mg range per l. But my only damsel is breathing heavily and laying on its side. Ammonia is still zero and Nitrite level is <0.3 mg/l or less. I moved him to another 10 gallon tank. What could be wrong ? please help
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#6
08/30/2004, 04:00 PM
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It is definately possible to have a zero day cycle. The easiest way (I call it cheating) is to just take the rock and water out of an existing tank and add it to a new one (with new sand, I don't like to reuse unless it is washed out really good). I did this and never had to wait for a cycle. It is a good way to cut some serious time off your cycle and can be cheap too since most of the time you are getting the rock for a substantial discount. You still have to allow time for the tank to adjust to any new critters and go slow so the tank can keep up, but at least you don't have to wait for uncured rock to die off, settle, and the start to cycle.
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Rich Overton Hit the little red house above for the ARC website! You know you want to! |
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#7
09/16/2004, 12:43 PM
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I just started my new tank and I used live rock from a local 90g year and a half old tank and had 0 cycle. The rock has been in for a week now and im gonna add some clean up critters tonight. The live rock came with a couple mushrooms and they look great. The rock only cost me 3 bucks a pound
 Will never buy "new" live rock from a lfs or the net again I couldnt be happier.
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20g Nano 150 de 14k and 2x24w blue t5's 40p LR and LS 10g sump/refuge RedSea Berlin Skimmer |
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#8
09/17/2004, 01:47 PM
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correct me if im wrong, but your damsel is in a cycling tank. im guessing thats whats wrong. any detectable ammo or nitrite is extremely harmful to fish. it burns thier gills, and IF they live, they will never fully recover.
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50g reef - fish and corals. and fishtank. and stand. |
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#10
10/23/2004, 07:46 PM
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i concour ; why people cycle with fish ? a shrimp toss to the aquarium would cause the cycle to start ( amonia -> no2 -> no3 ) and poses no stres to the fish.
I'm cycling my new tank this way, I think its cruel to add fish before the NH4 and NO2 reaches 0 and the NO3 starts to go downhill
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Gonçalo Proença |
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