Fishless cycle Day 10

[jormanvf]

Hello, good afternoon, I am new in this hobby and I started cycling my 15 gallon tank from IM with Fritz Turbo Start, I have live sand and dry rock, and since day 3 ammonia was showing 0 on my Salifert Test Kit, since day 7 the nitrites haven't changed on my API Test Kit, they are not dropping, is this normal? Should I just keep waiting?

Thank you.

 

[davidcalgary29]

First, nitrites are less important for cycling than is the level of ammonia in your tank. Have you tested that?

Many users have reported API tests to either be unreliable and/or difficult to use in order to obtain accurate results. Are you testing for ammonia and nitrate levels? And what are you using to do this?

 

[jormanvf]

I have, my ammonia shows 0 at this moment with the Salifert Test Kit, my nitrates are about 50.

 

[jormanvf]

First, nitrites are less important for cycling than is the level of ammonia in your tank. Have you tested that?

Many users have reported API tests to either be unreliable and/or difficult to use in order to obtain accurate results. Are you testing for ammonia and nitrate levels? And what are you using to do this?

I have, my ammonia shows 0 at this moment with the Salifert Test Kit, my nitrates are about 50.

 

[Spare time]

You can have nitrites still depending on the amount of ammonia put in at first. I wouldn't worry as that bacteria is slower at processing nitrite to nitrate than the other than makes nitrite from ammonia. You can do a water change whenever. If you haven't used all of the bacteria, dump it all in.

 

[jormanvf]

You can have nitrites still depending on the amount of ammonia put in at first. I wouldn't worry as that bacteria is slower at processing nitrite to nitrate than the other than makes nitrite from ammonia. You can do a water change whenever. If you haven't used all of the bacteria, dump it all in.

My LFS told me to use 2 drops of ammonia per gallon of water since for them 4 drops per gallon was going to be too much, on Thursday afternoon I did a 25 percent water change and nitrites are still the same, I used the whole bacteria bottle the first day of cycle.

 

[Spare time]

My LFS told me to use 2 drops of ammonia per gallon of water since for them 4 drops per gallon was going to be too much, on Thursday afternoon I did a 25 percent water change and nitrites are still the same, I used the whole bacteria bottle the first day of cycle.

I wouldn't worry still. If it's stressing you out, another bottle of bacteria will knock it out. Or, just wait a few more days.

 

[jormanvf]

I wouldn't worry still. If it's stressing you out, another bottle of bacteria will knock it out. Or, just wait a few more days.

Thank you for your response, I'll just keep waiting then, I was a little worried about the tank stalling the cycle

 

[Blopple]

Your cycle may already be complete. Nitrites don't appear to be toxic in saltwater tanks until they reach crazy high levels that we don't really deal with.

I would take a read through this thread from @brandon429 . Lots of great information and perspective in there.

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

non digital ammonia test kit readings make you think you aren’t cycled when indeed you are if you owned a $200 expensive seneye meter, you’d never be doubting your cycle status, since .01% of the reefing population owns these, we need a way to help the majority understand when they’re cycled...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

we'd have you simply change all the wastewater in there, algae fuel, for new clean water and begin reefing if rocks have sat in the tank stewing this whole time. no more testing is needed, in order to keep fish safe you'll need to enact specific disease protocols when you add in fish, such as fallow and quarantine. if you really want to see the right way, the right order to stock your new reef after a full water change, it's this:

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

fish go in last, after the reef is built, not first like the masses do if you want to avoid the rates of disease you see daily in the disease forum. the cycle wasn't your challenge, the disease planning is

(no dead tanks are found in the new tanks forum here, all modes of cycling work fine. all busy loss rates daily are in the fish disease forum, we aim planning and concerns there)

 

[Spare time]

Thank you for your response, I'll just keep waiting then, I was a little worried about the tank stalling the cycle

Yeah stalling a cycle is really difficult to do. You essentially need such an insane amount of nitrite that it kills the bacteria that produces it (which wouldn't even be the case in this scenario). I personally would just do another water change and call it a day. Next step would be to get something in the tank or to start a qt (which I recommend endlessly).

 

[jormanvf]

we'd have you simply change all the wastewater in there, algae fuel, for new clean water and begin reefing if rocks have sat in the tank stewing this whole time. no more testing is needed, in order to keep fish safe you'll need to enact specific disease protocols when you add in fish, such as fallow and quarantine. if you really want to see the right way, the right order to stock your new reef after a full water change, it's this:

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

fish go in last, after the reef is built, not first like the masses do if you want to avoid the rates of disease you see daily in the disease forum. the cycle wasn't your challenge, the disease planning is

(no dead tanks are found in the new tanks forum here, all modes of cycling work fine. all busy loss rates daily are in the fish disease forum, we aim planning and concerns there)

Thank you! I thought I needed to wait until nitrites gets to 0 to add anything there