Is my cycle finished?

[BlueTerror]

Today is Day 16. Ammonia and Nitrites tested negative or at most low yesterday. Nitrates at non detectable according to my JBL test kit.

Same results today. The tank has had its ammonia n nitrite peaks. Is my cycle completed?

Water has tiny hair particles. This is really getting on my nerves. I also see some hair algae, like white hair on the rocks. There are also some brownish dirt on the rock, which scatter when i shake the rock.

Will this end?

When can i add my live stock in? Should i add some of those green algae they sell to export the nutrients?

I have attached a pic of the tiny particles, its the clearest i can get. It

Tiny hair particles (Hair Algae?)

[EbiTank]

hi, the brown dirt usually come with the LR. probably no harm, if you find it an eyesore, just vacumn that area when you do water change.

if you really cannot tahan, i think can put in ONE hardy fish. I added my first fish also after abt 15 days. but i had 15 kgs of LR in a 15 gallon tank, and that probably also expedited the process. but once you have fish, pls start to put in the skimmer.

[Tanzy]

I think you can start stocking slowly. Good luck.

[Achilles Tang]

Does the tiny hair-like particles settle when you turn off the water circulation?

Or do you see movement? It may be some kind of zooplankton (unlikely though)... could be a bacteria bloom. Could be just suspended detritus or even dead hair algae.

You could do a small water change or filter the water with wool to remove them.

If the ammonia and nitrite peaks are gone... and nitrate is zero... your tank has cycled. Stock slowly just in case you get ammonia spikes... give the respective bacteria time to adjust to the dissolved waste nutrients added.

Check other parameters like PH, alk, phosphate and calcium to ensure that your LR, new corals will be ok... you may prefer growing coraline algae rather than hair algae if your phosphates are high!

Good luck!

AT

[BlueTerror]

I have about 11.5 kg in a 15 gallon.

About those tiny hair particles, they come in all differerent sizes. They are not really moving but i can see them curl up every now and then. Are they alive? I think i will get a thick filter fool for my HOB filter.

Don't think a fish can survive in such water though, gotta clear it up first.

[BlueTerror]

They look more like those white worms you see in dirty freshwater tanks.

[clowntrigger]

They look more like those white worms you see in dirty freshwater tanks.

are these white worm sticking on the glass? If yes, just leave it there or use a algae cleaner and clean it. When I first setup my tank, i have lots of these sticking on the glass, after sometime, it just goes away.

[dodo]

excuse me...is tat a heater in you tank?

[Tanzy]

Ya, he has a heater in his tank.

[dodo]

confusing...do we marinist need a heater? unless the water temp is 10-20 degress ?

[Tanzy]

If the tank is 24/7 in an air-con room, the water temperature can drop below 25 at night and early morning before the lights come on.

I think Blueterror is the best person the answer.

[BlueTerror]

are these white worm sticking on the glass? If yes, just leave it there or use a algae cleaner and clean it. When I first setup my tank, i have lots of these sticking on the glass, after sometime, it just goes away.

The worms are not sticking on the tank glass. I see some white bugs crawling on the front glass though. These worms are riding on the current and suspended in the water. Pretty gross looking.

Yes that is a heater, my room is in aircon. Fish only tank.

[dodo]

lucky guy you...living in a air-con room...air-con on for 24hrs?

if there isn't any heater, do you have any idea wat's your temp?(jus curious)

[BlueTerror]

i think its about 28-29 celsius without aircon.

with aircon + heater i maintain about 26-27 celsius

without heater, it has gone down to mayb 22-24 celsius depending on my aircon settings.

fluctuation is about 3 celsius at most a day if i do turn the aircon off.

I observe that temperature drops are quite gradual over a few hours.

Aniway these few days sometimes i turn off the airconditioning, don't think it affects my tank much. There is this mushroom coral that came with my LR and survive the cycle, it seems pretty ok. anyway i don't plan on stocking much corals in this tank so i think temperature not really an issue.

btw why do i not detect any nitrates? Where have they gone to?

I don't have a DSB, only maybe 1-2 inch of sand

[clowntrigger]

The worms are not sticking on the tank glass. I see some white bugs crawling on the front glass though. These worms are riding on the current and suspended in the water. Pretty gross looking.

Yes that is a heater, my room is in aircon. Fish only tank.

those bug crawling are pods, good for the tank.... As for your Nitrate, what test kit are you using? What kind of filtration are you using? There should be some trace of NO3 at the end of the cycle, if I am not wrong..

[bawater]

once u add fish & start stocking , all those bugs will be gone.

Those on the glass most probably amphipods/copepods/tintinnids- no worries,in fact very desired. The worms sort of thing could be- ciliates or other protozoans,also no a big worry except for viewing pleasures. All of them would have been hitchikers of the LR.

u could start stocking with very low levels- maybe a single fish at first.

[BlueTerror]

I using JBL test kit. I tested it on my freshwater tanks and its pretty accurate. *shrugs* i tested ammonia and nitrites today again and both were nil.

Anyway i bought this algae today. The guy told me its just RED ALGAE.

Couldn't find it in books or forums but it couldn't be too harmful to my tank right? I like how it looks.

Anyway wat is the greenish plant in the middle?

[newdamsel]

I got a few strands of that red algae too... its seems very hardy, a few strands is stuck beneath a pile of bryopsis for weeks.. but its still red... name? i dunno.. but the bt timah lfs aunite says its called bamboo...

i think the green algae is bryopsis..