Did It Cycle?

[Sonic99]

Tell me what you guys think please. I restarted my tank recently. Here is my daily log.



10/22/07
aquascaped dead sand and probably mostly dead rock (30LBS). Added 17 gallons of fresh saltwater from brians fish world. Bought 100w Aqueon submersible heater and API master saltwater test kit. Also added new filter pads.

10/23/07
Tested water in the morning...
PH=7.9
AMMONIA=0
NITRITE=0
NITRATE=0
TEMP=79
SG=1.022

Added cocktail shrimp

10/24/07
added 11lbs of LR from 6th st aquarium in SF. Added PH buffer and purple up. Took the shrimp out. Tested the water.
PH=8.2 +
AMMONIA=.25 +
NITRITE=0
NITRATE=0
TEMP=79
SG=1.022

10/25/07
tested water
PH=7.8 -
AMMONIA=.5 +
NITRITE=0
NITRATE=0
TEMP=79
SG=1.022

added purple up and ph buffer.

10/26/07
tested water
PH=7.8
AMMONIA=.5
NITRITE=.25 +
NITRATE=10 +
TEMP=79
SG=1.023 +

added purple up

10/27/07
tested water
PH=8.2 +
AMMONIA =0
NITRITE= 0 -
NITRATE= 0 -
TEMP=79
SG=1.023




The water seems good. Of course Ill wait at least a few days to make sure they stay that way. But could my tank really have cycled so fast or is this typical to see this happen and then see the amonia/nitrites/nitrates return?
(and NO im not going to use the PURPLE UP anymore lol)

Thanks!
-Ryan

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, sounds about right

 

[AK77]

The time taken for a FOWLR tank to cycle all depends on the amount of die back of organic material on the live rock and re-establishing of bacteria. If you purchase the rock locally and its only out of the water for 30-40 mins or so, the dieback will be minimal and you could probably find the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels at 0 the following day in your tank.

If you have the rock shipped over night or over the course of a few days in the US possibly, then the level of dieback will be significantly higher, as any life on the rock will begin to die and the bacteria too.

Once a tank is cycled you should not see an increase of ammonia or nitrites until you start adding livestock, where ammonia is excreted by fish etc. However the nitrifying bacteria in the rocks gets to work on this so quickly that it doesn't even register on test kits. If your tank is heavily overstocked or stocked too fast, or a fish dies and remains undetected for a few days, then you will most likely get an ammonia & nitrite spike.

Spikes like these can affect other tank inhabitants and if high enough will kill them also, resulting essentially in a crash. Obviously the more LR you have and the larger the volume of water, the harder (in theory) it should be for the tank to crash. In my 180L (3ft) tank, I have over 30kg of LR and a 2ft sump in the cabinet below - lots of rock and increased water volume. I've lost a few fish in there, never to be seen again, but never got an ammonia spike.