Nitrogen Cycle

[sam_always]

Hi all,

My new tank is on the first week of cycling. my both canister filter and skimmer are turning on . Just bought NH3 test kit yesterday and found that my amonia level is 0 mg/l. It should be alot amonia on the first week of cycling, right? should i turn off my canister filter and skimmer off during cycling? pleaes help

[weileong]

you should not run your skimmer during cycling.

[Kalib]

The skimmer should be off and the canister should be running.

Also, check if the NH3 testkit is faulty(I used a faulty NO2 testkit once and got no NO2 reading at all). I think posting what you did would be good to see if anything has been done wrong hence resulting in no NH3 being produced.

[sam_always]

thanks... I am setting up a 1 ft tank now with only one canister running. Just turn off my skimmer. The light remain on. I have 2 inches sand bed and 3 kilo LR. Just check my amonia level, still none. Does it mean my tank is cycled? BTW i got one goldtail damsel inside and feeding it once aday. My pH is 8.6 at the morning and 8 on the evening.

[Virus]

BTW i got one goldtail damsel inside and feeding it once aday.

hehehe i think you're goona ssend some member here grumbling when you're cycling your tank with a LIVE fish inside.

[jc85]

May the force be wif the poor fish. Seriously, its not a good idea cycling you tank wif a Live fish especially your is only a ft.

[tigershark]

save the electricity, turn off your light, you dun need any light during cyclying proccess...

[alanseah]

haiyo..

u going to stress the fish and u going to take longer for the cycling....

u can add shrimp but not fish wa...

somemore yours only 1 ft... very challeging tasks...

for your case u do need to have a water change twice every month to manage the tank.. just a 10% water change will do...

r u going to keep coral..??

dont add too many fish and coral or else your 1 ft sure crash one...

[sam_always]

I know it is not good to add fish while cycling . but my mom say can not have fish tank without fish... pantang ma... so just bought a very hardy damsel lo... hope it will be fine. i observe it everyday, till now it looks ok. anyway i am not hurry on it.... I think it should be cycled after CNY. i will only put 2 more clown fish after that.

Actually i want to use this 1ft tank to prove to my wife that i can manage marine fish. She will only approve my 4 ft project if my 1ft tank success. Hai...........

Intend to keep one anemone and a seafan.

[Tanzy]

Using a 1' to prove that you can keep marine fish is going to be difficult. I suggest that you had better convince her within 3 months of cycling completion or everything will go down the drain from there. The bigger the tank, the more stable the water conditions will be and the easier to manage.

[iangan]

Pantang is wat?

[alanseah]

yup.. agree... with little amount of water.. it's must more difficult...

dont go for anemone and a seafan

cause u going to loss...

go for bubble and mushroom...

as they r easier to keep and dont need so much light...

as anemone and a seafan need feeding and it's going to be a very very difficult task to keep them in such a small tank and somemore u r new to this hobby...

[weileong]

Pantang is wat?

superstitious

[blacknails]

Ya if you wanna prove to your wife then cheat a little and keep all the super super hardy fishes and inverts... And after awhile when nuthin in your tank dies then go on to start your 4ft tank project... Oh... BTW, you do know that you have to remove your damsel if you wanna add other fishes right? Their dominant nature n all?

[sam_always]

ok.... like that huh.... i will put 2 more damsel once my tank is cycled. Then put some mushroom. Then can start 4ft project few months later loh ... hahaha

[sam_always]

BTW... just check my amonia level again, still 0 mg/l. I have turn of my light and skimmer and only hang on dophin is running. Any comment on this? I am going to get the nitrate test kit tomorrow and see how.

[happystar]

I cycle my tank with SUmp, LR (3KG) and Sand bed 3", and put market prawn inside, after one week test amonia at light green colour level, will put more LR in future, very costly to set up a marine tank , my main tank size is 2 2x 2ft with 2x1x1.5ft sump, already spend S$1000, (with second hand 1/4 chiller) ,now no $$$ liao, very poor.......ya, I DIY PL-L light...

Just wonder for such a tank size how much you all spend??

[sam_always]

< than S$200... No money ma... cut cost....

7th day of cycling.... amonia still 0 mg/l.... pH 8.0... sign.... dont know what happen to my tank. can anyone help?

[Dazza]

well ammonia zero is always gd, how abt nitrite?

[ryz]

Don't ever cycle your tank with any livestock in it! Most Luvestock cannot tolerate high levels of ammonia or nitrite! even if you have hardy fishes live damsels, they will still be put under a lot of stress and quite definietly die! Invertebrates are even more sensitive to Ammonia and Nitrite so dun add Livestock without first cycling your tank. But If your mother is pantang and want to have some fish in the tank, then get ready for some deaths. However your tank do not seem to be cycling. Do you have enough LR in the tank? Are your LRs cured? Are you using LRs? or some other base rock?(granite? etc?) Add some nitrifying bacteria that you can get in bottles in any LFS to kick start the process. and since you already have fish in there, you should have some bioload. But it would still be good to throw in some fish food or whatever for the bacteria to break down as food. Even if your LRs were cured, you still will get some die off. Wonder why there is no Ammonia sspike. What life have you seen in your LR?? Maybe you're one off case where there is no die off. then good for you.

[sam_always]

Hi,

I got 2 inches coral sand and 3 kilo cured LR. I rinsed my LR with tap water b4 putting it to my tank. Same for my coral sand. Saw some worm a few days later. It's still alive but i threw it out. 9th days of cycling, amonia 0 again and ph 8.0. No nitrite test kit... will buy it soon...

[ryz]

ok sounds good. so little LR. monitor ammonia nitrite and nitrate for another week or so and if they are stable you are fine,.

[sam_always]

16th day of cycling. Amonia level still 0 mg/l and PH 8. Still havent buy the nitrate test kit. attached pic is my tank, 3 kg LR, 2 inch coral sand. 1 hang-on filiter (on) and 1 cheapo skimmer (off).

[sam_always]

What is the green thing on my lock? is it an alga? is it good or bad? should i remove it?

[sam_always]

What is the green thing on my lock? is it an alga? is it good or bad? should i remove it?