Cycle is stressing me out

[rja]

Okay so this is my first reef tank— not my first cycle rodeo though. Anyway, I decided to go the fishless route. This is a Biocube 29. I used StartSmart and Nitrocycle. Basically just bacteria and ammonia. My sand is carib sea arag-alive and my rock is 20lb of carib sea life rock plus 7lb of the same stuff but out of a LFS tank. So I think after dosing the StartSmart, I already had nice nitrobacter diversity. Anyway, I dosed 30ml of nitrocycle per bottle recommendation, (ammo) big mistake. I was reading over 8ppm ammo. I did a 15% water change, probably another mistake. After that, I added some Microbacter 7 and have been for the past two days.

Ammonia is now at 2 and Nitrites are 5+. I am reading 20 on Nitrates. The cycle has been going on for a little over a week but I just need some reinforcement on the fact that it will eventually complete and I didn't mess anything up majorly.

Moving forward— what should I do? Nothing? Just let it sit for a couple weeks? Im itching lol

 

[glency]

One thing this hobby has taught me is …. Patience. Even with bottled bacteria and your live rock a week is still too fast. The live sand may be an ammonia supply as well. Just sit back, relax, research what you want to do to your setup, and test daily.

Okay so this is my first reef tank— not my first cycle rodeo though. Anyway, I decided to go the fishless route. This is a Biocube 29. I used StartSmart and Nitrocycle. Basically just bacteria and ammonia. My sand is carib sea arag-alive and my rock is 20lb of carib sea life rock plus 7lb of the same stuff but out of a LFS tank. So I think after dosing the StartSmart, I already had nice nitrobacter diversity. Anyway, I dosed 30ml of nitrocycle per bottle recommendation, (ammo) big mistake. I was reading over 8ppm ammo. I did a 15% water change, probably another mistake. After that, I added some Microbacter 7 and have been for the past two days.

Ammonia is now at 2 and Nitrites are 5+. I am reading 20 on Nitrates. The cycle has been going on for a little over a week but I just need some reinforcement on the fact that it will eventually complete and I didn't mess anything up majorly.

Moving forward— what should I do? Nothing? Just let it sit for a couple weeks? Im itching lo

 

[rja]

One thing this hobby has taught me is …. Patience. Even with bottled bacteria and your live rock a week is still too fast. The live sand may be an ammonia supply as well. Just sit back, relax, research what you want to do to your setup, and test daily.

Yeah, I’ve read so many things regarding cycling and all this stuff from Dr. Tim. I don’t care how long the cycle takes but I just wanted to know if it was going to happen at all with my nitrite levels. Thank you

 

[LeftyReefer]

If your ammonia is dropping, and have readable nitrite and nitrate, then you are pretty much cycled.

You could probably do a large water change and be good to add a few fish slowly.

I cycle my QT tank on the fly (with fish) all the time. no worries.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

how long has it been? Normally does take a few weeks to cycle a tank properly, personally I dont add fish until ammonia/nitrite are zero. You are preparing an environment to hold life, it cant be rushed.

 

[14 foot reef]

you think the cycle is stressing you out, wait till you get through that and enter the ugly stages..... You may need self medication through that period
Patience my friend, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[rja]

how long has it been? Normally does take a few weeks to cycle a tank properly, personally I dont add fish until ammonia/nitrite are zero. You are preparing an environment to hold life, it cant be rushed.

Yeah I am in no real rush. I just wanted to ensure that I didn’t “stall” anything because half the literature I read says I can stall a cycle by running the params I am running and the other half says it’s impossible to stall a cycle. So in the event that I wait out a few weeks, I don’t want to be getting nowhere or killing $50 worth of bacteria lol

 

[rja]

you think the cycle is stressing you out, wait till you get through that and enter the ugly stages..... You may need self medication through that period
Patience my friend, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Yeah I’ve noticed that in my planted tanks. Having whole plants melt away only to return out of the substrate a month later.

 

[BrianAnthony]

Keep your water changes at 0. Wait until Ammonia and Nitrites are 0. Then do a water change. My 12g nano took a couple months to cycle because I did a fishless with dry rock cycle. Also.. just because ammonia and Nitrites are at 0.. doesn't mean you are fully cycled. Your tank may have a few mini cycles afterward. However.. once you've gotten ammonia and Nitrites at zero, you should be able to add a cleanup crew. Also, keep your lights off until you need them on for photosynthetic creatures. After cycling, you will go from brown stage to eventual green stage.

 

[rja]

If your ammonia is dropping, and have readable nitrite and nitrate, then you are pretty much cycled.

You could probably do a large water change and be good to add a few fish slowly.

I cycle my QT tank on the fly (with fish) all the time. no worries.

Yeah my LFS told me to drain tank and add fish lol. I don’t necessarily trust their judgment. I will wait it out and see how things drop. I am dosing Microbacter7 everyday too just to see if it helps in seeding.

 

[1ocean]

Like everyone said, take your time, rushing just leads to more problems...I been building my 300 for over a year, had a set back, powder blue and one of the 3 yellow tangs had a war, stressed a bunch of fish out and I lost 6 in one day. I tore it down, cleaned it let it dry out for 30 days, qt all the fish in a 140 and the corals in a 75 for 80 days...built a 5ftx2ftx18 inch sump while waiting to pass time...As much as I wanted to put it all back fast I knew it was wring so I understand your wanting the cylcle over...I past the time doing lots of research and chatting with experienced reefers...

 

[LeftyReefer]

Do you have an ammonia badge? I've always found them to be helpful when cycling a tank.
I have one on my QT tank that is constantly being set up and taken down for cleaning in between batches of QTing fish.

 

[Duncan62]

Yeah I am in no real rush. I just wanted to ensure that I didn’t “stall” anything because half the literature I read says I can stall a cycle by running the params I am running and the other half says it’s impossible to stall a cycle. So in the event that I wait out a few weeks, I don’t want to be getting nowhere or killing $50 worth of bacteria lol

Stop dosing and get a couple damsels. Let your tank stabilize. Get more fish. Repeat.

 

[1ocean]

I just re-read your post,many people I spoke to, and also my research on Brightwell website, say never use "live sand" with bottled bacterial start products as sometimes the bacterial compete with one another as they may be different strains, this could be your issue.
I did Brightwell start, Microbacter XLM and dry sand and dry rock. My 300 is bare bottom except for 10 pounds in the far right back corner for the 2 wrasses...

 

[Roatan Reef]

Stop dosing and get a couple damsels. Let your tank stabilize. Get more fish. Repeat.

Never Get Damsels!! Mean SOBs, pain in the **** to get out, especially don't add them 1st.

 

[Duncan62]

Never Get Damsels!! Mean SOBs, pain in the **** to get out, especially don't add them 1st.

I've got a large blue damsel that is best friends with a percula! Lol. But yes, some are very mean. Blue can be the worst. Dominos are the worst. But I have them in every tank. They do better in a reef setting with lots oh hiding places. But yes. Mean. Lol

 

[Roatan Reef]

I've got a large blue damsel that is best friends with a percula! Lol. But yes, some are very mean. Blue can be the worst. Dominos are the worst. But I have them in every tank. They do better in a reef setting with lots oh hiding places. But yes. Mean. Lol

I had to remove all Rock the other day to get the little bugger out...Yellow Devil, terrorized my Black Clowns, just returned him to LFS today for a Duncan Coral!!

 

[sithrico]

I dosed 30ml of nitrocycle per bottle recommendation, (ammo) big mistake. I was reading over 8ppm ammo.

I have been in the cycle stage starting on April 13. I dosed Nitrocycle the way it says. I have a Waterbox 15 peninsula. With rock and sand water volume is 12.5 gallons. Put in 12 mL and Ammonia spiked to over 8. Finally did a water change in mid-cycle because Ammonia never moved Nitrites were kicking past the test chart and Nitrates over as well. Things started to drop and got 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites last night. (4-29). I do like I always have and dose Ammonia to check for a 24 hr zero in both. Added 2ml of Nitrocycle and it spiked me to 2ppm. I believe the dosing quote of 1mL per gallon is wrong. If 12 gallons go to 2ppm. It probably needs to be more of a drop dosage, not an mL dosage. When I go low again I'm going to try 1 drop and see what the outcome is. Algae Barn so knows that way they can dose lower and also not have to send such a big bottle of the stuff.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I have been in the cycle stage starting on April 13. I dosed Nitrocycle the way it says. I have a Waterbox 15 peninsula. With rock and sand water volume is 12.5 gallons. Put in 12 mL and Ammonia spiked to over 8. Finally did a water change in mid-cycle because Ammonia never moved Nitrites were kicking past the test chart and Nitrates over as well. Things started to drop and got 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites last night. (4-29). I do like I always have and dose Ammonia to check for a 24 hr zero in both. Added 2ml of Nitrocycle and it spiked me to 2ppm. I believe the dosing quote of 1mL per gallon is wrong. If 12 gallons go to 2ppm. It probably needs to be more of a drop dosage, not an mL dosage. When I go low again I'm going to try 1 drop and see what the outcome is. Algae Barn so knows that way they can dose lower and also not have to send such a big bottle of the stuff.

I'm not sure why some companies give directions like that when all you need to do is raise the ammonia to 2 ppm once at the beginning and then add bacteria and wait until ammonia and nitrite both drop to 0

 

[sithrico]

I'm not sure why some companies give directions like that when all you need to do is raise the ammonia to 2 ppm once at the beginning and then add bacteria and wait until ammonia and nitrite both drop to 0

I always try different methods to see what I like best. So far it's been a mix of Dr. Tim's Ammonia with Fritz 9. I cycled in 7 days. Added Ammonia again and 24 hours clear. Then I add pods and let them sit for another 2 weeks before adding fish. It's like a long cycle but pods are growing a colony without getting eaten. I've cycled 5 tanks this way and always get successful results. This time I'm way over. It's never taken nearly a month for me. That's what it's about though. Trouble shooting and learning if you want a mini reef in a room.