bwaller76
Love my tanks!
they look like little worms that slowly work their way around in select places on the rock
what are these?
- Thread starter bwaller76
- Start date
yote
In Memoriam
Those are peanut worms.
They feed on detritus and are great for the tank.
They feed on detritus and are great for the tank.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
+1 Yote!
bwaller76
Love my tanks!
so riddle me this...someone told me to put in a dead shrimp to help propagate the bacteria a little faster...true or false?
dcantucson
Reef pro
True! But just use a shrimp from the butcher shop.
bwaller76
Love my tanks!
how come?
dcantucson
Reef pro
Tank Cycle Instructions
Set up tank with substrate and any base rock, or uncured live rock if you are going to cure it at this time. Also hook up your heater as well. At this time, do not put cured live rock in the tank. The object is to completely cycle with no die off on live rock. Add about two or three DEAD cocktail-sized shrimp for every 50 gallons of water. The shrimp can be raw or cooked. Keep good water movement in the tank by using powerheads. Circulation is important. If you are using a canister filter/other filter with bio-media, turn that on after about three days. If you are using a protein skimmer, turn that on after 10 days. This will allow excellent decay and ensure that you effectively peak your ammonia cycle. After two weeks, the ammonia should peak and nitrites should be starting to rise. In simple terms, the ammonia converts to nitrite, and then the nitrite to nitrate. Four weeks after you start the cycle, the nitrite should be peaking, and starting to fall. You should now start picking up your nitrate readings. Nitrate is not fatal in the same ppm range like ammonia and nitrite is. However, this applies mainly to fish. Corals, for example, are far more sensitive to nitrate than are fish. However, it is desirable to keep nitrates as low as possible even in a fish-only environment. Water additions and changes generally remove your nitrates, and over time a biological filter can be built up which will break down nitrates as well. Spent gases are released through the surface exchange, which is made much more efficient by using a powerhead to break the surface. After about six weeks, you should have a completed cycle, and now is the time to introduce waste-producing organisms (fish) to maintain that cycle. Also, if you now add your cured live rock, you will not have an ammonia spike killing off beneficial life. Some begin their tank cycle with non-cured live rock, and in the process effectively "cure" the rock. However, I recommend the shrimp even in that situation as it produces an excellent amount of decay and boosts the ammonia to start the most effective cycle. One thing you do not want to experience is adding a fish to a tank you "thought" was cycled with live rock only to have another ammonia spike with potential fatal results. This would be the case particularly if the life rock you cycled with did not produce sufficient die-off to peak your initial ammonia-nitrite-nitrate cycle. On a side note, this will be when your tank smells it worse, and potentially looks its worse. You still might experience your brown diatom outbreaks and possibly at least one red-slime algae outbreak. This is all natural and no sign of poor husbandry. Your tank must "get worse" to "get better". This is why allowing sufficient time to cycle is so critical.
AS A DISCLAIMER: There are MANY ways to cycle a tank, this is just a tried and proven way to get the results of a complete cycle. There are variations on the methods described above. Some people DO cycle with live rock. There is no one "right" way to cycle, but several proven methods. This is one such method that will get your start in the hobby off in the right direction. You will learn the patience of not adding fish prematurely, and hopefully take the 6 weeks cycle time to do some informative research and general reading in the hobby. You will find that after your tank is cycled and you have spent that time reading, you will attain a secure level of comfort that you "have an idea what this is all about." This is the most important time you invest in the hobby, for it will dictate whether you nurture your passion for marine aquaria, or become frustrated with "too many problems." Again, this is not the "only" way to cycle a tank, just one of the most thorough. Too many people lose expensive livestock by rushing their start in the hobby. Patience is a virtue, and if you can't "hang on" for six weeks, it is a good indication of which way you will go in the hobby. As you gain experience, you will find that you can "instantly" set up a fully cycled tank by using water/substrate/liverock/bio-filtration from an established tank. Don't confuse this method with a brand new tank, brand new water, brand new rock, etc.
Full article: http://fishwhisperer.homestead.com/articles.html
Set up tank with substrate and any base rock, or uncured live rock if you are going to cure it at this time. Also hook up your heater as well. At this time, do not put cured live rock in the tank. The object is to completely cycle with no die off on live rock. Add about two or three DEAD cocktail-sized shrimp for every 50 gallons of water. The shrimp can be raw or cooked. Keep good water movement in the tank by using powerheads. Circulation is important. If you are using a canister filter/other filter with bio-media, turn that on after about three days. If you are using a protein skimmer, turn that on after 10 days. This will allow excellent decay and ensure that you effectively peak your ammonia cycle. After two weeks, the ammonia should peak and nitrites should be starting to rise. In simple terms, the ammonia converts to nitrite, and then the nitrite to nitrate. Four weeks after you start the cycle, the nitrite should be peaking, and starting to fall. You should now start picking up your nitrate readings. Nitrate is not fatal in the same ppm range like ammonia and nitrite is. However, this applies mainly to fish. Corals, for example, are far more sensitive to nitrate than are fish. However, it is desirable to keep nitrates as low as possible even in a fish-only environment. Water additions and changes generally remove your nitrates, and over time a biological filter can be built up which will break down nitrates as well. Spent gases are released through the surface exchange, which is made much more efficient by using a powerhead to break the surface. After about six weeks, you should have a completed cycle, and now is the time to introduce waste-producing organisms (fish) to maintain that cycle. Also, if you now add your cured live rock, you will not have an ammonia spike killing off beneficial life. Some begin their tank cycle with non-cured live rock, and in the process effectively "cure" the rock. However, I recommend the shrimp even in that situation as it produces an excellent amount of decay and boosts the ammonia to start the most effective cycle. One thing you do not want to experience is adding a fish to a tank you "thought" was cycled with live rock only to have another ammonia spike with potential fatal results. This would be the case particularly if the life rock you cycled with did not produce sufficient die-off to peak your initial ammonia-nitrite-nitrate cycle. On a side note, this will be when your tank smells it worse, and potentially looks its worse. You still might experience your brown diatom outbreaks and possibly at least one red-slime algae outbreak. This is all natural and no sign of poor husbandry. Your tank must "get worse" to "get better". This is why allowing sufficient time to cycle is so critical.
AS A DISCLAIMER: There are MANY ways to cycle a tank, this is just a tried and proven way to get the results of a complete cycle. There are variations on the methods described above. Some people DO cycle with live rock. There is no one "right" way to cycle, but several proven methods. This is one such method that will get your start in the hobby off in the right direction. You will learn the patience of not adding fish prematurely, and hopefully take the 6 weeks cycle time to do some informative research and general reading in the hobby. You will find that after your tank is cycled and you have spent that time reading, you will attain a secure level of comfort that you "have an idea what this is all about." This is the most important time you invest in the hobby, for it will dictate whether you nurture your passion for marine aquaria, or become frustrated with "too many problems." Again, this is not the "only" way to cycle a tank, just one of the most thorough. Too many people lose expensive livestock by rushing their start in the hobby. Patience is a virtue, and if you can't "hang on" for six weeks, it is a good indication of which way you will go in the hobby. As you gain experience, you will find that you can "instantly" set up a fully cycled tank by using water/substrate/liverock/bio-filtration from an established tank. Don't confuse this method with a brand new tank, brand new water, brand new rock, etc.
Full article: http://fishwhisperer.homestead.com/articles.html
bwaller76
Love my tanks!
ok well I have a small tank that I have one live rock and two lace rocks and was wondering if tossing a shrimp in with this would be beneficial...I do not have any sand or anything in this tank but if it would be beneficial I could beg and plead the wife to get some !
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
Are you planning to put sand in the tank? If so, wait until it's in there before you put the shrimp in there. The beneficial bacteria will colonize the sand rapidly. It's a good media for them to grow on.
bwaller76
Love my tanks!
well i never really thought about it...my live rock is probably going to stay in there for quite some time so perhaps its a good idea
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
If you already have live rock in there - there's no need to put a shrimp in there. The bacteria on the live rock will colonize the sand and anything else you put in there. They grow on the glass, the powerheads, overflow box --- any surface.
I'd put the sand in and then toss 1/2 cube of frozen food in there. Mysis shrimp or krill? Doesn't HAVE to be a deli shrimp. ANY organic material will do. You just need something that will rot and produce ammonia. Then the bacteria will take off and start eating and growing their population numbers.
I've even heard of people pissing in the tank to kick off the initial cycle. That would certainly work, but I don't think I want to put my hand in a tank that I peed in. I know it's gonna be full of fish pee and fish poop eventually - but there's just something WRONG about putting your hands in your own pee. :death:
I'd put the sand in and then toss 1/2 cube of frozen food in there. Mysis shrimp or krill? Doesn't HAVE to be a deli shrimp. ANY organic material will do. You just need something that will rot and produce ammonia. Then the bacteria will take off and start eating and growing their population numbers.
I've even heard of people pissing in the tank to kick off the initial cycle. That would certainly work, but I don't think I want to put my hand in a tank that I peed in. I know it's gonna be full of fish pee and fish poop eventually - but there's just something WRONG about putting your hands in your own pee. :death:
Alexander
Reef enthusiast
I used 2 uncooked shrimp from albersons butcher block when cycling my 80. It worked but I didn't leave them in there longer than a couple weeks, ended up pulling them out and hucking them after a couple weeks. It will take a really really long while to have it disappear if your missing any cleaner crew or bristleworms.
