ATM colony day 3- zero nitrites or nitrates

[spamvicious]

I dosed my tank with atm colony on Saturday. Followed all the instructions. A couple of hours later I added two very small clown fish. I fed a little bit of food.

Tested yesterday morning, little ammonia zero nitrites or nitrates.

Tested again in the evening (to keep an eye on the ammonia) same result

Tested this morning same amount of ammonia and again zero nitrites or nitrates

What should I do? I can order some more atm colony but it will be here Wednesday at the earliest. There is a shop nearby that usually stocks dr Tim’s that I could try?

 

[rc8t6353]

I would get the Dr Tims just to be safe. Did you start with live rock or dry? If dry, then I'd try to get a hold of a little bit of mature live rock to help with the cycle I think you're trying to skip

 

[spamvicious]

I would get the Dr Tims just to be safe. Did you start with live rock or dry? If dry, then I'd try to get a hold of a little bit of mature live rock to help with the cycle I think you're trying to skip

Dry rock (aquaroche). I can order some more atm colony to arrive tomorrow. I’m not trying to skip the cycle was just speeding it up with bottled bacteria. Maybe the first bottle was dead.

 

[taricha]

Tested yesterday morning, little ammonia zero nitrites or nitrates.

Tested again in the evening (to keep an eye on the ammonia) same result

Tested this morning same amount of ammonia and again zero nitrites or nitrates

A couple of points. ATM colony is not described as a fish-in cycling product (to my knowledge) so don't expect it to be fast.
Some products can take a couple of weeks. Dr. Tim's was mentioned, but it's not faster either.

 

[spamvicious]

A couple of points. ATM colony is not described as a fish-in cycling product (to my knowledge) so don't expect it to be fast.
Some products can take a couple of weeks. Dr. Tim's was mentioned, but it's not faster

Don’t know if it’s a location thing but it’s definitely sold as fish in cycle product here. It’s now a week since I started the cycle and still have the same level of ammonia and can’t see any nitrites or nitrites. I’m using Red Sea tests so it’s really hard to tell if there is any pink in the water.

I’ve added some prime seachem to the help with the ammonia as I have the very small clown fish in the tank. I added another bottle of atm colony yesterday to help it along but no progress yet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’ve added some prime seachem to the help with the ammonia as I have the very small clown fish in the tank. I added another bottle of atm colony yesterday to help it along but no progress yet.

FWIW, it does not appear that Seachem Prime does anything useful about ammonia.

 

[spamvicious]

FWIW, it does not appear that Seachem Prime does anything useful about ammonia.

Ok fair enough. Not sure what to do then. If I do a water change won’t that affect the cycle or is that stunted anyway?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What do you think the ammonia level is and how did you measure it?

 

[spamvicious]

What do you think the ammonia level is and how did you measure it?

 

[spamvicious]

This is the nitrite

 

[taricha]

Yeah, that's no good (for fish- in cycling)
What other nitrifying bacterial products do you have access to? Fritz? Tetra?

 

[mh0ward]

Even with bottled bacteria 3 days is not enough time. It can be 2-3 weeks before you have a population sufficient for processing a meaningful amount of ammonia. You might want to see if the LFS can keep the clownfish for you for a couple of weeks while your tank cycles. The ammonia level is likely going to rise as you feed them and they produce waste, at least up until the point you have a well established beneficial bacteria population. And I think higher levels of ammonia can stall the cycling process.

Disclaimer… I’m a novice

 

[spamvicious]

Yeah, that's no good (for fish- in cycling)
What other nitrifying bacterial products do you have access to? Fritz? Tetra?

There’s some turbo fritz? Not sure which version I’d need but seems I can buy some online. The ammonia was slightly lower yesterday but has gone back up. I’m only feeding the clowns once a day and they’re clearly hungry but obviously don’t want to cause more ammonia.

 

[spamvicious]

Even with bottled bacteria 3 days is not enough time. It can be 2-3 weeks before you have a population sufficient for processing a meaningful amount of ammonia. You might want to see if the LFS can keep the clownfish for you for a couple of weeks while your tank cycles. The ammonia level is likely going to rise as you feed them and they produce waste, at least up until the point you have a well established beneficial bacteria population. And I think higher levels of ammonia can stall the cycling process.

Disclaimer… I’m a novice

It’s day 10 now, the original post was a while ago. The fish are fine just hungry. I think if I took them out now it would just add more stress.

 

[taricha]

turbo fritz? Not sure which version I’d need but seems I can buy some online

Fritz saltwater, "turbo" or not - is fast. You'll start to see nitrite produced from ammonia in 1 day.

 

[spamvicious]

Fritz saltwater, "turbo" or not - is fast. You'll start to see nitrite produced from ammonia in 1 day.

I did a small water change yesterday of 20% as the ammonia was still rising. Put some turbo fritz in today and this time I could actually smell and see the product in the tank. So hopefully it might start the cycle finally.

 

[Dburr1014]

To speed up the process that has already begun with fish in cycle is to just add a cycled rock from your LFS.
It will process ammonia immediately and hopefully prevent ammonia burn for the clowns.

 

[spamvicious]

To speed up the process that has already begun with fish in cycle is to just add a cycled rock from your LFS.
It will process ammonia immediately and hopefully prevent ammonia burn for the clowns.

My local lfs don’t do anything like that. It’s a general pet store that also has fish and other animals.

 

[spamvicious]

Fritz saltwater, "turbo" or not - is fast. You'll start to see nitrite produced from ammonia in 1 day.

No change at all yet. Can only hope something happens in the next couple of days otherwise I’m completely out of ideas.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How do things look now?