# 'cycle' ammonia staying up, no nitrites???



## Heymybigfish (Jul 30, 2007)

ok, im my 55gal reef tank, the amonia ppm is at around 1 to 1.5ppm...its been there for 2 days and does not seem to be coming down....i dont know how long its supposed to take for nitrites to show up but here is my set up...i was told by a few people that my tank shold have a very short cycle...but im not in a hurry...all params are @ 0, except Ammonia which i said before was at 1-1.5ish and pH is at 8.2, salinity @ 1.022


30lbs agronite
20lbs live sand
1lb live sand from an old established tank
60lbs fully cured figi live rock from a different established tank
fluval 305 filter
coralife super skimmer (65 gallon)
200w heater (temp is at about 81)


should i add ammonia? shold i put in damsels or chromis? how soon for a cleanup crew.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

ammonia should not be added and should not have been in the first place.

Usually how this is done is u buy curing rock, not cured rock, and then it cycles ur tank while it cures. What u did was start with cured rock so it was kinda cycled to begin with, I would suspect some die off, but not much. I would have added at least one fish soon after putting all of that fully cured rock in for a source of ammonia.

Im not too sure whats going on with ur levels, but it should work out fine, just stop adding ammonia and just wait. U didn't need to add it, but now that its all in there the tank should cycle it through over time. When it is finished to around a 25% WC and add fish.

While ur waiting for this to cycle thorugh would be a good time to read up on fish and such. Find out what u want to keep and then find out what you can keep and how to do so.

Try dropping ur temp to something like 79 (noting to do w/ the cycle)


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

...get rid of the fluval


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## Heymybigfish (Jul 30, 2007)

the fluval? why so? i read some reviews on them and asked a lot of people and they said they filter nicely...and that it does not really matter on brand considering they all filter the same...just the media you put it them.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

its not that its a bad filter, its that its a filter....u don't need one on a SW tank like this. You don't really need mechanical filtration at all. Its all done with the Live rock. In fact it will keep ur nitrates higher than would be without it.

I say this, but I still run filter socks. You can run it if u feel like it is helping u somehow (i do it to keep debris out of my sump), but it has to be cleaned out about every other day.


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## Apotheosis (Jul 2, 2007)

Heymybigfish said:


> the fluval? why so? i read some reviews on them and asked a lot of people and they said they filter nicely...and that it does not really matter on brand considering they all filter the same...just the media you put it them.


It'll act as a nitrate factory.

Live rock is already very good filtration; it has anaerobic pockets that will turn nitrate into harmless N2 (nitrogen gas). You don't really even need any filtration.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

filters are fine for removing sediment, and for keeping your water very clear looking, but you have to clean it VERY GOOD, AND VERY OFTEN or it will start to do more harm than good, i wouldnt add any fish either, just give it time, if you ammonia doesnt move in a week or two, take a sample of water to the lfs and have them test it, or get a new kit, it could be faulty, you will usually see some form of cycle, no matter how "cured" the rock is, you will have die off, and that die off will rot, causeing a bit of a cycle, but not always. so just sit tight. 

adding a fish just causes a fish to get harmed, and there is no point in it, if your tank is going to go through a tough cycle, the only fish that will live through it, you dont want them in your tank


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## Heymybigfish (Jul 30, 2007)

thanks man...im waiting for all my lvls to even out...im in no rush...im excited and really want fish in there...but not at the expense of their lives...lol....anywho...i thoght the bactera grows in the filter...i wanna clean the bacteria out?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Smart move. One of the biggest factors in a failing reef tank (besides skimping on equipment and tank size) is rushing the development of your tank. Kudos.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

Heymybigfish said:


> thanks man...im waiting for all my lvls to even out...im in no rush...im excited and really want fish in there...but not at the expense of their lives...lol....anywho...i thoght the bactera grows in the filter...i wanna clean the bacteria out?


the bacteria in the filter is nothing compared to the depths of your live rock and your sand. (thats why they are so important. if you wanna keep the filter, its fine, just remove and floss and keep some activated carbon in it. change it out every couple weeks to a month, and your water will be crystal clear.


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