40g Cube Cycle Question

ratherbebouldering · Apr 21, 2023

Good morning R2R!

Long time lurker first time poster. I'm getting back into the hobby after a 4 year hiatus. I started fishless cycling my 40g cube on 4/15/23 with ~40lb life rock, 40lb live sand, and a bottle of FritzZyme® TurboStart® 900 Saltwater rated for 100g. I have also been dosing stability daily following the bottles recommendation.

I'm having trouble determining if my nitrites are falling or if they are too high and a water change is warranted. Also curious as to if I should continue dosing ammonia or wait for nitrites to fall? Also I noticed that my nitrates showed less today than they did yesterday. I know the test kit I'm using (API) is not the best so I'm going to retest nitrates when I get home to confirm that either yesterday's results were off or todays.
4/19/23 - Nitrite

4/20/23 - Nitrite

4/21/23 - Nitrite

4/16/23 - Ammonia

4/17/23 - Ammonia

4/18/23 - Ammonia

4/19/23 - Ammonia

4/20/23 - Ammonia

4/21/23 - Ammonia

4/20/23 - Nitrates

4/21/23 - Nitrates

4/20/23 - pH

4/21/23 - pH

Tank picture

Bhuddafunk · Apr 21, 2023

Till you have zero ammonia and nitrites I wouldn't consider the tank completely cycled. You should also start to see nitrates at some level when that occurs.

brandon429 · Apr 21, 2023

the reason you may proceed reefing/cycle done is threefold

1. you are past the # of days it shows on any cycling chart for basic ammonia control
2. nitrites don't matter in reefing, they don't factor in any setting, for chemistry reasons unique to reefing
3. fritz has been shown to adhere to all surfaces and be 100% immune to water changes in three days.

you are well past the wait time, what the test kits say from non digital sources won't help much now.

*fish safety will be determined now by your disease protocol vs cycling

Budman93 · Apr 21, 2023

In the exact same situation as you and added 100g of Fritz to a 40g a couple weeks ago. Those dang purple nitrite readings are impossible to read. Horrible. I have been checking my nitrate though and it is noticeably falling every few days so I would imagine my nitrites are too. I am starting to see diatoms though so it's likely my cycle is basically done. Like Brandon says we can probably go ahead and add a fish. Only reason Im waiting is the ones I want arent instock yet and theres no point in adding a 'cleanup crew' if theres nothing for them to clean yet.