Cycling an Aquarium

[brandon429]

cycling is no longer your issue, it's done a while back (your non digital test kits have delays in reporting compared to digital nh3 kits)

based on the # of days running plus your ammonia drop reported, even the non digital test kits now agree it's ready.

the risk to your fish now lies in the preps from the stickies in the disease forum, you're about to skip past those crucial steps. (fallow and quarantine)

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

read that thread if you want to keep your fish alive the longest vs replace them every few months

you add fish last, not first, to avoid having to use a separate tank to fallow prep every single item you'll add from a pet store coming up, and that's a lot of items. hardly anyone will adhere to what they're reading above, which is why on any given day the disease forum is chock full of loss help posts, within the first eight months of stocking unprepped fish and corals. they all thought too they could skip it.

many of the entrants in the help threads did attempt to qt and fallow, but did it wrong somewhere along the way and disease still got through, even after they tried. not trying at all to prevent disease is literally welcoming it, especially in dry start tanks that have no natural biosuppression built into the rocks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi!
So now I'm on Day 12 of my fishless cycle where i've been lightly feeding pellets and testing every other day.

Ammonia: 0.25 to <0.15 (it was very close as the colors on the salifert test are so similar) I also put one of those seachem ammonia test cards inside the tank yesterday and it reads safe (<0.02) It was still at 1.5 two days ago when I tested last.

Nitrites: 0.5 - this was at 1 last time I tested 4days ago
Nitrates: 100
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 78.5F

Am I ready for fish? I plan on starting with one Clownfish and then adding the CUC after the tank becomes a little more established.

And with the nitrates being so high, I'm guessing I need to do a water change before adding the clownfish. 20%? 50%?

Nitrates for some reason elevated but have LFS test your nitrates preferably with a NON-Api test kit and see what readings they come up with but should be safe

 

[Netotek]

Nitrates for some reason elevated but have LFS test your nitrates preferably with a NON-Api test kit and see what readings they come up with but should be safe

Will do, thank you!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hi!
So now I'm on Day 12 of my fishless cycle where i've been lightly feeding pellets and testing every other day.

Ammonia: 0.25 to <0.15 (it was very close as the colors on the salifert test are so similar) I also put one of those seachem ammonia test cards inside the tank yesterday and it reads safe (<0.02) It was still at 1.5 two days ago when I tested last.

Nitrites: 0.5 - this was at 1 last time I tested 4days ago
Nitrates: 100
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 78.5F

Am I ready for fish? I plan on starting with one Clownfish and then adding the CUC after the tank becomes a little more established.

And with the nitrates being so high, I'm guessing I need to do a water change before adding the clownfish. 20%? 50%?

Yep! Large water change and add a fish or 2!

 

[Netotek]

cycling is no longer your issue, it's done a while back (your non digital test kits have delays in reporting compared to digital nh3 kits)

based on the # of days running plus your ammonia drop reported, even the non digital test kits now agree it's ready.

the risk to your fish now lies in the preps from the stickies in the disease forum, you're about to skip past those crucial steps. (fallow and quarantine)

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

read that thread if you want to keep your fish alive the longest vs replace them every few months

you add fish last, not first, to avoid having to use a separate tank to fallow prep every single item you'll add from a pet store coming up, and that's a lot of items. hardly anyone will adhere to what they're reading above, which is why on any given day the disease forum is chock full of loss help posts, within the first eight months of stocking unprepped fish and corals. they all thought too they could skip it.

many of the entrants in the help threads did attempt to qt and fallow, but did it wrong somewhere along the way and disease still got through, even after they tried. not trying at all to prevent disease is literally welcoming it, especially in dry start tanks that have no natural biosuppression built into the rocks.

Looks like I have some research to do. I'm new to saltwater altogether so my thoughts were to have the fishtank going and well established before trying any corals since I've never tried them before and to be honest, I hadn't considered it until I came across R2R during my fishcare research.

Ultimately I want what is best for the fish, I'm not too keen on waiting year(s) to add a fish but I will look into it and try to make the right choice.

Thank you for the response, I really appreciate the help

 

[Netotek]

Yep! Large water change and add a fish or 2!

Fantastic, Thank you.

 

[Jess5023]

Hi!
So now I'm on Day 12 of my fishless cycle where i've been lightly feeding pellets and testing every other day.

Ammonia: 0.25 to <0.15 (it was very close as the colors on the salifert test are so similar) I also put one of those seachem ammonia test cards inside the tank yesterday and it reads safe (<0.02) It was still at 1.5 two days ago when I tested last.

Nitrites: 0.5 - this was at 1 last time I tested 4days ago
Nitrates: 100
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 78.5F

Am I ready for fish? I plan on starting with one Clownfish and then adding the CUC after the tank becomes a little more established.

And with the nitrates being so high, I'm guessing I need to do a water change before adding the clownfish. 20%? 50%?

This is nothing my mistake lol

 

[Fer21]

Hello, I’m currently cycling my new 90g tank.

The cycle started may 1st , I used staxx dry rock and dry sand , I took a Maxpect block from my current reef tank to speed things a bit.

I used MocrobaterStart XLM to seed the tank and dose according to instructions, and used QuickCycle for the ammonia source.

The first time I tested was May 12 (12 days later) with the following results:

-1.026 salinity (Hanna)
-0.15ppm ammonia (Salifert)
-2ppm nitrite (Salifert normal reading)
-5ppm nitrates (nyos)
-8.0 Ph (Salifert)

And here are the last results taken may 30th

-1.026 salinity (Hanna)
-0.00-0.15ppm ammonia (Salifert)( hard to tell)
-0.25ppm nitrite (Salifert using low reading)
-12-25ppm nitrates (nyos)
-8.0 Ph (Salifert)

I’m seeing diatoms in the tank, which is a good sign.

What are your thoughts?

I think the cycle is closed to finish, if not finish.

1. Do you add CUC first or fish?
2. Are flame gobies hardy enough to introduce first?

Thank you,
Fer

 

[taricha]

The first time I tested was May 12 (12 days later) with the following results:

-0.15ppm ammonia (Salifert)
-2ppm nitrite (Salifert normal reading)
-5ppm nitrates (nyos)
....

And here are the last results taken may 30th

-0.00-0.15ppm ammonia (Salifert)( hard to tell)
-0.25ppm nitrite (Salifert using low reading)
-12-25ppm nitrates (nyos)

Ammonia was cleared, NO2 was produced and then processed away. You are quite done.

 

[brandon429]

Also important for readers, more important than the stated test levels we never get to verify against digital readings: even if partial amounts of ammonia and nitrite were stated remaining after this much time, he’s still cycled. You can’t not be cycled at this many days underwater with this mix everyone uses

the testing isn’t what closed his cycle, it’s that he’s past day ten of wait after adding bac and feed and that all cycling charts in existence show ammonia control after day ten (and all digital seneye tests within reef displays)

we merely got lucky stated / perceived test levels agreed with the timing already known to exist, this isn’t the majority case we can see in this thread or any other cycling set of threads.

has anyone lost fish in this entire thread, since the start? 81 pages? There’s a whole lot of disagreeing non digital test kits at day 30~ and total carry of all bioload added. Uncycled reefs can’t keep fish + daily feeding alive, we see that here though. We see ability to carry added bioload in any set of cycling analysis threads we search out

what ranges are the stated levels from non digital test kits…people who added prime without stating it etc / adulterants we never know. The # of days is the better measurement to a closed cycle as compared to any forty year old cycling chart

everyone can count number of days objectively, it’s a better method because fish disease preps can begin once we have a clearly closed cycle date.

 

[seanarino]

I made a thread about this but I wondered if adding it onto another would make sense -
My cycle's got low ammonia (~0.2 according to RedSea) but ridiculously high Nitrates (somewhere around 100 ppm!?) - What do I do? Is it possibly a false reading caused by nitrites (which was 1+) - (Either that or I somehow mixed up the nitrate and nitrite test)?
Should I wait and test again today to get more readings? I can compare against my NYOS nitrate kit if so. (I don't like using it because it only comes with one lid for some reason?)

 

[brandon429]

Neither nitrate nor nitrite matter in reef tank cycling

if you do nothing, the tank handles your initial bioload just fine

if you do a large water change your tank handles bioload just fine. people do initial big water changes so they have less algae fertilizer in the water, high or low nitrite or nitrate doesn’t factor into your safe bioload carry. What determines that is # of days your tank has had water in it plus the type of bottle bac you used and feed applied, compared to existing charts that show how long a given brand requires to handle ammonia. giving the required number or wait days for ammonia control to establish outside of common setup variables tank to tank is what matters in reef tank cycling.

 

[seanarino]

Neither nitrate nor nitrite matter in reef tank cycling

if you do nothing, the tank handles your initial bioload just fine

if you do a large water change your tank handles bioload just fine. people do initial big water changes so they have less algae fertilizer in the water, high or low nitrite or nitrate doesn’t factor into your safe bioload carry. What determines that is # of days your tank has had water in it plus the type of bottle bac you used and feed applied, compared to existing charts that show how long a given brand requires to handle ammonia. giving the required number or wait days for ammonia control to establish outside of common setup variables tank to tank is what matters in reef tank cycling.

I personally just (~1-2 days ago) used a full 2oz bottle of Aquatop's Forza Origin and ghost-feed a pinch or two of ON's Prime Reef Formula every day or other day.

 

[brandon429]

Why is this a sticky it's not even being managed anymore.

 

[jonnywink]

Thank you! Lots of great information.

 

[stambo3]

Hello everyone,



@Lasse @Brew12



I am new to marine aquarism and unfortunately have made quite a few mistakes in managing my nitrogen cycle. So if you allow me to explain what happened:

1. Tank is 150 gallons including sump.

2. I added Caribsea Life Rock, Ati Fiji White Sand and Black Sea Stones, washed and disinfected several times.

3. DrTim's Nitrifying Bacteria - UNIQUE

4. Ammonia for them - Waterlife SeAquariums BioMature 100ml - and here I was probably wrong the first time. The bottle is for 800 gallons and I poured the entire amount in one week.

5. Salifert tests for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. Testing every day.

6. 2 times water change of 30%.

7. Lighting is on 10 hours a day, intensity 10-70%.

8. I have a large brown algae bloom on the glass and sand.

9. I put CHAETOMORPHA SP in the sump a week ago but I don't see any result.

10. I add liquid PO4 according to the instructions on the bottle, but on the 10th day there is no result.



Today is day 68 and readings are as follows:



NH3 --- 0.15

NO3 >100

NO2 --- 4.0

PO4 --- 0.0



Please advise, can I add fish, corals?

Thank you in advance !!!

 

[Skfoley4]

Thank you! I wanted this to be the article with the information I would have wanted when I set up my tank.

Now if only I could figure out how to shrink the photos to a more reasonable size.


Glad you like it. I could have written pages more. Actually, I did write more. A lot more. Especially regarding the use of bottled bacteria and skip cycling. It just got to be too much with all of the different rabbit holes you can go down. I wanted to keep this a bit more simple in a way that wouldn't overwhelm a new hobbyist.

Thank you so much...this is very helpful...I was wondering during if I could ask you some questions. I moved live rock, coral and shrimp to new tank. Used dr Tim's and new water while I treat old tank with fish for ick. It has been 2 weeks...no cycling. I was wanting to add my fish back next week buy don't know if it will still cycle while fish are added.

 

[PeterEde]

Thank you so much...this is very helpful...I was wondering during if I could ask you some questions. I moved live rock, coral and shrimp to new tank. Used dr Tim's and new water while I treat old tank with fish for ick. It has been 2 weeks...no cycling. I was wanting to add my fish back next week buy don't know if it will still cycle while fish are added.

I just did a full tank transfer but used new live sand.
I ran it for a few days before putting any fish in. After 2 days all fish went in and I tested water for a few days for Ammonia, Nitrite, Alk. I had .02 ppm Ammonia which disappeared after 2 days
I also does Bacter Boost 2x.

 

[clown2clown]

Hello everyone,

I am new to hobby and any suggestion will be highly appreciated.

• It is 23rd day of cycling.(I dosed MBxlm and MB quickcyle as ammonia source)
• No readable ammonia for last 3 days.
• Nitrite is around 2ppm
• Nitrate is as below ss.

Do you think i am ready for my first fish? if so, do you recommend WC before adding?

 

[brandon429]

Welcome to the site! Glad to meet you on your first post.

-It is 23rd day of cycling-

=that means done, not because a test kit shows zero. Most times they don’t, and you’re still done because no cycling chart has a 23 day ammonia line they have a ten day one for a reason. We define mis testing events using this hardfast rule.

no the tank isn’t ready for fish because that would instantly bring in disease by skipping all preps and we can see in the fish disease forum how that goes down.


mods:
UNSTICKY THIS THREAD: IT IS OLD CYCLING SCIENCE AND ITS AUTHOR DOESNT POST ON THE SITE ANY LONGER

this thread should only be bumped when people post. To have old cycling science as a formal reference holds back cycling evolution: no guidance for disease preps is in Brews writing and that’s what makes this a dated old cycling science thread


a cycled tank is ready for fish when the selected disease protocol warrants addition. It has nothing to do with the tested levels