Not Sure if Tank is cycled

[sammy50]

Hi All,

I have started fishless cycling with Dr tim's in my 50G tank with Live sand and dry rock. It took about 3 weeks when I got 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite.
As suggested in other threads ,added 2ppm ammonia again just to confirm if my tank is actually cycled . And it took 4 days to get 0 again.

I tried again yesterday adding 2ppm ammonia. Its almost 30+ hours and still ammonia is 0.25. I am confused what's happening with my tank. Is it cycled?

 

[glennkaufman]

It sounds like it. What is your Nitrite now? Are you looking to start livestock?

 

[brandon429]

its done for sure, well before three weeks

nitrite is neutral in all aspects of cycling, and none take this long to complete so youre all set


cycling isnt your risk, its done. disease control is your risk now. adding any fish will instantly bring in disease, unless they were quarantined. your tank can carry several fish now however.

 

[Garf]

I wouldn’t keep adding ammonia, it sounds like it’s done.

 

[sammy50]

It sounds like it. What is your Nitrite now? Are you looking to start livestock?

Nitrite is around 0.5 now. And yes I was planning to start livestock.

 

[sammy50]

its done for sure, well before three weeks

nitrite is neutral in all aspects of cycling, and none take this long to complete so youre all set


cycling isnt your risk, its done. disease control is your risk now. adding any fish will instantly bring in disease, unless they were quarantined.

Got it. Thanks

 

[sammy50]

I wouldn’t keep adding ammonia, it sounds like it’s done.

Thank you

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi All,

I have started fishless cycling with Dr tim's in my 50G tank with Live sand and dry rock. It took about 3 weeks when I got 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite.
As suggested in other threads ,added 2ppm ammonia again just to confirm if my tank is actually cycled . And it took 4 days to get 0 again.

I tried again yesterday adding 2ppm ammonia. Its almost 30+ hours and still ammonia is 0.25. I am confused what's happening with my tank. Is it cycled?

I am not sure where the confusion is.

Your tank took 4 days to get to 0, which is 96 hours. Then it took over 30+ hours. So ammonia being read at 0.25 instead of 0 aside (that's common with the API test kit), your tank is still cycling, though is progressively getting closer to being done given the rate of nitrification increasing.. Once your tank can process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours, then it is cycled.

 

[sammy50]

I am not sure where the confusion is.

Your tank took 4 days to get to 0, which is 96 hours. Then it took over 30+ hours. So ammonia being read at 0.25 instead of 0 aside (that's common with the API test kit), your tank is still cycling, though is progressively getting closer to being done given the rate of nitrification increasing.. Once your tank can process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours, then it is cycled.

I was not sure if this is common to iterate the same cycle of adding ammonia and wait to see if it's converting in 24 hours. I thought normally once my ammonia is 0 , tank should able to convert 2ppm in 24 hours.

 

[Garf]

Personally I think 2ppm is overkill. I’ve only ever added a pinch of flake occasionally to cycle and when I’ve added fish the ammonia never budges.

I am not sure where the confusion is.

Your tank took 4 days to get to 0, which is 96 hours. Then it took over 30+ hours. So ammonia being read at 0.25 instead of 0 aside (that's common with the API test kit), your tank is still cycling, though is progressively getting closer to being done given the rate of nitrification increasing.. Once your tank can process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours, then it is cycled.

Personally I’ve mellowed to this new half cycle idea. Technically yes, it’s not quite complete. Practically I see no evidence that it’s harmful. Now if you go and add a crap load of fish, instead of just a few tiddlers you’ve either got a massive quarantine system, a specialized quarantine supplier, or a lot of heartache on the horizon.

 

[Gqch]

Hi All,

I have started fishless cycling with Dr tim's in my 50G tank with Live sand and dry rock. It took about 3 weeks when I got 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite.
As suggested in other threads ,added 2ppm ammonia again just to confirm if my tank is actually cycled . And it took 4 days to get 0 again.

I tried again yesterday adding 2ppm ammonia. Its almost 30+ hours and still ammonia is 0.25. I am confused what's happening with my tank. Is it cycled?

3 weeks when u got 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite. that means your tank got fully cyceled, then you ca try some easy fish or coral frags at this point. you have added 2ppm to testing your biological filtration system, eventhough it is not necessary but its just ok to do it without any live stocks within the rank. dosing 2nd time ...i wont do it this way. keep reef simple and stable is the only rule for us to keep a healthy reef tank. good luck and happy reefing!

 

[brandon429]

Sammy what you read is basically correct


what the old rules left out is that Api rarely shows zero ammonia even in matured reefs, so many cyclers using that rule were left out in the cold with false stalls. Number of days underwater is the final say in all cycles, and they all complete by a time already charted on cycling charts, ten days or so to ammonia control which is the only param that matters in cycling.

if someone owns a tuned seneye machine then they do get to see all the testing in motion, every time. The rules you read are solid. The available assessment tools are not

what the old rules flat out didnt know was that even if the test kit shows a trace of ammonia after originally declining, the cycle is done and mis-testing is at play (or the sample needs TAN conversion to apply to our reefing context)

when that first drop occurs it goes down quickly and holds, just like the line on any cycling chart never rises after sloping down in ten days. it may rise if fish disease kills mass fish, but it'll never rise from any other cause barring someone adding medication into a display, which we don't do.

ammonia never rises and then kills fish; the required direction is something kills fish and ammonia rises.

we know what ammonia does in all cycling reefs, and by when, off # of days underwater at no time does new cycling science require any testing at all. in any overdose risk cycle we'd just do a full water change on day ten, refill, and the filter is still stuck to all surfaces and that tank would be ready.

 

[Azedenkae]

I was not sure if this is common to iterate the same cycle of adding ammonia and wait to see if it's converting in 24 hours. I thought normally once my ammonia is 0 , tank should able to convert 2ppm in 24 hours.

No, there's no such correlation between ammonia hitting 0 and somehow that meaning the tank can convert 2ppm in 24 hours. I mean, you saw this right - your tanks taking 3 weeks, then 4 days, then 30+ hours.

 

[Azedenkae]

Personally I think 2ppm is overkill. I’ve only ever added a pinch of flake occasionally to cycle and when I’ve added fish the ammonia never budges.

Personally I’ve mellowed to this new half cycle idea. Technically yes, it’s not quite complete. Practically I see no evidence that it’s harmful. Now if you go and add a crap load of fish, instead of just a few tiddlers you’ve either got a massive quarantine system, a specialized quarantine supplier, or a lot of heartache on the horizon.

I do agree. @taricha calculated that even with feeding heaps each day, ammonia is not likely to hit 1ppm, let alone 2ppm.

I calculated from my own feeding and got the same result.

That has lead me to suggest 1ppm in some niche cases, but generally I still suggest 2ppm because having that extra capacity is still nonetheless good (to deal with sudden spikes in ammonia, especially with beginners where they can have things die on them quite readily).