Tank cycle

[nstiesi]

I have a newly setup 20 gallon tank for FOWLR. So far I have a couple lbs of live rock for seeding (came from a tank at the LFS, I assume it is cured), about 20 extra pounds of base rock, and dead sand. It has a standard florescent bulb, heater, and a small internal filter since I don't have much live rock. No livestock. Right now the SG is about 1.022.

After a week of being put up, having the liverock in since Friday, and getting fed a few times, my ammonia is still 0. Is this odd?

Also, I haven't seen any hitchikers from the liverock, is that normal?

Thanks!

[sruiz]

Fri-Tue is only 4 days.
How much is couple lbs of live rock.
There are not always hitchikers that are visible to the eye.
I would not worry about anything, just keep waiting. Your amonia will go up soon. I really doubt you cycled a tank in 4 days, especially with only a couple lbs of live rock.

[gjh289]

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you need at least a fish or two to get the cycle started? Right now you have no bio-load. I would placed a very hearty fish and then closely monitor. Also, make sure your test kit is accurate since I don't know how your testing the water. As far as hitchhikers you may not have any on the rock you purchased. Obviously some rock has more than others depending on the quality. Take a look at this site..... now this rock has hitchhikers.
www.tampabaysaltwater.com

[nstiesi]

Oh yeah, I know its only 4 days, I'm not expecting it to be cycled in 4 days by any stretch of the imagination. I was just curious when to expect the ammonia spike, and if I was doing something to prevent it.

From what I have read, its not necessary to have fish to start the cycle. That is why I have been feeding the tank......fish food=dead fish=ammonia, right? Plus I was assuming there is something in the liverock to get things going.

[daven]

You don't need fish to get the cycle started. I set my tank up as follows:

dry sand, dry marco rock, water. Tank started to cycle and after a couple days I saw the ammonia spike. I then added Cycle to introduce more bacteria.

If you want to add something rathe than fish just throw in a piece of raw table shrimp.

[bertoni]

I would feed a couple tiny bits of fish food, and see whether ammonia goes up. If not, the tank probably won't ever show any ammonia. That's fairly common. I'd let it run for a couple more weeks just in case anything in the live rock decides to die, although that seem unlikely for this setup.

[nstiesi]

So what do you mean that it may never show ammonia? Will it never show at all, or just never show until fish are added?

[cmejaf30]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11128872#post11128872 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gjh289
Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you need at least a fish or two to get the cycle started? Right now you have no bio-load. I would placed a very hearty fish and then closely monitor. Also, make sure your test kit is accurate since I don't know how your testing the water. As far as hitchhikers you may not have any on the rock you purchased. Obviously some rock has more than others depending on the quality. Take a look at this site..... now this rock has hitchhikers.
www.tampabaysaltwater.com

You don't necessarily need a fish to start a cycle. Adding some food every other day for a couple days will give you enough decay to get an ammonia spike going and allow the denitrifying batteria to "feed" off of the decay. This should get your cycle going. No sense in stressing a fish like that or keeping a hearty species in there that you don't intend to keep (like most people do with blue devil damsels or other fish like it).

[nstiesi]

Speak of the devil.....

no sooner did I start this thread did I come home to find a tiny flat worm half black-half orange worm with a bunch of little legs (ID?)

And my ammonia is finally at 1ppm.

I suppose it has begun.