Me again with my non-cycling tank

[hebbah]

Hell and good morning to all,

I am posting again for advice because my tank is still not cycling...
I put in some fish food and it has been in there now for 2 days (today is the third) and Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are still at 0 with no change. PH is at 8.2 I turned off the powerhead the first day the food was in but then turned it back on. Am I being to impatient with this?
The tank has been running for 2 weeks now with no change at all. It's got live sand/rock in it.

I guess this will be the only time that I will complain about all my tests coming out at zero :)

Thanks for any help,
Hebbah

 

[bobby]

How long has it been set up? How much live rock did you add? If you added alot of cured live rock then you might not even see a cycle, but don't jump to that conclusion yet. It could also be that your test kit is bad. Take a sample of your water to a LFS and have them check it for you for free. That way you can rule out if your kits are good or bad. Also might just take a bit longer for amonia to show up. A normal cycle takes on average a month, but some tanks rarely never really see one.

 

[bobby]

Opps didn't see that it has been up for two weeks. Well with the live sand and rock added it is quit possible that your cycle is done. Take a sample in to have you water double checked. If they get the same readings I would wait 1 more week check again and if it's still good then add 1 and I can't stress that enough just 1 hardy fish.

Adding too many fish at once when a tank is just started can start a cycle all over again because of an add bioload.

 

[dustin_P74]

i think your tank skipped a cycle, be happy, its less waiting for you, i think you can safely add a fish to your tank

 

[Smitty]

I agree, with the above advise, take some water to your lfs, and if good, start off slow.

Don't forget about a small cuc also

 

[yote]

I gotta go along with everybody else here.
And dont complain too much about not having a cycle.The first tank I cycled,to almost 2-1/2 months and smelled like a bad septic system.

 

[parrotchute]

I second the bad septic system with yote...mine smelled awful for a week or too..skimmer really helped fix that.

 

[hebbah]

Thanks so much! That is kind of exciting...I was thinking that it HAS to cycle but I suppose you are saying that because of the rock/sand it seems to have everything it needs already. I won't complain one bit anymore :)
I thought I would add some hermit crabs and a peppermint shrimp and some snails first - before I put in any fish...
THANKS so much for all of your help!
Hebbah

 

[parrotchute]

Hebbah,
A word of advice from a recent experience - if the LFS tries to push a "hardy" fish on you that you "definitely" need to help get your tank going, resist. The LFS I no longer go to sold me some damsels that "wouldn't cause any problems" as "perfect" first fish. They were really aggressive. Luckily they calmed down once I put my assertive tomato clownfish in, but I'm still miffed about the really bad advice my LFS gave me.

I'd reccomend trochus, turbo, and nassarius snails - they've been doing a pretty decent job for me. The cerith snails have been nothing but trouble, falling down and needing help getting up, I'm not a fan. Get an emerald crab, they seem to be good cleaners - I have 3 and I love them.

 

[Bifferwine]

I'd get a fish if I were you!

 

[undrpsi]

Hebbah,

Wow..almost exact same as you. (Especially the 'newbie' part) :)

Tank is 29g Bio-cube. Stock except for live rock instead of bioballs and protein skimmer in filter well #1. Ran it with just sand for one week and had no cycle. Took sample to LFS and all was 0 except PH was a little low (easily fixed with some PH up solution). He sold me @20 pounds of live rock and two small yellow tailed damsels. He said 'each tank is different but with the LR and 2 fish it should cycle in a few weeks'. When I put in the LR the salinity did jump up a little but 12 hours later back to 1.025 reading. He did offer 2 other kinds of 'starter fish' but said all of them, when they are introduced first, can be territorial. That's why he said to get very small ones and make sure the fish you add later are bigger. Tank has been chugging away and I am just waiting for the cycle. (See my badly taken pic below)

Good luck and welcome to the reef...

Jay