Tank Cycle

Nice rock work. I like the way it wraps around on each end.

I would add the salt right to the tank, since you don't have any livestock yet. I'd say a cup of salt should raise your Specific Gravity by about .002. No need to remove any water.

 

Added more sand



As suggested added more live sand (10 lbs), raised the salt level to 1.024, and also cleaned the sand off the live rock. My big question now is what's next? I measured nitrates etc and they were 0 or close too it. I did not get an ammonia test kit, but I guess that is needed to see levels. I did not cure the live rock (10lbs) out of the total 35lbs (25lb dry rock). Do I need to add an ammonia to get the cycle started? What is the common way dead shrimp, as adding the damsel seems cruel if it really hurts them. How often should I test the water daily, weekly, etc?

I did read the beginner faq, and they said use dead shrimp.

Thanks so much again for all the help!

 

Thanks for the compliment! ;D

 

It is looking very very nice. ;D

The live rock will take care of intiating the cycle especially uncycled LR.

I would measure daily until you see the ammonia spike and the value start to fall off. And then every couple days after that.

The hardest part is waiting for the cycle to finish, but patience is your friend in this hobby.

 

New Light

Got a new to me "Disco Ball" MH light! You can see the difference in the light quality in the pics! Also still chugging along in the cycle. Ammonia is on the rise 2ppm as of yesterday, but Nitrites are already maxed out (5ppm), is that normal ? I had the shrimp sitting on the rock, but it puffed up all nasty and was turning the rock black, so I moved it to a bag now (when it broke water it was the nastiest smell in the world)



NEW LIGHT!!!! ;D



OLD LIGHT


NASTY SHRIMP

 

Looks good ;D

And you should just remove the shrimp, it has more than done it's job if it is turning the rock black, you do not want a bacterial bloom.

 

Wouldn't that make the cycle stop? Doesn't it need a constant source of ammonia? I read so many articles about using shrimp to start the cycle, but none are clear on when to take it out.
Thanks!!
John

 

Nice looking fixture!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the fixture, and how much was it?

 

Nope the cycle will not stop, there is enough ammonia in your system without further decay. Once it start to fall apart and turn things black you are just asking for a bacterial bloom, and I think I may see the beginning of that in your other post.

 

Thanks so much! Will take it out as soon as I get home!
Thanks for all the insight! :2thumbsup
John