fishless cycle

Call me crazy, but after some Dr Tim’s + Ammonia and a lot of waiting, I thought I was on a great cycling track. Then my ammonia levels started rising for an empty tank. Does anyone know what’s happening here?

hi friends, wondering if i am doing this correct :) redsea 170 42g brightwell aquatics microbacteria start dr tim’s ammonium no filter or skimmer running i’m on day 4 of my fishless cycle, here’s what i have been doing(i realize i have been adding too much ammonia-oops): 15 capfuls of bacteria...

Hey everyone! Need some guidance, I’m new to the hobby, when I started my fishless cycle I added dr Tim’s one and only and I added ammonia, I didn’t test the water until week 3 cause I thought I was meant to just wait weeks on end and be patience, and I didn’t get the memo that I was suppose to...

Hello everyone, Five days ago I started my fishless cycle using Dr Tim's one and only, my water volume is 14.5 gallons and I dosed the whole 4oz bottle. The reading for each day are the same each day Ph 8.0, Ammonia 1.0 and Nitrite 0. I tested my Nitrates today and it's at 5. Is my tank...

Hello, Just added rock, sand, and water to my 16 gallon macro algae display project (feel free to check build thread for stocking and equipment information) and am wondering about the best way to go about cycling this. A lot of the information I see comes from people with either live rock or...

im currently extremely confused i have been cycling dry rock in a bin using bottled bacteria till i had my tank set up and ready to go and initially did tests watching the ammonia go down and the nitrites go up it has been running for about a month now and i just did a test and my ammonia was...

Hi everyone, I know everyone will be bored of the fish-less cycling questions and I sincerely apologise in advance. I have a 300L tank. I’ve been setting up since July. I have the aqua scape in place, made from dry rock. The sand is in place and the saltwater has been added. The salinity is...

On day 8 of Dr Tim’s fishless cycle with one and only and ammonium chloride in an IM Nuvo 15. Set up is mostly 15lbs dry rock and dry aragonite with maybe 5lbs of live rock from my 20gal so not starting with a large established bacterial population. followed the chart but only dosed the...

I raised my ammonia too high to 4 ppm before adding fritz turbostart 900. After 3 days, my ammonia has gone down to 0.25 ppm (I'm using an API test kit, so I know that I won't get a 0 ppm reading, but this is the lowest on the chart). My nitrite has spiked a lot (+5 ppm, the highest reading)...

I am waiting for my IM 15 to ship and arrive, and in the mean time have started cycling my aqua scape in a brute trash can. I was wondering if there was an agreed upon method for continuing to grow the bacteria culture until my tank arrives. intuition tells me that dosing to 2 ppm with...

i would like to start another tank, coral only, and maybe introduce some fish later down the line. Do I Cycle w/ dr Tim’s fishless , water change then go straight in with coral? I know people can battle for weeks to lower nitrates. Do I ghost feed/ feed coral food/ dose nitrates back in after...

First post here on R2R! … I am new to the hobby but have been reading/studying it for years. I finally have space at home to begin. I will be following up in the future with build threads for my salt water mixing station, QT tanks (invert and fish), and display tank that I’m still building...

First off, the title is misleading... I have no idea what is and isn't abnormal . I just filled and started my cycle last night. At 9pm, In my 16 gallon cube I put 4oz of FritzZyme Turbo Start 900 then brought my tank up to 2.0ppm of ammonia. This morning before I left for work at 4:30 am, I...

Hello! I am having some trouble with my tank and I have some questions. This is my first time using Dr. Tims one and only. I have a 24 gallon nano cube, I used CaribSea life rock(I really did not want hitchhikers this time) and CaribSea live sand, along with imagitarium pacific ocean water...

Update: Once I added a HOB refugium to my sumpless 40B, it was game over. The tank started leaking within a week because the extra weight pulled the tank too far out of level. As such, I upgraded to a Red Sea Reefer 250. If you'd like to start there, click here. If you'd like to read through my...

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 am currently setting up my 120 gallon reef tank. A little background info first. 2 years ago I purchased a new 120 gallon aquarium with most of the equipment. I was running a 90 gallon in desperate need of a refresh. It is still limping along with the two external canister filters and...

Hi Everyone, Long time lurker on this forum and recently got into the hobby (5 weeks marine, but 2 years freshwater). I set up my Red Sea Nano Max 75L 5 weeks ago with the included protein skimmer, Red Sea live sand, a couple of dry rocks, Marine Pure filter media spheres, and RODI water with...

Hi Everyone! I've been lurking on this forum for the last few months and finally decided to take the leap into the hobby. I've always had a huge interest in reefs/sea life and regularly volunteer at one of the nations largest aquariums (pre-covid, super ready to feel safe going to indoor...

Has anyone ever seen a tank drop nitrates without a water change? Last week my readings were: Ammonia:0, nitrite:1.0, nitrate 80ppm. This week my readings are Ammonia:0, nitrites:0.25, nitrates:10ppm. I've done a lot of research but not seen this. Thanks.

Hello everyone, after moving from a beach town to a valley with no ocean nearby, I decided to get a saltwater tank as I love being by the ocean. I started doing a fishless cycle 3 weeks ago using Dr. Tims ammonia and Microbacter 7. I measured my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels every other...

Hello I started my adventure into saltwater on January 1st this year. I was given a 29 gallon tank for Christmas from a family member who breeds fish. My lovely younger sister who has heard me talk about wanting a saltwater reef for awhile bought me a Tidal 55 HOB filter and a HOB protein...

Hey everyone! So I’m on day 5 of the Dr. Tim’s fishless cycle. yesterday my tests read: pH (8.15) and nitrite (0.1) seem good but my ammonia is at 0.5 (salifert test kits) Today I tested my ammonia and now it’s showing 1.5! is that okay? I feel like the bacteria should be bringing this down...

Reef Tank Started with the following currently at Day 24 of the fishless cycle, Should I do a water change if the Nitrite is measuring 5PPM and above for 8+ days while Ammonia drop to 0ppm. Temp: 80 Salinity: 20ppt Ammonia: Dr Tims Bacteria: Dr Tims one and Only Rocks: Carib sea Life rock...

I am cycling a 32 gallon bio cube using a 10% ammonium hydroxide solution from Ace Hardware. Things seem to be going well (1ppm ammonia and .50 nitrites so far) but I am suddenly panicked that I used the wrong thing. I can’t find an ingredient list on the bottle. Shaking it does not cause foam...