Specifications:
45 gallon cube/ 14 gallon sump
Bare bottom (No sand)
Roughly 40 lbs of Caribsea Life Rock
Kessil A360x (turned off during this cycling time)
Reef Octopus Essence 130 skimmer (also turned off during cycling time) sitting on top of 6x6in acrylic skimmer stand
1 AI Nero 5 powerhead
1 VINTAGE Waveline 6000 DC return pump
3 coarse sponges in sump return area
My question is what is the actual ideal conversion rate for bacteria to handle ammonia in an established or properly cycled tank?
I am on day 69 of cycling my 45-gallon cube. Wait, what? Well... let me explain. Originally, I dosed Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride along with Dr. Tim's One and only on day one to get me at the recommended 2ppm ammonia reading on day 2.
I did not see any change in ammonia or nitrite reading through day 9, so I decided to add a 32oz bottle of Fritz 9 bacteria (after adding Fritz 9 I visually saw a considerable cloud in the water that I did not see with Dr. Tim's One and Only.
Day 11 of cycling was the first decrease in ammonia reading at 1ppm.
Day 14 was the second decrease in ammonia reading at .50 ppm.
Day 23 was the first sign of nitrite reading at .25 ppm.
Day 27 I was the first sign of Nitrate reading at 10 ppm.
Day 30 ammonia level reading still at .50 ppm ( this is 18 days reading .50 ppm since the second decrease of ammonia).
Day 32 ammonia level decreased to .15 ppm.
Day 33 ammonia reading at 0 ppm Yay!!!!!!
Day 34 ammonia again reading at 0 ppm.
Under any normal circumstances, the next step would be to add a fish or two, but unfortunately, I knew I would be leaving town for an unexpected time in the next week or two, so I decided to see if I could calculate the amount of ammonium chloride I could add to keep the newly established bacteria happy while I was away.
I added another 110 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride on day 34 (this is half the original amount of ammonium chloride added on day 1) which brought me to a reading of 1 ppm ammonia on day 35.
After adding this second dose of ammonium chloride on day 34, it took two weeks to reduce the 1ppm reading of ammonia back to 0 ppm. So on day 48 I was again back to 0 ammonia reading.
What can I say? I was delayed with my expected trip away, so I continued my ammonia dosing.
Day 49 I dosed just 20 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride which took me to only .25 ammonia reading on day 50.
Day 52 through 54 I was again back to 0 ammonia reading.
I dosed again, just 11 drops of ammonium chloride on day 54 taking me to .25 ammonia reading.
Day 56 I was again at 0 ammonia reading.
Day 57 I added 5 drops off ammonium chloride which the following day, day 58 reduced that to 0 ammonia reading.
Day 58 added another 5 drops of ammonium chloride which again converted this to 0 ammonia reading on day 59.
I continued this regimen until day 64 I added another large dose of ammonium chloride (100 drops) again taking me to 1 ppm the following day. On day 69 I saw my ammonia reading again at 0 ppm
From this I am gathering that the established bacteria in my 45-gallon cube roughly can handle a 20% decrease of ammonia per day since this last ammonium chloride dosing took 5 days to reduce my 1ppm reading to 0.
I recently read on a forum that your bacteria should be able to convert a 2ppm reading of ammonia to 0 in 24 hours. Being new to reefing, I am only guessing that the ammonia that develops in a tank through fish respiration, fish waste, organics, etc. would typically be converted by the bacteria as it materializes. Again, not necessarily needing to convert a large 2ppm ammonia reading in 24 hours. To all the seasoned reefers out there, does this roughly 20% ammonia conversion per day seem ideal? If anyone has any thoughts on this, I am listening.
"Many thanks",
Nate
45 gallon cube/ 14 gallon sump
Bare bottom (No sand)
Roughly 40 lbs of Caribsea Life Rock
Kessil A360x (turned off during this cycling time)
Reef Octopus Essence 130 skimmer (also turned off during cycling time) sitting on top of 6x6in acrylic skimmer stand
1 AI Nero 5 powerhead
1 VINTAGE Waveline 6000 DC return pump
3 coarse sponges in sump return area
My question is what is the actual ideal conversion rate for bacteria to handle ammonia in an established or properly cycled tank?
I am on day 69 of cycling my 45-gallon cube. Wait, what? Well... let me explain. Originally, I dosed Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride along with Dr. Tim's One and only on day one to get me at the recommended 2ppm ammonia reading on day 2.
I did not see any change in ammonia or nitrite reading through day 9, so I decided to add a 32oz bottle of Fritz 9 bacteria (after adding Fritz 9 I visually saw a considerable cloud in the water that I did not see with Dr. Tim's One and Only.
Day 11 of cycling was the first decrease in ammonia reading at 1ppm.
Day 14 was the second decrease in ammonia reading at .50 ppm.
Day 23 was the first sign of nitrite reading at .25 ppm.
Day 27 I was the first sign of Nitrate reading at 10 ppm.
Day 30 ammonia level reading still at .50 ppm ( this is 18 days reading .50 ppm since the second decrease of ammonia).
Day 32 ammonia level decreased to .15 ppm.
Day 33 ammonia reading at 0 ppm Yay!!!!!!
Day 34 ammonia again reading at 0 ppm.
Under any normal circumstances, the next step would be to add a fish or two, but unfortunately, I knew I would be leaving town for an unexpected time in the next week or two, so I decided to see if I could calculate the amount of ammonium chloride I could add to keep the newly established bacteria happy while I was away.
I added another 110 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride on day 34 (this is half the original amount of ammonium chloride added on day 1) which brought me to a reading of 1 ppm ammonia on day 35.
After adding this second dose of ammonium chloride on day 34, it took two weeks to reduce the 1ppm reading of ammonia back to 0 ppm. So on day 48 I was again back to 0 ammonia reading.
What can I say? I was delayed with my expected trip away, so I continued my ammonia dosing.
Day 49 I dosed just 20 drops of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride which took me to only .25 ammonia reading on day 50.
Day 52 through 54 I was again back to 0 ammonia reading.
I dosed again, just 11 drops of ammonium chloride on day 54 taking me to .25 ammonia reading.
Day 56 I was again at 0 ammonia reading.
Day 57 I added 5 drops off ammonium chloride which the following day, day 58 reduced that to 0 ammonia reading.
Day 58 added another 5 drops of ammonium chloride which again converted this to 0 ammonia reading on day 59.
I continued this regimen until day 64 I added another large dose of ammonium chloride (100 drops) again taking me to 1 ppm the following day. On day 69 I saw my ammonia reading again at 0 ppm
From this I am gathering that the established bacteria in my 45-gallon cube roughly can handle a 20% decrease of ammonia per day since this last ammonium chloride dosing took 5 days to reduce my 1ppm reading to 0.
I recently read on a forum that your bacteria should be able to convert a 2ppm reading of ammonia to 0 in 24 hours. Being new to reefing, I am only guessing that the ammonia that develops in a tank through fish respiration, fish waste, organics, etc. would typically be converted by the bacteria as it materializes. Again, not necessarily needing to convert a large 2ppm ammonia reading in 24 hours. To all the seasoned reefers out there, does this roughly 20% ammonia conversion per day seem ideal? If anyone has any thoughts on this, I am listening.
"Many thanks",
Nate