newbie

[08arcticcat]

I have a 40 gallon tank that has been cycling for almost 3 months. It has roughly 2" of sand in it, and 40lbs of dry rock. I tried getting a cycle started by ghost feeding the tank with some fish food. whenever i checked the water, all parameters were good. good pH, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. so after enough waiting and multiple tests of 0's, i decided to buy some hermit crabs and some emerald crabs.

I have zero growth of anything in my tank, not an ounce of algae or anything. My question is, should i do something to get some algae growth for the crabs or what should i do to feed the crabs??

[mrhasan]

Not even a diatom bloom after 3 months?

I guess since you are using dry rocks, the bioload much have been really low to trigger any change in the system. You should get a small liverock to seed the dry rocks and maybe return and crabs and start the shrimp treatment

[08arcticcat]

i was trying to avoid using any live rock to prevent any unwanted hitchhikers that ive read about.

[fishytime]

what kind of rock are we talking about here (marco, eco, etc)?

[08arcticcat]

dont remember the kind of rock it was, but it came from a shop in edmonton... I think it was called "southseas dry rock" or something along those lines.

[fishytime]

either way, dead rock is dead rock......if it didnt have any dried on algae or other such "once alive critters" on it then the rock will not have much of anything to kick start the cycle.....I would consider using one of the bio-boost products like prodibio to help your rock establish the beneficial bacteria.....with an all dry rock start you will need to be super cautious about adding your livestock to avoid any problems....patience will be key

[08arcticcat]

if I add the booster product, will it kill the crabs?

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by 08arcticcat

i was trying to avoid using any live rock to prevent any unwanted hitchhikers that ive read about.

You can always go for aquacultured live rock (almost the same price as that of dry rock + no hitchhicker).

And yes you can use prodibio startup but it might possess a threat to the crabs not because of the product itself but because of the spikes that will be coming during the cycle.

[fishytime]

there should be no harm at all if you use prodibio "start"..... "start" comes with three different products in the kit....one is a beneficial bacteria, one is a food to feed the beneficial bacteria and the third is a product that neutralizes ammonia......your supposed to be able to take live rock (mind you) home add it and fish all at once with no cycle.....obviously not something I would suggest, but that's what the company claims....

[molotov]

It doesn't sound like you've had your cycle yet. I would throw in a raw shrimp and let that decay. If your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels haven't risen in a couple of weeks then you should be good to go. If you've been trying to cycle for three months what's another couple of weeks.