Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,
First, a warning. I am from Australia so I apologise in advance if anything I say seems a bit cryptic, but I will put on my best American accent
I have a 3ft marine aquarium that is currently cycling. At the moment I have a canister filter on it as it is my first set up so I am taking it easy. Now, I work in a pet shop so I know the basics of marine set ups, although we don't actually run them at work so what I know is just from a few years of reasearch and advice from my manager who is a gun at marine.
Ok, small talk aside. The tank has been running for exactly 8 weeks and 3 days. Mollies were added after a week, which started an initial cycle that lasted 3 weeks (amm, nitrite & nitrate went up then back down) so tank was 4 weeks old. Then I had a huge nitrite and nitrate spike that went off the chart (nitrite >3.3ppm, nitrate >110ppm) and has stayed that way for the past 4 weeks, no fluctuations. Besides regular testing, adding cycle to the tank (concentrated bacteria, think you guys call it the same thing?), and a top-up of evaporated water, I haven't done a thing, no live rock added, nothing.
Now, is it taking so long to cycle because my canister can't produce aerobic bacteria? Or is there anything I can do to help it along? I've started putting cycle in there every day. I understand that if I do a water change I could potentially be back to the start again, and if I add anything suck as live rock it could potentially die and cause another spike.
What to do....!?!

Apologies for the length of the post but at the moment I feel like selling the whole bloody lot lol. I know you should be patient with marine, but I was being good before, I promise... up until about 3 weeks ago anyway.

Thanks for any help, viable or not!

Carlee.

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Sounds like you are having some fun there. Personally (I always say that beause someone is bound to disagree) I would do a 25% water change in your tank. As long as you don't disturb your biological bed, you won't have a problem. Secondly, I would add the live rock. True, if your levels are high you will lose some sponges and seaweeds off the rock, but those probably won't make it long anyway. Plus the organisms on the rock are incredibly hardy anyways. If you add cured live rock, you will see a tremendous improvement in your tank. Before taking my advice, make sure your substrate is normal marine aquaium sand and nothing wierd that could be causing these spikes. I would also discontinue the use of cycle. I have used it in the passed and not seen any results. It seems to work in freshwater, but I have not witnessed the same in salt. The best way to get your levels down is to let nature take its course and not be adding chemicals. Hope this helps a little. Don't worry you will get it.
Ryan

Hi Ryan
Thanks for the reply. Just last night I did a water change (approx 30%) and tested the levels in the morning, still no change. So I got a few pieces of live rock and chucked them in. Things can really only get better, and I've waited so long now that I'm not really excited about it anymore so nothing is being rushed. I will remember your advice about the cycle, I have seen the results of it in our freshwater tanks at work (pet store), but nothing seems to be happening with the marine water.
The substrate I have is aragonite. Can't get a hold of proper sand here.
In the meantime my black mollies have produced some babies which love hiding in the new rock.
Carlee.