100% Water Change

[jackalexander]

Didn't realize this thread was created in 2020. Thought it was recent. My apologies. Anyway Jack, your reef looks great. Obviously you're doing a great job. Cheers,

Tim

Thank you! Cheers as well!

 

[ReeferDad93]

@brandon429

So if I’m reading this correctly if we have a traceable amount of ammonia after the given bottle bac cycle “timeframe”; complete a 100% water change and then cycle fixed? I am currently on day 7 of cycling a Waterbox 50.3. I used Brightwell MicroBatcer XLM and the QuikCycl products. Here are my Red Sea measurements as of this evening. All have stayed steady over the past few days. Any advice would be great. I am not in a huge rush so if part of the advice is waiting it out, that’s not a problem.
Thanks!

 

[Hotham]

That appears as .5 ammonia but we know it’s not, you just changed the water. Perfect illustration of api over read. Even if fish is in the tank, you don’t have ammonia above thousandths ppm. whats keeping it from rising to lethal levels is bacteria on the rocks

This just helped me so much, thank you Brandon429. Much respect very intelligent.

 

[Aquamaid]

I'm cycling my tank (first tank in years so feeling like a newbie once again as everything has changed). I'm on day 7 after dosing with Dr. Tim's and ammonia per his directions at first. Day 2 nothing added, day 3 more ammonia, day 4/5 nothing added. His directions would have had me dose on day 6 but ammonia was at 2ppm where he advised to hold. They remain at 2 today (day 7). Nitrates have slowly been rising and now are at 1ppm with Nitrates at 2ppm (assuming my Red Sea test kit is reliable). Do I just hold on ammonia and let the process work or do I need to do a water change if the ammonia level doesn't decline?

 

[brandon429]

do this custom trick for the easy win

cease testing, the kits will mislead you, it's likely already done if you were testing on seneye

just to be safe and we're in no rush: this extra wait time of 3 days gives you time to read in the fish disease forum the required preps

-grind up a small pinch of any fish food into powder, add it into your cycling mix. wait three days, do a full water change or close to it, you're cycled, and can't not be cycled. testing further will only mislead you, unless you have a seneye.

this extra carbon via the fish food + 3 more simple days will fix you right up, even though it's probably ready right now and the test kit is simply misreading since this isn't a calibrated reading like on page one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm cycling my tank (first tank in years so feeling like a newbie once again as everything has changed). I'm on day 7 after dosing with Dr. Tim's and ammonia per his directions at first. Day 2 nothing added, day 3 more ammonia, day 4/5 nothing added. His directions would have had me dose on day 6 but ammonia was at 2ppm where he advised to hold. They remain at 2 today (day 7). Nitrates have slowly been rising and now are at 1ppm with Nitrates at 2ppm (assuming my Red Sea test kit is reliable). Do I just hold on ammonia and let the process work or do I need to do a water change if the ammonia level doesn't decline?

I cannot see any reason to do a water change. I'd just wait.

 

[brandon429]

that's completely opposite to the focus of the thread, but it is the common method agreed. to wait for as many weeks as API says to wait, skipping all disease preps due to hyperfocus on false stuck cycles + open-ended wait for some lasting 90 days, is the common way. I guess as long as you're reading up on disease in the coming weeks until api allows the start, that's at least a change for the better.

Dr. Tim's instructions to add 2 ppm ammonia once, let alone multiple times, is the issue causing these cycling problems for the masses. it wouldn't be an issue if we all had calibrated seneye machines to track what cycles do


that much initial ammonia is certain to overpower cheap ammonia test kits, causing weekslong delays unless we investigate new methods-heart of the thread.