my tank is slow to cycle?

[greg1186]

ive had my tank going for a week now.. it has 16 lbs of vanuatu live rock.. 5 lbs of live sand and i tried adding some fish food to jump start the cycle but my ammonia is still at 0.. anything else i could try besides waiting??

 

[Piratefish]

I used a raw prawn and left it in there for 3 days.

Just wait if that doesnt work it will happen. If you start adding live stock to soon you will be wasting your money. I waited 5 weeks.

 

[chrisx420]

just be patient its only been setup since saturday night

 

[MushroomXombies]

You said you added live rock an live sand? Was the rock cured already? What type of live sand? The kind that is sealed up with water and full of bacteria ?

 

[greg1186]

i believe the rock was cured... although i dont know what that means.. and no the sand was moist but no water in it... argonite live sand

 

[MushroomXombies]

Whats are you nitrites and nitrates at?

 

[SeanV76]

What were the results for all the water tests?

 

[SeanV76]

Also what fish did you add?

 

[Bifferwine]

Try adding more fish food. If it doesn't go up again, then I'd say you can add your first fish. If your live rock was cured, you may have skipped a cycle altogether.

 

[MushroomXombies]

Thats what I was thinking.

 

[MushroomXombies]

i believe the rock was cured... although i dont know what that means..

It means theres enough bacteria in the rock to keep up with a small bio load. Like adding fish food.

 

[greg1186]

ya im not sure if my tank skipped or not.. im gonna wait a lot longer just to be on the safe side though... another question... i saw this clearish looking worm thing crawling on the rock it was probally only a quarter inch long.. anyone know what that is? i understand a lot of these wierd creepy crawlies can be beneficial.. are any of them harmful? i also have an extremely small thing of hair algae.. is this good or bad? and i know i have at least one bristle worm because i saw him about an hour after i threw some fish food in the tank in hopes to get the tank cycling... ammonia is still at 0 though

 

[MushroomXombies]

Check you nitrites and nitrates too

 

[greg1186]

my ammonia is 0 my nitrites are 0 and my nitrates are very close to 0 and my PH is 8.0

salinity is 1.023

 

[MushroomXombies]

Sounds like your ready to go. You can add some more food to make sure, but if you Ammonia and Nitrites stay at 0 your ready....

 

[greg1186]

ok... so what would you reccomend adding?? there is a snai already in there whos been in there since day one... its 14 gallons and i know to go slow... so what do you reccomend? i like the skunk shrimp and peppermint shrimp... how much of what?

 

[MushroomXombies]

Thats up to you and what would be happy in your size tank. Check out Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums.. theres a lot of good info on tank inhabitants and requirements. Good luck