I’m cycling my tank I’m on day 12 my ammonia is zero my nitrite is around 2, 4 ppm and my nitrate is around 100 probably more do I keep dosing ammonia
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Yes. Set the tube on the white background and look down at the color. It should look quite a bit lighter than from the side
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I personally see no need to wait for nitrite to decline if ammonia rapidly clears.
PotatoPig
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The test has two modes - the default is through the top, but they have a “high sensitivity” mode where you look through the side and then divide the value by 10 to test low range results
Yes, but the OP was using the low range for 100+ ppm nitrate reading. He needs to use the high.The test has two modes - the default is through the top, but they have a “high sensitivity” mode where you look through the side and then divide the value by 10 to test low range results
I can’t seem to track down the paper, but I’ll keep trying because 2 posts have now said this and I don’t believe it to be true information. IIRC, something about the metabolic pathway stalling out and taking quite awhile to reactivate, even if the bacteria are alive. Like they can go dormant with lack of ammonia input into the cycle.
Dburr1014
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Thread 'Experiment: Does nitrifying bacteria survive a month without ammonia or other supplementation' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...hout-ammonia-or-other-supplementation.890358/
Interesting experiment, but the controls were somewhat questionable. In the OPs case why risk it? He already has a bottle of ammonia. The peer reviewed scientific literature suggests the bacteria go dormant and take a while to restart nitrification. Interestingly, the bacteria referred to here is involved in nitrite oxidation to nitrate, rather than ammonia to nitrite. So we have come full circle to the question of whether we care about “that part” of the nitrogen cycle as it relates to fish health
.Cultivation, Growth Physiology, and Chemotaxonomy of Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria
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Dburr1014
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Interesting experiment, but the controls were somewhat questionable. In the OPs case why risk it? He already has a bottle of ammonia. The peer reviewed scientific literature suggests the bacteria go dormant and take a while to restart nitrification. Interestingly, the bacteria referred to here is involved in nitrite oxidation to nitrate, rather than ammonia to nitrite. So we have come full circle to the question of whether we care about “that part” of the nitrogen cycle as it relates to fish health
Cultivation, Growth Physiology, and Chemotaxonomy of Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria
I guess it really comes down to when is the OP going to add a fish.
In a day, a week, a month, a year?
Not sure why we are discussing this, it's moot if the first addition is a couple weeks or less.
twentyleagues
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Like @Dburr1014 I am unsure of the time table we are talking about here. Are they getting fish today next week or next year? But the article you posted brings up a point I had read about also (unsure if it the same article) which may help the op.Interesting experiment, but the controls were somewhat questionable. In the OPs case why risk it? He already has a bottle of ammonia. The peer reviewed scientific literature suggests the bacteria go dormant and take a while to restart nitrification. Interestingly, the bacteria referred to here is involved in nitrite oxidation to nitrate, rather than ammonia to nitrite. So we have come full circle to the question of whether we care about “that part” of the nitrogen cycle as it relates to fish health
Cultivation, Growth Physiology, and Chemotaxonomy of Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria
When I started my current reef in January with dry rock and bagged sand. I had a 5-10 day "stall" on Nitrite reduction. Ammonia was 0 but nitrite was 5. It sat there like that for a while. I read something along the same lines as the middle paragraph on what you posted. I decided to add some reef roids to the tank just to see what happened. I have posted this a few times but really no one commented on it or really even seemed to read what I had posted mostly just nitrite dont matter put fish in. I get it nitrite is not harmful to sw fish but I wanted a complete cycle with all points being covered before I added fish. We constantly preach nothing good happens fast in a reef so why rush it. Anyway back to what I observed the day after I add the roids the nitrite was down to 3. I waited a day and they stayed at 3. The next day I added more roids. The day after nitrite was between 1-2. I waited 2 days and nitrite stayed the same 1-2ppm. The next day I added more roids and the tank had 0 nitrite 24hrs later. I used about a 1/4 tsp per use. I used roids because I had gotten a free sample at a frag swap, is reef roids the only thing to use probably not any fish food may work but part of what I had read stated that not just organics need to be present for nob to flourish but po4. I know roids are heavy phosphate. I tested po4 levels on a hannah while I was adding the roids but never really registered more than .01 usually .00 so not a major add. Is this coincidence? maybe. But to see nitrite drop the day after added organics on 3 different tests meant something to me at least. I redosed to 2ppm ammonia about 3 days later added a 1/4 tsp roids and in 24hrs had 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite nitrates were about 15. I did a 20% wc and added my first fish 2 days later. No cycle issues after that.
twentyleagues
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Unsure. I think so yes. All I know is that to me and my "test" it worked. I did a lot of reading when I was getting back in. I saw all the threads on stuck cycle and the accompanying "info". The crazy amounts of threads of not being able to get nutrients in dry rock tanks. The whole biome stuff. I remember back in the day when starting a tank I didnt seem to have many issues like limited nutrients if anything it was a struggle to keep them down. I think filtration has come a long way and is too efficient. Other issues were unwanted hitch hikers like bubble algae, aiptasia, common stuff. I read off forums because we know a lot of what gets posted is regurgitated hearsay (doesnt mean there isnt info there), or personal experience (not always applicable in all scenarios, probably quite valuable usually), Very little actual scientific reason why (just do this and it will work) most of the time (not always). Scientific papers are hard to read (at least for me, very boring) but I struggled through. I found info on what I posted above and it worked (seemed to anyway). I keep my tank in the manner that I did back in the day (not over filtered lots of macro a good skimmer good flow wc when needed). I have decent nutrients in my tank, so far little issues with anything mostly just the stuff that drove me crazy back then, bubble algae and aiptasia (thanks lfs live rock and corals transferring them to my dry rock tank). I did run into the bjd that seems to have popped up in the 12-15years I was out (biome? lack of coral qt?), that is a bugger for sure. Never ran into that in the past and I had a tank full of euphyllia (of course not whats avail now ). I didnt save the articles I wish I had so I could post excerpts from them but if you are like me would you read them.....
Naekuh
Valuable Member
I think your honestly done with cycling if your seeing that much nitrate.
You're probably safe doing a 40-50% water changing and adding a fish at this point, and letting the nitrite cycle finish out if its not already finished, which i think it is, since ammonia is 0ing out.
You're probably safe doing a 40-50% water changing and adding a fish at this point, and letting the nitrite cycle finish out if its not already finished, which i think it is, since ammonia is 0ing out.
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