# Is my tank cycled?



## Topfeeder (Nov 19, 2011)

I tested the water for the past week(7 days in a row)

NO3 0
NO2 0-3ppm
ammonia 0
pH 7.8
temp 76.5F

Is my tank cycled? it seems a little fast. right now I'd rather be told no and be safe.

right now the tank has some live sand and crushed coral and about 30lb of live rock.

also, is it okay to plant a strand of seaweed in the tank, I think it'll look rather nice.
*c/p*


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Tank not done cycling, your Nitrites(NO2) and Ammonia will read 0 and your Nitrates(NO3) should be below 40, before adding fish.
Its perfectly ok to add seaweed to the tank.


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## Topfeeder (Nov 19, 2011)

oops I read the tests wrong, I held the nitrate/nitrite strips upside down, I have 0-3 NO3 and no ammonia or nitrites, I went through all the previous test strips and they are the same.

would that change anything?

also I would like to add that the tank nitrite had a small spike on the 3rd day to about 5ppm


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

do you have any fish in the tank? or atleast some source of ammonia? also how long has the tank been set up?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

SuckMyCichlids said:


> do you have any fish in the tank? or atleast some source of ammonia? also how long has the tank been set up?


Crushed Coral and Live Sand will grow the necessary bacteria for the tank.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It's a 110 gal tank with only 30lbs of live rock. I doubt if its cycled.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

Reefing Madness said:


> Crushed Coral and Live Sand will grow the necessary bacteria for the tank.


oh, i figured they still needed a source of ammonia to keep them alive


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

I wouldn't use test strips as they do not work well at all. i'd go with atlest a 100lb of rock in a tank that size


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## Topfeeder (Nov 19, 2011)

I put in a piece of shark that I caught near the beach this morning, darn thing took my fish but bit the hook, I guess it can be used as the ammonia source until the tank is actually cycled.



joe2011 said:


> I wouldn't use test strips as they do not work well at all. i'd go with atlest a 100lb of rock in a tank that size


I'm using both test stripes and the vial stuff, they are actually used to measure pH, no2, no3 etc in a lab environment, not an aquarium. it's actually proven to work pretty well so far

I think I add some dead rock in along with the live rocks, I know it'll take a while for it to grow but I got time


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Your looking at, you should run at least 1lb of rock per gallon for a FOWLR, and 2lbs per gallon for a Reef. And if you only put in a light amount everytime, your tank won't go through a cycle again. If you put it all in at the same time, it will.
you running any powerheads? A Skimmer? Filter?


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## AquaticDigest (Dec 22, 2011)

It's not cycled until you show no ammonia and no nitrite.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

agreed


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## Skeeter91 (Dec 28, 2011)

A tank can cycle as little as 2 weeks. You can put fish in your tank (damsels) in about a couple of days....but most people prefer waiting AT LEAST a month before adding anything to their cycled tank...if I were you I'd wait as much as 2 months since your tank is pretty big


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## Aquatic Castle (Jan 11, 2012)

If you want to grow bacteria to eat ammonia, you need a source of ammonia to feed them. Live rock can provide this for a while but even live rock will need to be fed in time. If you don't put something in your tank to feed the bacteria, the bacteria will die. If you read the instructions on live substrate they tell you to add stuff in a week or less.

There is a test you can do to confirm you tank is cycled. Put a piece of raw shrimp or fish in there. Sense you tank is large a full jumbo shrimp or similar sized slice of fish will be needed. Let it rot. It should be nearly gone in a few days. Test the water through this process. If the water tests out good, you know you are ready. Also, by putting the food in there, you are feeding the bacteria and helping it multiply. 

Depending on your filtration you can go with as much or as little live rock as you want. It's possible to run a fish only tank with no rocks at all.


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## Topfeeder (Nov 19, 2011)

I think the tank is cycled, my current test results are all 0 even after I put in a few shrimps and let it rot.

I'm going to work on fish now, probably get 2 clowns.


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## Aquatic Castle (Jan 11, 2012)

Good luck with the clowns.


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