help!!!, saltwater started cycling !!!?

Question

i have a 20 gallons tank with crust coral,and 3 fish as 3-stripe damsels.reading are 1.023, ph7.8, temp 80. i want to know how often do i test my water while cycling, also when i added the fish i aslo added with its own water from the fish store, things look ok. but its ok? i m scared that after done cycling,levels of cycling could come back.

Answer 1

As with freshwater aquariums, fishless cycling is best (although the pure ammonia method is not safe if used in conjunction with live rock).

I would add some seasoned (cured) lived rock to get your tank going with necessary aerobic bacteria needed for ammonia/nitrite removal. You can also add filter media from an established aquarium to aid this process as well.
The water from your fish is a poor source of aerobic bacteria as these bacteria secrete a glue like substance to adhere to surfaces and are not found in any useful quantities in the water column. Adding water from your new fish is more likely to transport disease pathogens.

Also your pH is too low (8.2 is better) and I am guessing that your alkalinity is low too (it should be above 250 ppm).
I recommend a slightly hyposalinity reading of 1.019- 1.021 in specific gravity for parasitic disease prevention as well.

Please read this article about Aquarium cycling for more good information:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

And please read this article for more general saltwater basics:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Saltwater.html

Answer 2

Once the cycling is done, the only reasons for it to reappear are adding new organisms or death of a fish (added source of ammonia), or use of antibiotic medications in the tank (the antibiotics aren't choosy - they'll kill "good" bacteria along with the "bad"). Apart from the medication, the others should be "minor" fluctuations as you'll already have bacteria in the tank, they may just need a day or so of additional reproduction to get their numbers up to a level where they can handle the additional ammonia load. Just keep the fish healthy (if one should die, remove it as soon as you notice), add new fish one at a time and wait at least a week between additions (the exception would be if you were to return the damsels and add a species like clownfish, which you may want to add as a pair, but you should only get relatively small fish to add).

It's never a good idea to add water from the bag to your tank - if there are problems at the store (parasites, disease, algae, cyanobacteria) you could be adding these to your tank as well as the fish. It's best to use a quarantine for a few weeks, but most people don't do this - then they add one new fish/invert that has a problem which could wipe out the rest of their tank. A spare 10 gallon with heater and filter is a lot cheaper than a tankfull of expensive fish and live rock! At the very least, you should put the fish in a clean bucket (tip it if necessary so the fish has enough room to swim), then slowly add water from your tank to acclimate your fish - then, when the water is at least 75% water from your tank, net the fish and put it in the tank. This dilutes the store water so anything in it is less likely to enter your tank, and can be considered part of a water change in your tank for the week. See the section on drip acclimation in this link: http://www.fishlore.com/acclimating-tropicalfish.htm

Apart from these, I note that your pH is on the low side for a saltwater tank. It should be up around the 8.2-8.4 range. This may become a problem for organisms in your tank. I also have a pH that would sit around that level without adjustment. I found that adding kalkwasser would be the only thing that would bring it up to the proper levels. It's not necessary to use a store bought system - you can use the same drip acclimation to add the kalkwasser VERY SLOWLY to bring the pH up, or just use a medicine dropper to add some mixed solution to the tank 1-2 times a day. Without this, your corals, coraline algae, and other inverts especially will suffer from the lower pH.

Answer 3

i tested mine once a week. it took around 2-3 months for the nitrates to even read.
its not that good of an idea to take and put water from the fish store into your tank either. you can spread disease that way.

you really need some live rock. i would say 20-25lbs or so. you can get some base rock for cheaper and put the live rock around it (around 5.99-7.99 per lbs) and it will eventually become live.
the live rock will help with the cycling. and help with the bioload., also it will help bring up your Ph.

add about 2-3 lbs or the live rock per week. adding too much will make your tank cycle too fast and hurt the bioload and probably kill the fish.

you need your ph to be at least 8.0, but 8.3 is ideal.

you will see ammonia, then nitrites, and then once they are at 0 you will see nitrates and that is when you do your water changes when they get above 20 ppm.

as long as you dont add a lot more fish at a time or live rock your tank will not cycle again. also as long as you dont remove too much water during a water change.

i have a ten gallon tank with 2 clownfish, 3 snails, 4 hermit crabs, one feather duster, and about 13 lbs of live rock and 20lbs or live sand. i only had to do one water change when my tank was cycling, when my ammonia first spiked. my nitrates have read 10 ppm topps so far but every other week it is back down to zero. the live rock helps a lot.

hope this helps

John A

Answer 4

Wow, you jumped into the saltwater thing huh?! Well, you should have cycled the tank with live rock instead of fish. Are you referring to crushed coral above? meaning substrate? 20 gallon saltwater will be pretty hard to keep up with, the larger the tank the easier, however, more expensive as well.

Check your parameters once a day and do water changes as needed. Once the tank is cycled, the only reason for the parameters to go aray is if something dies or something is brought into the tank. After the cycleing, check the parameters once a week. I do mine on Saturdays.

You should be fine.

Answer 5

yes you need to check your tank daily while it is cycling. also during the cycling process you need to do a 25% water change because ammoina goes thru the roof. ammonia and nitrate must be checked daily you may have to due upto 50% water changes to keep your ammonia levels down. the water you added won't affect your cycle. the cycling proccess has to with the bacteria that devolpe to break down ammonia and nitrates. you can find alot of good articles on the net about cycling your tank and what to expect