Fishless Cycle Questions

I have a new tank that I've been cycling without any fish for about a month now.

The tank doesn't have anything in it, except for the salt water. During the first two weeks of the cycle I was putting frozen brine shrimp in there, until the Ammonia spiked (to greater then 10ppm, and has stayed there) and since then I haven't put anymore food, except for some tropical fish flakes I put in once.

In the last two weeks the ammonia has stayed the same and the nitrites really aren't doing much at all, they are less then 1 ppm.

I've also added active-bac a couple of times.

I would've thought I would start seeing more Nitrites by now. Should I still be putting more food in? Or should I just keep waiting and let it do its thing?

The pet shop said to put some Live Rock in there after a few weeks, but I'm a bit afraid it might die when we go away over Xmas due to the temperature getting too hot, what temperature can Live Rock survive up to? Would it be a good idea to put some Live Rock in there now?

Also should the tank light be on at all while the cycle is taking place?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, I would. You have to start producing the bact. that converts ammonia into nitrites and then to nitrates. What kind of filter do you have? A wet/dry, refug., algae filter, sump or a canister?

 

I've got a canister filter.

How much Live Rock would you suggest getting?

My tank is 170L

 

1lb of LR per gallon of water is a good rule of thumb. You need to get a fish in there to keep the bacteria alive. Stop using chemicals to do what mother nature will do with time. I cycled my with one and only one yellow tailed damsel and it is doing great and I never see the little guy except for feeding time.

 

I used one damsel to cycle my 75 gallon tank and saw signs of nitrites after 2 weeks. I also cycled my 20 gallon tank with fish food, but I would suggest using damsels and your tank should be ready in about 4 weeks.

 

You can also use a freshwater molly acclimated over to cycle and then when you're done can be cycled back to freshwater if you don't want damsels -- the mollies are alot easier to catch than damsels if you don't want them after the cycling process.

 

If you decide on the live rock I would not suggest you buy premium rock just yet just buy some live building rock but not the total amount this will save you a few bucks