Cloudy Water during Cycling

[Macateer]

Dear friends,

Threw in my prawns to start the cycling process.

Dosed one portion of the biodigest and bioptim.

Added a small sachet of rowaphos and inserted a bag of ceramic rings in my sump.

Refugium in sump started a few days back which includes cured live rocks and a small portion of chaeto.

And lastly, pump, skimmer and chiller running at 28 degrees.

Are there any problem with my current cycling strategy?

[tuajia]

Sounds good to me, you did way more than me when I started. I just the in a bunch of rocks plus a few food pellets to start the cycle. Lol

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[dinGdinG]

Dear friends,

Threw in my prawns to start the cycling process.

Dosed one portion of the biodigest and bioptim.

Added a small sachet of rowaphos and inserted a bag of ceramic rings in my sump.

Refugium in sump started a few days back which includes cured live rocks and a small portion of chaeto.

And lastly, pump, skimmer and chiller running at 28 degrees.

Are there any problem with my current cycling strategy?

I always thought the prawn method is abit too much, if your intention is to get higher readings of ammonia and nitrite, perhaps a little bit of fish pellets in the filter sock or on the filter sponge will do just fine.. If the prawns release too much nutrients that your bacteria cant cope then perhaps your rocks might leach a certain percent of the nutrients, that's going to an issue for u in the coming months with algae coming along..

i don't think you should be running your skimmer for the first two weeks at least also. Because you might be skimming away the bacteria that you are dosing.. Not necessary for your chiller to be running as well during cycling bro  hope it helps

[JMW]

One letter stuck out when I read your post: prawnS 

How many you put sia, & how big is your tank? Usually half-prawn is alot already

 

[Macateer]

I always thought the prawn method is abit too much, if your intention is to get higher readings of ammonia and nitrite, perhaps a little bit of fish pellets in the filter sock or on the filter sponge will do just fine.. If the prawns release too much nutrients that your bacteria cant cope then perhaps your rocks might leach a certain percent of the nutrients, that's going to an issue for u in the coming months with algae coming along..

i don't think you should be running your skimmer for the first two weeks at least also. Because you might be skimming away the bacteria that you are dosing.. Not necessary for your chiller to be running as well during cycling bro  hope it helps

ok ok got it! Some said skimmer has no impact. For the chiller, it is connected to my return pump so no choice it has to be on. Should not be an issue right? Thanks

[Macateer]

One letter stuck out when I read your post: prawnS 

How many you put sia, & how big is your tank? Usually half-prawn is alot already

 

i cut up 1 prawn into 2 halves. One half i drop into main tank and the other into the sump. I wrap them in media bag worried that it will mess up while decomposition takes place.

[dinGdinG]

Skimmer does skim away some bacteria, like most of the bacteria we have will have instructions to turn off skimmer for a few hours.

You mean your chiller inlet is tee off from your return pump? But even so, u can still power off your chiller right? No issues also but just to save electricity la hahaha

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[Macateer]

My tank is 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 FT

160 litres.

Sump is around 80 litres

[Macateer]

Skimmer does skim away some bacteria, like most of the bacteria we have will have instructions to turn off skimmer for a few hours.

 

You mean your chiller inlet is tee off from your return pump? But even so, u can still power off your chiller right? No issues also but just to save electricity la hahaha

 

 

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ok got it! Thanks a million

[Macateer]

Btw the cloudy issue will subside with time right? Can smell the stinky smell from the water on the second day already.

[Macateer]

Sounds good to me, you did way more than me when I started. I just the in a bunch of rocks plus a few food pellets to start the cycle. Lol

 

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thanks bro <thumps up>

[Macateer]

Sounds good to me, you did way more than me when I started. I just the in a bunch of rocks plus a few food pellets to start the cycle. Lol

 

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thanks bro <thumps up>

[dinGdinG]

Btw the cloudy issue will subside with time right? Can smell the stinky smell from the water on the second day already.

Yes it will subside over a few days or so. In fact first two weeks u can dose bacteria daily, like brightwell microbacter7 is a good choice.

Did u use nsw or salt mix for cycling? I'm assuming u used nsw?

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[josephwzr]

Stinky smell is normal. Don't worry about it.

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[Guest]

Active carbon help me remove

the smell Off

[Macateer]

 

Yes it will subside over a few days or so. In fact first two weeks u can dose bacteria daily, like brightwell microbacter7 is a good choice.

 

Did u use nsw or salt mix for cycling? I'm assuming u used nsw?

 

 

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Thanks for your reply bro

I am using biodigest and biotimp combo and the recommended dosage is once every 15 days

I am using my own RODI water with red sea pro saltmix and my salinity checked at 1.023

Edited December 14, 2015 by Macateer

[Macateer]

Stinky smell is normal. Don't worry about it.

 

 

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Roger bro

[Macateer]

Btw gurus, when is a good time to check on my ammonia and nitrite readings?

1st week, 2nd week? thanks in advance

[dinGdinG]

Thanks for your reply bro

I am using biodigest and biotimp combo and the recommended dosage is once every 15 days

I am using my own RODI water with red sea pro saltmix and my salinity checked at 1.023

If you are just using prodibio, you should have used the recommended prodibio start up for your cycling and resume biodigest and biotim combo after which. 

http://www.prodibio.com/start-quickly-cycle-tank-aquarium-water-bacteria-biological-filtration

The start up kit claims to be able to add livestock after 12 hours but i will still cycle the tank for at least a month, with the dosing of biodigest and biotim. 

[Macateer]

If you are just using prodibio, you should have used the recommended prodibio start up for your cycling and resume biodigest and biotim combo after which. 

http://www.prodibio.com/start-quickly-cycle-tank-aquarium-water-bacteria-biological-filtration

The start up kit claims to be able to add livestock after 12 hours but i will still cycle the tank for at least a month, with the dosing of biodigest and biotim. 

Will it be too late to dose that now? I only started the cycling on Saturday. Thanks!

[Macateer]

Actually i will still be following the protocol of 1 mth cycling period. The biodigest and biotimp was intended to facilitate in adding the "right" bacteria into my tank.

The biostartup step i should be able to ignore/skip right? btw i won't be adding any livestock so soon. do not wish to torture them unnecessarily.

[dinGdinG]

Actually i will still be following the protocol of 1 mth cycling period. The biodigest and biotimp was intended to facilitate in adding the "right" bacteria into my tank.

The biostartup step i should be able to ignore/skip right? btw i won't be adding any livestock so soon. do not wish to torture them unnecessarily.

If i rem correctly, the startup kit is a combination of biodigest and biotim but it has an accelerated dosing recommendation. 

But its good you have decided to stick to the one month period although i also feel that the cycle can be completed much earlier nowadays with the better range of products in the market now. 

It'll be better if u can consider adding livestock that takes care of the algae issues you will be facing first, add an easy fish then followed by an easy coral like mushrooms, zoas etc.. 

[Macateer]

If i rem correctly, the startup kit is a combination of biodigest and biotim but it has an accelerated dosing recommendation. 

But its good you have decided to stick to the one month period although i also feel that the cycle can be completed much earlier nowadays with the better range of products in the market now. 

It'll be better if u can consider adding livestock that takes care of the algae issues you will be facing first, add an easy fish then followed by an easy coral like mushrooms, zoas etc.. 

Thanks for the advice bro  and sorry for these questions

Any fishes or clean-up crew to recommend for a 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 FT tank to counter the algae issue in due course?

And for my refugium, would you recommend any livestock inside?

My plan is to have a pair of clowns and 1 more fish (not decided yet). And this is when everything is fine and dandy!

[dinGdinG]

Thanks for the advice bro  and sorry for these questions

Any fishes or clean-up crew to recommend for a 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 FT tank to counter the algae issue in due course?

And for my refugium, would you recommend any livestock inside?

My plan is to have a pair of clowns and 1 more fish (not decided yet). And this is when everything is fine and dandy!

best to leave you refugium free of livestock in the beginning, let your macro algae grow well first, troublesome to spend time monitoring livestock for dt and refugium at the same time too.

a pair of clownfish is a good start.. easiest fish to start with. Clean up crew, u can try sand star (they shift around the sand bed, helps to keep sand bed sparkling) and nassarius snails (finishes up any food that lands on your sand bed) for your sand army, algae on rocks you can try turbo snails, tux urchin (they eat coraline algae too but to me, they are the best), seahare works best for hair algae (but not recommended very very new set ups as they are quite sensitive) All these u can get easily at ah beng

 

[Macateer]

best to leave you refugium free of livestock in the beginning, let your macro algae grow well first, troublesome to spend time monitoring livestock for dt and refugium at the same time too.

a pair of clownfish is a good start.. easiest fish to start with. Clean up crew, u can try sand star (they shift around the sand bed, helps to keep sand bed sparkling) and nassarius snails (finishes up any food that lands on your sand bed) for your sand army, algae on rocks you can try turbo snails, tux urchin (they eat coraline algae too but to me, they are the best), seahare works best for hair algae (but not recommended very very new set ups as they are quite sensitive) All these u can get easily at ah beng

 

Got it bro! Thank you so much for sharing

Gonna check these livestocks over the weekend and research abit on them at the mean time.

Once again a big thank you and god bless!