Boyu TL 550

kukkieb said:
Is it possible that I have skipped the cycle since I added prodibio startup and my ammonia is not rising higher than 0.05 I also added 15 kg of LR.

The startup consisted of bacteria and ammonia to feed it should I add something to keep the bacteria going since there is almost no ammonia left???

I'm really confused cuz From what I understand the bacteria will die without ammonia to break down.

Plz help

Thanks
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Hi kukkieb, and welcome to MASA !

It is highly unlikely that your cycle has completed itself.
You've only been cycling for 4-5 days ... correct ?

Do some more reading on the Ammonia-Nitrat-Nitrite cycle . You will notice that the cycle will go through different "spikes" of Ammonia and Nitrite. This is normal and all part of the process , but in the case of your Boyu TL450 it will take approx 4-5 weeks to complete the cycle , unless you have bought LR from a matured system. Bear in mind that the 4-5 weeks is only a guide and you should use water parameter tests to confirm that the cycle has finished.;)

Don't stress about your bacterial population. It will also go through stages where it will grow , then die off , then grow again and so on. All very normal and all part of the process. Your bacteria will take some time to get used to changes in Ammonia ( e.g. when you've added livestock or when you have started cycling) and this could take some time to settle.
Once "bacterial" equilibrium has been reached , your Ammonia levels will be stable ( i.e. There are sufficient bacterial populations to convert the Ammonia that is being produced by the tank inhabitants)

Lastly , bear in mind that a great marine setup requires patience.
Better to wait the cycle out than to act hastily and pay the price later on.:p

Just a thought:)
 
Hi I have been finding a lot of the same species hitch hiker crabs all of the that I have caught (7) are grey-brown with hairy legs...lol

There are still lots in the tank and I think theres a female that let go of her eggs since the last four I caught are the much smaller that the first ones but the smaller once all measure about 1 cm from side to side...

I am going to try to catch them by putting in a glass with a small piece of silverside inside the tank and I hope that most will be caught by tomorrow.

Does anyone think that it is strange to have this much HH crabs or to have a female release eggs in such a new tank (6 days).

P.S. I put the glass a bit skew in order for the crabs to get in but not to get out.

Thanks
 
Found this morning that I caught no crabs but a micro brittle star, lotsa bristle worms and a flat worm, I removed the flat worm from the tank and took out the micro brittle star. (the bristle worms flew when the light came on.

I just noticed this growing on a new cured piece of live rock I added to the tank 2 days ago.

Can someone plz tell me what it is?

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apollo

Thanks for all the info

All the live rock in my tank is fully cured, there is a lot of green algae, red algae, sponges and tube worms starting to grow on the rock.

I also added caribsea live sand.

What would the ammonia spike be like would it go higher than 0.05 since that is highest it has gone.

Thanks
 
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kukkieb said:
apollo

Thanks for all the info

All the live rock in my tank is fully cured, there is a lot of green algae, red algae, sponges and tube worms starting to grow on the rock.

I also added caribsea live sand.

What would the ammonia spike be like would it go higher than 0.05 since that is highest it has gone.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Kukkieb,

That's a difficult question to answer.
It depends once again on how quickly the bacteria population can play catch-up to the increased/increasing ammonia load. Also depends on what you have that is died or dying in the tank and the rate at which this is happening.
Remember that even with the cured LR you got , there will be a small amount of die-off due to the LR that was exposed to air during transport , different salinity , temperature etc.
Die off = Ammonia being produced , which must be broken down .

Bear in mind that 0.05 is still a relatively high level of ammonia to have .
Your readings for Ammonia need to be below 0.01 ppm and ideally 0 . They need to remain at these levels before you consider adding livestock.

In my case , the Ammonia spike in my Boyu went up to 0.2 before dropping and settling down below 0.01. This took approx 4-5 weeks in my case.

In the next few weeks you will see an amazing amount of life that pops up on the LR. A good habit to get into now already is to keep a log and record the weekly progress on your tank . Also includes things such as water parameters tested and observations. Oh, and include photo's of your tank's progress as well. You'll be suprised to look back two months from now and see how you have progressed.;)

Lastly , take note that cured live rock does not neccessarily mean that it is "mature". Curing is a process whereby we basically remove all the unwanted and dead/dying things on the live rock , before they have a chance to foul the water.
When we refer to mature LR ,it is rock that has come from a well established and stable system .
 
Thanks for the info

Sorry about the misunderstanding. I am sure I got matured life rock form the LFS because they had juvenile clownfish in the same tank with the rock.
 
Tank running one week and there a loads of copepods, bristle worms, and GHA. Also found 2 fire worms but couldnt catch them (any advice).

I will be testing water parameters tomorrow, although doesnt seem like someone is following this thread... sulk sulk :(
 
kukkieb said:
Tank running one week and there a loads of copepods, bristle worms, and GHA. Also found 2 fire worms but couldnt catch them (any advice).

I will be testing water parameters tomorrow, although doesnt seem like someone is following this thread... sulk sulk :(
Click to expand...

Hi Kukkie,

FIRE WORMS ?Sorry I don't know them as that I think you mean bristle worms.If so they are not necessarily bad. I have lots and no probs. They are mostly scavengers

Glad to see you got some decent LR.
 
I will try and get a pic, becuz I am 99 percent sure the are fireworms

They are pink, flattish and have white bristles.
 
Hi tested my water

Ph 8.2
Alkanity 9
Ammonia 0.01
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5

As you can see my ammonia went from 0.05 to 0.01 and the weird thing is that Nitite didnt go up, nitrate is still the same.
 
Here is a pic:

As you can see I changed the aquascaping... again (but still not happy) and I covered the wavemaker and power head.
The picture is blurry because there is a lot of algae starting to grow on the glass.

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I was just looking at the algae on the glass, and saw little ''goggas'' running on the glass, probably 20 of them they are very small but from what I have read they are copepods.

Lots of life coming into my tank now - Amphipods, Copepods, Bristle worms, Micro Brittle Stars, LOTS of GHA, and coraline starting to grow, also the sponges...

so exciting to watch the tank even though there is no livestock in there... everyone thinks I am CRAZY staring at Rocks in an empty tank. :whistling:
 
My dad just gave me one of his Astrea Snails to help with the algae...

I tested the water first and saw it was still fine so here he is drip acclimating

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After one hours drip acclimation... here he is just pushed him against the glass and he attached and started eating immediately... so cool :yeahdude:

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Why is it that I am talking to myself is this thread that boring... Sulk Sulk ... again :(
 
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