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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Cycling question

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07 Feb 2008 05:20 - 07 Feb 2008 05:38 #1 by Sharky (K McL)
My tank has been runnning now 4 days. The nitrite and amonia levels have dropped considerably low in a very short space of time but the nitrate levels have risen! is this normal in such a short space of time?

I have not noticed any algeal blooms! am I just impatiant or should I get something in there to speed up the process?

Is adding clean up crew sufficiant to supply ammonia? should i get some pure ammonia to add? would adding a hardy fish help the cycle? if so what species?
Last edit: 07 Feb 2008 05:38 by Sharky (K McL).

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07 Feb 2008 11:19 #2 by monty (monty)
Replied by monty (monty) on topic Re:Cycling question
Hi Sharky,

As per my previous post I believe you have too little live rock in your tank, unless you have added more than the 11Kgs.

Was the rock you got cured or uncured as this should make a difference to the cycle time. Fully cured rock may deliver the results you are seeing but I'm new to this myself so can't give a definitive answer.

Anyways, 4 days seems a little quick. I'd continue to monitor the Ammonia and Nitrite levels for another week and only consider moving on with cleanup crew when both are 0 as you may still have more dieoff from the rock. You should see nitrates increase after both are 0 and this is normal.

In short the conversion by bacteria goes ( and there are plenty of articles on the net regarding cycling )

Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate

One of the main reasons for water changes is to keep the Nitrates down. There is the process of denitrification (sp?) where the Nitrates can be converted to gas and essentially food for organisms but this is usually in a more mature tank.

If I were you I'd simply add more live rock and wait. Patience is key and you will be rewarded.

Cheers,

Monty

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07 Feb 2008 15:31 #3 by Sharky (K McL)
Replied by Sharky (K McL) on topic Re:Cycling question
Unfortunatly I live very far away from my nearst fish shop so I havent had a day off to get up there. Yes the rock was fully cured and I placed it straight in my tank when I got home.

I have also had the lights off since I started it. I will do some more tests later today to see how things are going. It will be at least 6 weeks before I add my fish anyway so im no rush. thats why i want everything to be perfect.

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07 Feb 2008 16:57 - 07 Feb 2008 17:26 #4 by Sharky (K McL)
Replied by Sharky (K McL) on topic Re:Cycling question
Just did another reading

day 1 | day 3 |day 5
Nitrite: 0.1 | 0.05 |0.1
Nitrate: 5 | 10 |15
Ammonia: 0.5 | 0.25 |0.25
PPM: .16 | .05 |.05

As according to the Red Sea Max Marine lab
Last edit: 07 Feb 2008 17:26 by Sharky (K McL).

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07 Feb 2008 18:20 #5 by monty (monty)
Replied by monty (monty) on topic Re:Cycling question
The figures suggest a cycle but you will need for Ammonia and Nitrite to be 0 to signal the end.

I kept my lights on during the cycle. I have read many different suggestions in terms of lights during cycle - on, off, on but only short periods and then decided to go with on - 'cos it looked better. My cycle took 2.5 weeks or there abouts. Ammonia was high and then crash down to 0 after 1.5 weeks and Nitrite follow a week later. My Rock though was not fully cured..

Cheers,

Monty

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07 Feb 2008 19:16 #6 by Seany (Sean Phelan)
Sharky,

Even with fully cured Liverock in the LFS, there will be some more die off when it is removed, transported and installed in a new tank. Its only natural.

Nitrate is still climbing. Patience is the key here and it will all be worth it in the end.
Best of luck with the new project.

Kind regards

Seany

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08 Feb 2008 02:16 #7 by Sharky (K McL)
Replied by Sharky (K McL) on topic Re:Cycling question
Thanks guys just want to do everything right, also probanly beginers nerves!

The tank will be well cycled by the time I get time off to get back to the fish shop :)

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