Cycling an Aquarium

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Your cycle has been done a while, that's ten day bacteria max already well known

Your ready date was March 25th.



The reason it seems it's taking over a month:

-Opting for open ended wait cycling via testing (old cycling science) vs updated cycling science which tells you it was done thee weeks ago having never factored any test kit given (misreads are rife in troubleshoots. We don't factor relayed test results we count how many days your particular cycle approach has been in stew)

- threads like this one that don't relay that option fairly to readers and only promotes the old ways that cost you extra time and money and are never going to tell you about fish disease coming up. Keeping updated cycling science from you isn't fair.


So to fix your cycle, here's the thread your cycle end date just now came from:

Updated cycling science:

That's 42 pages of exact cycle date calls and no testing, how are we doing


next advised step is three days straight reading in the disease forum to learn how stocking order of fish highly impacts them being alive still in eight months, vs winging it with no preps

You'll see no prep impacts in the short study time

Your cycle was already done based on number of days running after using dr tims, no other factor matters as long as it's a normal reef tank

Fish disease is the risk to your fish, a profound delayed risk. Updated cycling science already had a formula for your tanks cycle completion date even if you'd bought no tests.

Don't run any more ammonia tests or nitrites here, ever. All aim is to disease preps now and acclimation steps

Running those tests any further while interpreting those results through the lens of old cycling science will only cause hesitation and more cost and no focus on disease preps

Your cycle was fully done on March 25th for reefing purposes. We don't factor nitrite at all in updated cycling science, see how the new rules chop away at concerns and focus solely on disease? It's better this way. We have zero stuck cycles there four years running
 
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iannarelli

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Reaching out here to hopefully get some additional opinions/help on what the heck is going on with my fishless cycle (dry rock, CaribSea Ocean Direct and Arag Alive Special Grade sand)...

The short version is (longer version): I dosed Dr. Tim's ammonia following the instructions on the bottle and tested an hour later and ammonia was off the charts at 8ppm (according to API). After panicking and reading a bunch of online threads, I decided to bite the bullet and add my Turbo Start 900. The next day, ammonia was down to 2 ppm. The following day it may have been a little lighter in color, somewhere between 1 and 2 ppm. However, Nitrate were 0ppm (Hanna checker). Someone suggested I order an API Nitrite test kit, which arrived yesterday, which also came back 0ppm. This morning, I got the same results, 1-2 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 0 ppm nitrate.

I'm having trouble understanding how ammonia could decrease without having any nitrites or nitrates detected. And also unsure whether I should re-dose the ammonium chloride to get back to 2PPM and then add a new bottle of bacteria.
 

BillFish Coral Lover

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Reaching out here to hopefully get some additional opinions/help on what the heck is going on with my fishless cycle (dry rock, CaribSea Ocean Direct and Arag Alive Special Grade sand)...

The short version is (longer version): I dosed Dr. Tim's ammonia following the instructions on the bottle and tested an hour later and ammonia was off the charts at 8ppm (according to API). After panicking and reading a bunch of online threads, I decided to bite the bullet and add my Turbo Start 900. The next day, ammonia was down to 2 ppm. The following day it may have been a little lighter in color, somewhere between 1 and 2 ppm. However, Nitrate were 0ppm (Hanna checker). Someone suggested I order an API Nitrite test kit, which arrived yesterday, which also came back 0ppm. This morning, I got the same results, 1-2 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 0 ppm nitrate.

I'm having trouble understanding how ammonia could decrease without having any nitrites or nitrates detected. And also unsure whether I should re-dose the ammonium chloride to get back to 2PPM and then add a new bottle of bacteria.
How long has it been running now?
 

iannarelli

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*now* not “more “
Okay, that makes more sense. The initial dose of Dr. Tims ammonium chloride was Monday (6/10) night, as was the 8ppm measurement. 4 oz of Frytz Turbo Start went in the same night. Ammonia tested at 2 ppm on 6/11, and since yesterday its been somewhere between 1 and 2 ppm and both nitrite and nitrate haven't budged off of 0 ppm. I realize the tank is very new, but I've done a rapid fishless cycle many times for freshwater and based on Dr. Reef's research on his Bacteria in a Bottle: Myth or Fact thread, I figured I could expect a similar timeline using the Frytz Turbo Start.
 

BillFish Coral Lover

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Alright, so this isn’t your first rodeo. You know what you’re doing. Trust yourself. You know the numbers aren’t always exact and things in your tank today are different from the one I will start soon, I hope. It may take a short time for nitrite to come off the floor but the process is still in swing.

Dr. Tim’s directions:
Day 3 – If ammonia and nitrite are below 1 ppm add more ammonia: four drops of our ammonium chloride per gallon (check the label)

So, you’re below 1ppm, go ahead and add the appropriate amount of ammonia and cycle forward. Good luck, and happy reefing!
 

iannarelli

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Alright, so this isn’t your first rodeo. You know what you’re doing. Trust yourself. You know the numbers aren’t always exact and things in your tank today are different from the one I will start soon, I hope. It may take a short time for nitrite to come off the floor but the process is still in swing.

Dr. Tim’s directions:
Day 3 – If ammonia and nitrite are below 1 ppm add more ammonia: four drops of our ammonium chloride per gallon (check the label)

So, you’re below 1ppm, go ahead and add the appropriate amount of ammonia and cycle forward. Good luck, and happy reefing!
I thought I knew what I was doing. :grinning-face-with-sweat::grinning-face-with-sweat: I am a bit mystified that the ammonia just seems to be disappearing into thin... salt water? I'll add some more ammonia and then maybe try to grab some more bacteria, just in case I don't see any nitrites or nitrates.
 

BillFish Coral Lover

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I thought I knew what I was doing. :grinning-face-with-sweat::grinning-face-with-sweat: I am a bit mystified that the ammonia just seems to be disappearing into thin... salt water? I'll add some more ammonia and then maybe try to grab some more bacteria, just in case I don't see any nitrites or nitrates.
More nitrifying bacteria never hurt!
 

iannarelli

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Also, API ammonia tests are notoriously inaccurate. They can show a trend, but don't count on them for a hard number.
Thanks Scott. I'm aware that they're not super accurate, especially after reading 20 or so pages of the "Unsticking a Seemingly Stuck Cycle" thread. But in my case, it's even hard to tell if they're really showing a trend or not. If you rule out the 8ppm result which I got an hour after dosing the ammonium chloride as an aberration/outlier/faulty result, the ammonia has been pretty stable while everything else has been 0 ppm.
 

iannarelli

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Today ammonia test, with some "controls":

A, Tap Water: ~0 ppm
B, Fresh RODI Water: ~0 ppm
C, Fresh Saltwater 0 - 0.25 ppm
D, Tank Water 1: 1 ppm
E, Tank Water 2: 1 ppm

PXL_20240614_155601455.jpg PXL_20240614_155737750.jpg
 

ScottJ

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Thanks Scott. I'm aware that they're not super accurate, especially after reading 20 or so pages of the "Unsticking a Seemingly Stuck Cycle" thread. But in my case, it's even hard to tell if they're really showing a trend or not. If you rule out the 8ppm result which I got an hour after dosing the ammonium chloride as an aberration/outlier/faulty result, the ammonia has been pretty stable while everything else has been 0 ppm.
Ok, so you added ammonia Monday night, then, later, bottle bac. It hasn't even been a full 5 days yet. Give it time, it'll be all good. If you have the right salinity water, moving through rock at the right temp, with a food source like ammonia, the good bacteria can't help but to show up to the party! That's the thing that amazes me, you can set up a tank with saltwater, flow, rock and heat, in the middle of the desert a thousand miles away from an ocean, throw in some food, and it will eventually cycle! Bacteria is everywhere!
 

BillFish Coral Lover

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Ok, so you added ammonia Monday night, then, later, bottle bac. It hasn't even been a full 5 days yet. Give it time, it'll be all good. If you have the right salinity water, moving through rock at the right temp, with a food source like ammonia, the good bacteria can't help but to show up to the party! That's the thing that amazes me, you can set up a tank with saltwater, flow, rock and heat, in the middle of the desert a thousand miles away from an ocean, throw in some food, and it will eventually cycle! Bacteria is everywhere!
So true! Life will out!
 

iannarelli

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Ok, so you added ammonia Monday night, then, later, bottle bac. It hasn't even been a full 5 days yet. Give it time, it'll be all good. If you have the right salinity water, moving through rock at the right temp, with a food source like ammonia, the good bacteria can't help but to show up to the party! That's the thing that amazes me, you can set up a tank with saltwater, flow, rock and heat, in the middle of the desert a thousand miles away from an ocean, throw in some food, and it will eventually cycle! Bacteria is everywhere!
So true! Life will out!
I actually tested and had Nitrates last night!!! I dunno how I missed the Nitrites but I'm cycled!
 

Island Goby

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OK...so am scratching my head and need some direction please...filled 225g on 22 July - dry marco in the display with Caribsea live sand got tank to salinity (1.024ish) and temp (77.8) on 23 July - added maxspect bioballs that seeded from my 90g for about 4 months, about 1 cup of sand from my 90g + 2 smallish rocks from 90g, 2 vials prodibio and 3 cubes PE Mysis unrinsed( fed daily to date)...28 Jul using API kits I had color between 0 and .25ppm ammonia - zero nitrite....stayed same till 1 Aug when readings on both were zero and hanna nitrate gave me 1.7ppm and phosphorous gave me 2 - on 4 Aug woke up to bacteria bloom ...5 Aug added additional maxspect biobals seeded from a friends tank....dosed single vial of prodibio on 8 Aug...as of today ammonia still reads 0, nitrite reads 0, nitrate reads 0, phos reads 0 and bacteria bloom still present but not as dense...thinking I am cycled - maybe...can I dose ammonia and to what level to see if it is being processed...and if so ride out the bacterial bloom or??? many thanks in advance and hope I have included enough info - my current 90g was started with live rock and live sand - never did see any sort of cycle which is why I am in unsure territory
**EDIT** additionally have been dosing 1ml of BactoBalance every other day
 
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Lasse

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3 cubes PE Mysis unrinsed( fed daily to date)
That´s a lot for a tank without anything eating it. I would stop that and take up remains if you can. The cloudiness is probably a bacteria bloom. i would not dose ammonia - you will have it with time from the rotten mysis , I would not dose anymore prodibio either. Just wait a week and measuring

Sincerely Lasse
 

taricha

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That´s a lot for a tank

On the other hand....

3 frozen cubes, (3g each) = roughly 10g.
Estimate 90% water weight and pretend the rest is protein.
1g protein = 0.16g (160mg) Nitrogen

In 225 gallons (900L) gives 160mg/900L =
0.18mg/L N.
So we're talking ~0.2ppm total ammonia per day. After heterotrophs get done eating their fill, you might not even detect that on a test kit.
 
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