First tank cycle help

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cichlid_king

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 14, 2011
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Fond du lac, Wisconsin
So the tank has been going for about a month now and my ammonia is at 0 but my nitrites are well above 5.0ppm and my nitrates are at about 80ppm. Yesterday when i woke up i started to see diatoms and the sand rocks and glass. Is it normal to have such high readings when the diatoms come? How much longer do you think it will take to finish the cycle? Also what should i get for a CUC? I have 10 hermit crabs already

SG: 1.024
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:<5.0
Nitrate:about 80ppm
 
Does seem high. What did you seed the tank with? Have you done any small water changes?

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You could add a vial or 2 of prodibio biodigest, that should help with the nitrites/nitrates. As for clean up crew, i would recommend a few turbo's or astrea snails..
 
I used the decaying prawn method. When the ammonia got down to 0 I took them out. I do a 15 to 20% wc every Wednesday. I also put 5lbs of cured live rock in the tank from my LFS. Would prime work to lower them? Or should I just let it run its course without any chemicals?

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no need for chemicals. Do a massive water change when the cycle is complete. High nitrates will not affect your bacteria. For CUC i recommend Reefcleaners.org. They are very cheap and always give you extra. Aslo dont get your CUC until your cycle is done hermits and snails dont tolerate nitrite, and high levels of nitrate.
 
yzf450motoxrider said:
no need for chemicals. Do a massive water change when the cycle is complete. High nitrates will not affect your bacteria. For CUC i recommend Reefcleaners.org. They are very cheap and always give you extra. Aslo dont get your CUC until your cycle is done hermits and snails dont tolerate nitrite, and high levels of nitrate.
Click to expand...

X2 - W/C when Nitrite is zero and Nitrate 40 ppm - the intial cycling can take awhile, mine took 6 weeks for zero Nitrite and 3 more weeks for 40ppm of nitrate - kinda sucked looking at rocks for 2 months but in the long run it's worth it.

The Diatoms are a good thing early on - they help get rid of Silicates, Phosphates, and Nitrates. Once the silicates are gone the diatoms should disappear on thier own - it's called "New Tank Syndrome."
 
Otherone said:
X2 - W/C when Nitrite is zero and Nitrate 40 ppm - the intial cycling can take awhile, mine took 6 weeks for zero Nitrite and 3 more weeks for 40ppm of nitrate - kinda sucked looking at rocks for 2 months but in the long run it's worth it.

The Diatoms are a good thing early on - they help get rid of Silicates, Phosphates, and Nitrates. Once the silicates are gone the diatoms should disappear on thier own - it's called "New Tank Syndrome."
Click to expand...

X3
:D
 
How long does it usually take for the diatoms to take over your tank? Its been 3 days now and I just have some spots on the rock and sand. I thought diatoms take over your tank quickly. Or does that just mean I have a low amount of silicates and phosphate. I also had a hitchiker pop out of the 5lbs of live rock that I bought from my LFS. Its a porcelain crab which I'm pretty excited about

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Also, should I have my skimmer running? And should I have the lights on or off?

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I left my lights off during cycle.

You only need the lights on full time if your growing coral, or have something in the tank that needs light for survival. Which you do not in this case.

And yes, if the skimmer is new, leave it on to break it in.
 
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