Best way to cycle a tank?

Hey Guys,

I have had some peices of raw fish in the tank for 3 days now and I have not as yet seen a spike in ammonia or in nitrates. The fish peices are nearly decomposed and there is alot of red algae starting to grow like mad on my live rock and on the substrate around it.

When will I see my ammonia and nitrate peaks so I know my tank is cycled?

 

Cyano? Do you have a picture? Do you have a phosphate test and are you using tap or RO/DI water?

 

this is why i use ammonia solution to cycle...much easier to know what is going on

*if you know whats going in, you know nothing bad needs to come out* =)

and...always remember to make sure the tank is sealed good...haha

 

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w402/Ryan_Duchatel/2012-07-13165131.jpg

Thats what it looks like.

I have a phosphate test and it reads between 0-0.25. I only use tap water as I live in rural Australia and its just not possible for me at the moment to use a decent RO/DI purifier.

I currently run a Marisys 240 series two, but soon I will be getting a sump, with a macro algae refugium and I will also add in a phosphate reactor.

Is there anything I can do before I get my sump with reactors etc?

 

Hard to tell from the picture, but I would just let things be for awhile. No sense in rushing things, even though it's difficult not to.

 

Should I chuck in more food or something like that?

 

You just let the rock and the water sit with flow through it and a heater on it and some type of light with a timer over it. The most important part: Let it sit (cycle) for 2 months or more.

 

Hey guys,

It has been more than a week now and my ammonia is still 0 and nitrates are still 0. The fish I put in there has seemed to stop dissolving. Should I add some fish food or something like that and more bacteria to get it going?

Or am I just not following the main rule of aquariums I.e. Being Patient .

 

That's odd to me. What are you using to test ammonia? What are your nitrites?

 

I am using API Ammonia and Nitrate Test Kits. I haven't tested on the tank yet, but when I can get home and test it I will post that reading.