Super Fast Cycle?

[jhawkk2004]

I'll admit, I'm a total noob with saltwater tanks and the nitrogen cycle. I have done a fair amount of research though, and I am really frustrating myself. My question is: In a 75G tank with EXTREMELY high quality, pre-cured live rock, 3" aragonite substrate, and a built-in fuge with a 4.5" deep live sand bed, is it possible that after only a week or two that the cycle is complete? I have heard that if you use really nice live rock, the cycle may not even take place because of the bacteria base in the rock.

The rock I'm using is the best that I have ever seen for sale, and is absolutely teaming with life. I have several inverts in the tank that hitchhiked on the rock like urchins, crabs, feather dusters, copepods, worms, sponges, etc. I began testing the water after having the tank running for 4 days with 80 lbs of rock. I noted no ammonia, no nitrite, and no nitrate. The tank has been running now for two and a half weeks, and I haven't seen any spikes in ammonia or nitrite, and the nitrate MAY be a little bit more than zero ppm, but it's still damn close to zero (This is the hardest test result for me to interpret, lol).

I have had some green chromis in there now for a while to add some bio load, but I don't want to jump the gun. What does everybody think? Is it safe for me to add my clean up crew? Corals? More fish? Like I said, I don't want to jump the gun if the tank isn't ready, but having seen no spikes, I'm really confused as to what is happening, or what to do next. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Jeff :)

 

[little_fish]

You probably did skip the cycle, but for future reference, never ever cycle a tank with fish. It is needlessly cruel to kill them via ammonia poisoning. Next time toss in a piece of table shrimp and let that rot to start the cycle.

But if you already have a fish in there, i would wait another week or two before adding any other fish. You need to wait a minimum of three weeks between adding fish to allow the bacteria to catch up to the new bioload.

But if your lights are fine and your water sounds good it fine to try a few easy corals. I would look into zoas, mushrooms and leathers. Those are awesome beginner corals.

It also sounds like a good time to add your CUC. The best place to get them is reefcleaners.org. You can build your own or they have premade ones. Plus you usually get extras and they have the best customer service.

I would wait before adding the more fancy inverts like starfish (wait like 8 months, they need mature systems to survive long term) or urchins.

Remember, research first and then purchase. We see more problems on here because people impulse buy and then have a huge disaster than almost anything else.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, you can skip a cycle if you already have a lot of bacteria in the sand and/or rock.

How many chromis do you have in there already? Do you plan on keeping them? You should limit the tank to about 8 fish total, and leave about 3 weeks in between fish additions. You are good to add a clean up crew and corals any time you want (provided you have the correct lighting for corals).

It sounds like you are ready to go. :)

 

[jhawkk2004]

little_fish, the only reason I added the fish was because I had a feeling the cycle was complete, and one of my friends who has been doing this for years agreed. I didn't have the fish in there for the first two weeks when I was actually trying to cycle the tank. I did use a shrimp as per recommendations, but didn't see any spikes, so I removed it because it was starting to smell a bit odd. I'm all about trying to keep the fish healthy :)

Bifferwine, I have a group of 3 chromis in there. I really do enjoy them, so I think I'll most likely keep them. If they get too territorial (which I have heard was a problem with them), I can take them to a local marine rescue center that I have built a relationship with recently.

Thank you both for the quick responses :) It's great to know I can get started...I'm so excited now!! :D

 

[little_fish]

Im glad you didnt put them in there right away, many people do and have no idea what they are doing. Glad you are not one of those people.

 

[Dana42078]

my cycle lasted 2 weeks...even less in my mantis tank...Gl with you tank.