Cycle: Is This Normal?

xellos · Nov 27, 2021

Hey Guys, I am new to reef keeping but have been keeping freshwater for over 10 years.

8-11th of November started my tank with DR tims - temp: 29 degrees Celcius - slightly lowered salinity 1.020

On the 18th November is when is started to see Nitrites. (7 days)

Today is the 28th November and nitrites haven't lowered past 1ppm but my tank is converting 2ppm ammonia overnight. (10 days with no Nitirite change)

I am measuring Nitrates which are fairly high and will 100% water change once the cycle is complete.

Using RODI water. API test kits. Have tested them against RODI water for accuracy and they read 0 and 0 for both ammonia and nitrites.

(total weeks cycling 3 weeks. Feels like 6 months

)

Should I just keep waiting for nitrites to fall? I have changed my ammonia dosing to .5 per day to let the nitrite bacteria "catch up"

Spare time · Nov 27, 2021

That 1ppm nitrite is probably 0. Just ignore it if it isn't moving. If nitrite isn't changing despite you dosing ammonia and the ammonia being removed, it is just error on the test kit or the user.

Go ahead and do the big water change and add some fish

xellos · Nov 27, 2021

edit: i have just read that I can test with diluted water. I did 1ml of tank water and 5mls of RODI water and the tank is still measuring 1ppm so i'm thinking that the nitrite may be above 5ppm which is possibly stalling the tank?

Remembering that RODI water test 0

xellos · Nov 27, 2021

Spare time said:
That 1ppm nitrite is probably 0. Just ignore it if it isn't moving. If nitrite isn't changing despite you dosing ammonia and the ammonia being removed, it is just error on the test kit or the user.

Go ahead and do the big water change and add some fish

do you think it still an error even when testing RODI water and diluted tank water as i just mention?

brandon429 · Nov 27, 2021

Spare is right, you’re showing the proofs updated cycling science uses to mark a cycle done, primarily three weeks on bac shown to control ammonia day one, we don’t factor nitrite any longer in updated cycling science.

it doesn’t matter if its an error or not, Google this, nitrite is neutral for us now it only mattered in 1988

”nitrite in the reef aquarium, Randy Holmes Farley” Google that youll see it’s neutral here. Ammonia control is all that matters, and it doesn’t have to be zero. You could be at slight green ammonia and still be cycled, three weeks is longer than a cycling chart shows to control ammonia as well.

xellos · Nov 27, 2021

brandon429 said:
Spare is right, you’re showing the proofs updated cycling science uses to mark a cycle done, primarily three weeks on bac shown to control ammonia day one, we don’t factor nitrite any longer in updated cycling science.

Ohh so we don't even measure nitirite anymore?

brandon429 · Nov 27, 2021

Many would debate that

but not here:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

www.reef2reef.com

25 pages of tanks exactly like yours in fact the majority are at ~20 days wait too. The purpose of that thread is twofold: assign an exact start date for every reef vs old science open ended wait, and #2 test Randy’s claim about nitrite neutrality per his article. Both fronts: check. The stage you are at: pick a fish disease protocol and run it

xellos · Nov 27, 2021

brandon429 said:
Many would debate that

but not here:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

www.reef2reef.com

25 pages of tanks exactly like yours in fact the majority are at ~20 days wait too. The purpose of that thread is twofold: assign an exact start date for every reef vs old science open ended wait, and #2 test Randy’s claim about nitrite neutrality per his article. Both fronts: check. The stage you are at: pick a fish disease protocol and run it

Great Thank you, Will do a water change and start looking at fish

Spare time · Nov 28, 2021

xellos said:
do you think it still an error even when testing RODI water and diluted tank water as i just mention?

I still believe it is an error as I believe that no budget test kit can reliably tell 1ppm from 0ppm nitrite. Its just too small or a range for realistic testing expectations.

Spare time · Nov 28, 2021

xellos said:
Ohh so we don't even measure nitirite anymore?

+1 it is not a big deal. Nitrite toxicity (at least in one species of clown) begins at 25ppm, and a fishless cycle will never get that high unless you do something incredibly wrong. Again, I don't know the number to which it can actually begin killing the bacteria that produce it, but that number is far beyond what you would see when doing the process correctly or even semi correctly. I still test it when cycling as i like to know how beefy my biofilter is. The only other time I test it is when I see ammonia register for someone's water in an established tank (if there is ammonia in an established tank, there must be nitrite as it is processed slower) or when something very wrong happened to the biofilter (they tend to be the first bacteria to die if something wrong happens). But again, these are only certain scenarios that don't apply here. I've worked in an lfs part time for years and have found some people to be extremely impatient or reckless and are not very good at diagnosing their problem, therefore by default I like them to test everything for me in order for me to help them out.