What next?? Cycle is over!

[TylerJaid]

Hey everyone I have a 55 gallon tank that is now ready to be occupied, it was 29 days to complete my cycle. I have everything ready, I still do have fairly high nitrate, should I water change 20% to bring them down?? Also I ordered fish 1 1/2 weeks ago from dr reef. My tank just got done cycling today, do I have to dose more ammonia or can I just wait it out till my fish get in? I'm not sure how long it'll take for them to get here but they are common fish so it shouldn't be much more than a month or so... am I okay just leaving the tank sit empty?? Thanks in advance!

 

[Formulator]

There is a lot of hidden complexity in this question, but I’m not going to open the can of worms. A couple of weeks should not be a problem. But if it were me, I would keep feeding those bacteria with ammonia every few days just for good measure. It can’t hurt and you already have it, so why not?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone I have a 55 gallon tank that is now ready to be occupied, it was 29 days to complete my cycle. I have everything ready, I still do have fairly high nitrate, should I water change 20% to bring them down?? Also I ordered fish 1 1/2 weeks ago from dr reef. My tank just got done cycling today, do I have to dose more ammonia or can I just wait it out till my fish get in? I'm not sure how long it'll take for them to get here but they are common fish so it shouldn't be much more than a month or so... am I okay just leaving the tank sit empty?? Thanks in advance!

When your ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled and ready to have first fish. I recommend quarantining even if quarantined already

 

[Formulator]

When your ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled and ready to have first fish. I recommend quarantining even if quarantined already

Ya he was asking if he needs to keep dosing ammonia while his already ordered fish are in transit potentially for a month.

 

[TylerJaid]

Ya he was asking if he needs to keep dosing ammonia while his already ordered fish are in transit potentially for a month.

Thanks for answering, I was only wondering about continuing to dose ammonia cuz I thought it might cause my nitrates to go sky high than possibly have to do a huge water change which if I could avoid I would prefer to, but not against dosing either!

 

[TylerJaid]

When your ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled and ready to have first fish. I recommend quarantining even if quarantined already

Thanks! I definitely want to keep a clean and sterile tank from the beginning it'll be a lot less of a headache in the future! I am confident that the tank is completely cycled, I used bottle bacteria and it still took 29 days to complete fully!

 

[Formulator]

Thanks for answering, I was only wondering about continuing to dose ammonia cuz I thought it might cause my nitrates to go sky high than possibly have to do a huge water change which if I could avoid I would prefer to, but not against dosing either!

You will probably be fine either way you choose. Just don’t go longer than a few weeks.

 

[skey44]

Yes, 30% water change. Add some brand of nitrifying bacteria daily until the fish get here. Lots of other variables but hopefully you have a large surface biofilter such as rock/sand/biomedia.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone I have a 55 gallon tank that is now ready to be occupied, it was 29 days to complete my cycle. I have everything ready, I still do have fairly high nitrate, should I water change 20% to bring them down?? Also I ordered fish 1 1/2 weeks ago from dr reef. My tank just got done cycling today, do I have to dose more ammonia or can I just wait it out till my fish get in? I'm not sure how long it'll take for them to get here but they are common fish so it shouldn't be much more than a month or so... am I okay just leaving the tank sit empty?? Thanks in advance!

Something I was not clear on- Do not add any more ammonia chloride which will make water toxic. Allow the levels to drop on their own however safe to add denitrifying bacteria to tank though

 

[skey44]

What are your actual test results and system setup. Please post a pic and more information so we can actually help with an informed recommendation

 

[TylerJaid]

Yes, 30% water change. Add some brand of nitrifying bacteria daily until the fish get here. Lots of other variables but hopefully you have a large surface biofilter such as rock/sand/biomedia.

I have 2 hang on back filters with sponges and filter floss in them, roughly 58lbs of carribsea rock, 40 lbs of ocean direct sand.

Today ammonia was 0 ppm
Nitrite was 0 ppm
Nitrate around 15 ppm
Salinity 1.026
Temperature 78

I have not done a water change at all since I started the cycle, lights are always off until I get my first livestock. It's my first reef tank so I'm going to keep mainly soft corals ( I really like the look of them even though they are a nuisance to a lot of other people) anything I missed? Thanks for the replies!

 

[TylerJaid]

Something I was not clear on- Do not add any more ammonia chloride which will make water toxic. Allow the levels to drop on their own however safe to add denitrifying bacteria to tank though

Thanks, it was ammonia chloride so I'll stay clear of that, would adding some copepods produce enough ammonia?? I hear they will also help in fighting the ugly stages early on

 

[Formulator]

Is anyone actually reading the OP here? The cycle is done. They weren’t asking for cycle advice. They are dealing with a delay between cycle completion and addition of fish. I was trying to avoid an overly technical discussion but here it goes… There is some literature evidence that nitrifying bacteria, especially those involved in the conversion of nitrite to nitrate, and to a lesser extent, the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite, can become dormant in the absence of ammonia input. Sometimes there can be a delay in reactivating these bacteria upon reintroduction of ammonia. This latent dormancy usually takes a few weeks in the absence of ammonia, but nonetheless it is worthwhile to consider. To avoid this, while waiting for fish to arrive, the OP could continue to dose ammonia every few days, keeping the bacteria fed and active. The downside is continued increase in nitrate in the interim, which would need to be managed by water changes. Not dosing is an option as the bacteria most often observed to go dormant is primarily responsible for the nitrite to nitrate part of the nitrogen cycle, and nitrite is much less of a concern for fish.

 

[Solo McReefer]

That size tank, at least a couple jars of copepods. Get some live phyto to feed them until(or even after) your tank matures

To answer your question obliquely, every lifeform you add to the tank will produce a pollution of some sort. Completely unavoidable and necessary

When they have all come to an equilibrium, your tank is considered mature. 2 or 3 years from now, that may happen

And most people don't think soft corals are a nuisance. The motion is entrancing for most people's, the colors-otherworldly. SPS reefers just love the challenge of hard corals. That's why there are so many mixed reefs, people like the challenge of SPS, and they like the look of soft corals-so they do both

There was a time when gonipora were considered difficult to keep, for context.

I love pulsing hands xenia for example, but I've done them already. And will enjoy them in other people's tanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks, it was ammonia chloride so I'll stay clear of that, would adding some copepods produce enough ammonia?? I hear they will also help in fighting the ugly stages early on

Copepods not a good idea - yet and they dont produce ammonia but feed on algae and some waste.

 

[TylerJaid]

Is anyone actually reading the OP here? The cycle is done. They weren’t asking for cycle advice. They are dealing with a delay between cycle completion and addition of fish. I was trying to avoid an overly technical discussion but here it goes… There is some literature evidence that nitrifying bacteria, especially those involved in the conversion of nitrite to nitrate, and to a lesser extent, the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite, can become dormant in the absence of ammonia input. Sometimes there can be a delay in reactivating these bacteria upon reintroduction of ammonia. This latent dormancy usually takes a few weeks in the absence of ammonia, but nonetheless it is worthwhile to consider. To avoid this, while waiting for fish to arrive, the OP could continue to dose ammonia every few days, keeping the bacteria fed and active. The downside is continued increase in nitrate in the interim, which would need to be managed by water changes. Not dosing is an option as the bacteria most often observed to go dormant is primarily responsible for the nitrite to nitrate part of the nitrogen cycle, and nitrite is much less of a concern for fish.

Thank you!!! I have been trying to read into this everywhere I can but I just wanted to see what other people had experienced or thought first hand. There's a lot of knowledge on this site, I will dose ammonia I think just not a whole lot maybe once every week and a half until the fish get here, I will keep tabs on nitrate and do a water change if necessary, thanks for the thought out replies!

 

[TylerJaid]

That size tank, at least a couple jars of copepods. Get some live phyto to feed them until(or even after) your tank matures

To answer your question obliquely, every lifeform you add to the tank will produce a pollution of some sort. Completely unavoidable and necessary

When they have all come to an equilibrium, your tank is considered mature. 2 or 3 years from now, that may happen

And most people don't hint soft corals are a nuisance. The motion is entrancing for most people's. Stickheads just live the challenge of hard corals. There was a time when gonipora were considered difficult to keep. That's why there are so many mixed reef, people like the challenge of SPS, and they like the look of soft corals

I love pulsing hands xenia for example, but I've done them already. And will enjoy them in other people's

Makes complete sense, I just really like the look of them and also the idea of a somewhat easier to keep tank until I really get the hang of it! Can't wait to get some stocking done in my tank I'm very excited!

 

[TylerJaid]

Copepods not a good idea - yet and they dont produce ammonia but feed on algae and some waste.

I will hold off on copepods, when algae starts showing up I'll get some ordered, I was planning on doing mixed variety of them when I do!

 

[Solo McReefer]

They are dealing with a delay between cycle completion and addition of fish.

If this were my tank, tester corals, the hardy fish, and a good CUC would already be in this tank

I would have some (looks sumpless) macro algae behind the rock. Couple jars of copepods, 20 nassarius snails for the sandbed. Dosing bacteria each night. And making sure everything is fed

I see no reason to delay, if this were mine. What is the delay for?

 

[TylerJaid]

I have a lfs about two hours away but do not like the quality of the fish there so I ordered off of doctor reefs website about 1 1/2 weeks ago, I'm not sure when the 3 fish and 4 corals will be here but hoping for sometime soon