Cycling Question. Is this too good to be true??

Scavenger · #1 12-18-2003, 05:17 PM

Well 8 days ago I put water and a cocktail shrimp that had sat dry in bucket for 2 days into my 20 gallon nano. The ammonia peaked on day 3 and the nitrates appeared. Yesterday, I noticed the nitrates had fallen from the previous day which peaked around 0.8 mg/l, so I threw in the first live rock and 3 hermits. Today I just tested and the nitrates are almost non existant. I have had fast cycles before in FW tanks but only when seeding filter media. My question is: is this too good to true? Did I somehow screw up? I don't have a nitrate kit yet ( I wasn't expecting to need it so soon) I'm hesitant to start adding any fish or delicate livestock in case the test results don't reflect the truth.

Aquattro · #2 12-18-2003, 05:24 PM

Ken, cured live rock is like an instant filter. And if you just had an empty tank of water with a shrimp, it wouldn't be a lot anyway. If you have LR and no NH3 or NO2, you're fine.

Scavenger · #3 12-18-2003, 05:31 PM

Thanks Brad, I had some (dead) sand in the tank and I knew the LR would have bacteria, I just thought that was too fast. But given your input, I guess a trip to the LFS is in order today!! Some more rock and a royal gramma may be on the menu!! Thanks again.

Jason McK · #4 12-18-2003, 05:32 PM

Usually you would cycle the tank with Live Rock and sand. This could be why it only took a short time.
The LR you purchased will cycle again. If you bought it as Cured LR the cycle will be very short. But I would feed the tank again and maybe get the Hermits out of there as you will see another spike

J

Aquattro · #5 12-18-2003, 05:35 PM

If the LR is cured from the LFS and you don't live far, it won't cycle again. And hermits are more than capable of handling a bit of a spike. Hermits are often used in cycling a tank.

Scavenger · #6 12-18-2003, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reef_raf

If the LR is cured from the LFS and you don't live far, it won't cycle again. And hermits are more than capable of handling a bit of a spike. Hermits are often used in cycling a tank.

Live Rock from store tank to my tank 15-20 minutes in watered bag. I don't think there was any die off. In fact the few baby feather dusters on the rock seem to extend more often in their new home though I fear for them as I understand they need an established aquarium to survive. I thought hermits would be a good idea to add incase any shrimp "debris" was still in the tank and I heard they were tough.

Aquattro · #7 12-18-2003, 05:49 PM

Ken, your plan seems sound, and the rock will be fine for that distance and time if kept wet. Good luck! I would get the rock setup first though, before adding a fish. Just so the tinkering you'll do doesn't stress it

Old Guy · #8 12-18-2003, 06:47 PM

I'm with Brad. No problem for the rock but I would wait even a week or more to add a fish. Much better chance for a gramma to survive.