sp1187
Junior Member
Posts: 33
|
Cycle
Jul 19, 2018 9:16:56 GMT -5
Post by sp1187 on Jul 19, 2018 9:16:56 GMT -5
Greetings,
Sunday will be the end of week 4 of cycling. My system has a total of 160/170 gallons between the DT and sump. No dry/live rock. (see my aquascape post) and 2'' of sand in the DT. Sump has a 11 1/2" square filter pad between two pieces of egg crate in chamber one (no socks). Also five MarinePure 8x8x4 Bio Blocks in chamber three. DT lighting two AquaBeam 2000: 30 Watt Reef White NP (Nature Prefect) Ultima off. No skimmer. Vecton-6: V2 600 25 Watt off. SantaMonica SURF4X UAS off. (air on) All testing at end of week with API Test Kit.
Week 1: Started on June 24 Nightly feeding 4 cubes of frozen mysis. Temp 74°
ph 8.3 ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0.5 nitrate 0
Week 2 Lighting on blue only 50% for 10 hours. UAS on 8 hours opposite of DT lights Added: 100 asterina starfish (I know... what is he thinking???) 10 spaghetti worms 10 bristle worms 10,560 pods (AlgaeBarn) Two Purple Helix, Two Pink Helix Coralline in a bottle (ARC REEF) Nightly feeding 4 cubes of frozen mysis & 2 oz. of phyto. Temp 78° ph 8.3 ammonia 0.5+ nitrite 1.0+ nitrate 0
Week 3 Lighting on blue & white. Four hour ramp up to 90%. Ten hour cycle UAS on 8 hours opposite of DT lights Added: 10 bristle worms Nightly feeding 4 cubes of frozen mysis & 2 oz. of phyto. Temp 78° ph 8.3 ammonia 3.0+ nitrite 1.5+ nitrate 0
Week 4 July 18 I came home to what appears to be a massive pod explosion. Standing back from the DT the water looks slightly cloudy from the water line to about 2/3's down. Up close it looks almost like micro bubbles, but it isn't. I turned all the pumps off to verify that. If not pods, ideas on what else it might be?
When do I stop feeding the tank mysis?
When should I change out the filter pad in the sump?
Thanks in advance. Mike
|
|
|
Cycle
Jul 19, 2018 11:29:26 GMT -5
Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 19, 2018 11:29:26 GMT -5
The cycle process should take 3-6 weeks. So, you would feed until the Ammonia and Nitrite go up, then come back down shortly after the feeding. I wonder if it's a bacteria explosion. Carl may know more about this, but I don't think his preferred method is shrimp, because of bacteria issues such as this. www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#fishlessPicture would be helpful.
|
|
sp1187
Junior Member
Posts: 33
|
Cycle
Jul 19, 2018 17:08:42 GMT -5
Post by sp1187 on Jul 19, 2018 17:08:42 GMT -5
The cycle process should take 3-6 weeks. So, you would feed until the Ammonia and Nitrite go up, then come back down shortly after the feeding. I wonder if it's a bacteria explosion. Carl may know more about this, but I don't think his preferred method is shrimp, because of bacteria issues such as this. www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#fishlessPicture would be helpful. Kinda confused by what your saying. Ammonia and Nitrite is up. So do I stop feeding? Or wait till they go down and Nitrates show up? And yea.... I had already started feeding with the frozen before I found Carl's article about not using shrimp. Can't get a good pic of the situation on my phone.
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Jul 20, 2018 9:32:27 GMT -5
I am not understanding this (especially the bristle worms): The problem with using shrimp or similar for cycling, besides not being the most effective/efficient method is it can breed saprolgnia or lead to bacterial explosions of undesirable Heterotrophs. I preferred starting a marine aquarium with seasoned live rock, but at the very least a product such as SeaChem Stability: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Seachem.html#stabilityAt this point I would cut back on adding ANYTHING to your DT (including food) Carl
|
|
|
Cycle
Jul 20, 2018 11:40:48 GMT -5
Carl likes this
Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 20, 2018 11:40:48 GMT -5
Make sure to check out the Nitrogen Cycle article. The Ammonia and Nitrites need to go up, but also come down within a day to be truly cycled, then you have a cycle. With Nitrates, yes.
|
|
sp1187
Junior Member
Posts: 33
|
Post by sp1187 on Jul 20, 2018 16:52:34 GMT -5
I stopped feeding and will be monitoring levels.
Carl, I used the shrimp because I hadn't found your article on cycling before starting.
What aren't you understanding about the bristle worms?
thanks for the replies. Mike
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Jul 21, 2018 12:14:08 GMT -5
What aren't you understanding about the bristle worms? While these are a composter, many also consider them a nuisance. These are a polychelate, of which a true bristle worm is not usually a danger, but often what passes for a generic bristle worm can be a more aggressive polychelate (such as a Fireworm). I know this is a subject that there is disagreement on, but I feel based on my experience that these are a creature best not introduced. Also, while I know that many experts claim that the true bristle worm will not attack healthy coral, my argument against this is often when we introduce new coral, it struggles to adapt to the new environment due to subtle differences in water, lighting, etc. and this can and does allow for a coral to be stressed and the bristle worms pick up these signals Carl
|
|
sp1187
Junior Member
Posts: 33
|
Post by sp1187 on Jul 22, 2018 11:57:57 GMT -5
As there is no live rock going in my tank, ever, I am able to introduce, after correct identification, different worms in to my system. I am of the belief they are a beneficial member of a CUC.
thanks. Mike
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Jul 23, 2018 8:55:09 GMT -5
As there is no live rock going in my tank, ever, I am able to introduce, after correct identification, different worms in to my system. I am of the belief they are a beneficial member of a CUC. thanks. Mike This is one of those questions/debates that there is no correct answer. I cannot argue this, however I would keep in mind that this is based on an open system, while an aquarium is a closed system As an analogy, a Parrot fish in an open system also are part of a healthy eco system, but in a closed aquarium system with corals, this may not me so Carl
|
|