6 days in and still no Ammonia

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

Hey all, I started my cycle 6 days ago and ammonia still reading 0. I have a 50 gallon with 40 lbs Reel Reef Rock and 40 lbs live pink figi. My question is should I add a little food at just be patient? First time cycling a saltwater tank.

Brew12 · Mar 2, 2017

What did you use to start your cycle?

tgfitz1 · Mar 2, 2017

Looks like the cycle hasn't started yet. Adding food to the tank is a good way of getting an ammonia source into your tank. Chuck in some food and test for ammonia in around 24 hours and you should get a reading

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

I did not put anything but the live rock and sand. I was hoping not to throw anything in but may need to it sounds like.

Brew12 · Mar 2, 2017

Bosko777 said:
I did not put anything but the live rock and sand. I was hoping not to throw anything in but may need to it sounds like.

Yup, you need to. Something needs to break down to create the ammonia that is the food to grow the bacteria you are looking for.

In my opinion, the absolute best way to do this is to add pure ammonia to the tank. Dr Tim's makes an easy to use ammonia product with dosing instructions. Otherwise you can get some from Ace Hardware but you need to make sure it is pure ammonia. Many "clear ammonia" products add soap and you can't use those.

Otherwise, some people like to add a raw shrimp to their tank. Others prefer to just ghost feed as if there were fish in the tank. Those options both work it is just harder to control the amount of ammonia created. And the shrimp really looks nasty after about a week

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

Thx for the advice. I am a little scared to do the straight ammonia. So I guess I will try some fish food first. Thx

Jason mack · Mar 2, 2017

There is nothing too be afraid of from adding pure ammonia. So long as you don't add too much .. start of with small amounts 25 ml and test and add again until you reach 1-2 ppm , I think I added at total of 125 ml in my 90 g .. with using a dead shrimp or food it's easy too over shoot your 1-2 ppm .. just my 2 penny's worth !!

DipSpit · Mar 2, 2017

Brew12 said:
Yup, you need to. Something needs to break down to create the ammonia that is the food to grow the bacteria you are looking for.

In my opinion, the absolute best way to do this is to add pure ammonia to the tank. Dr Tim's makes an easy to use ammonia product with dosing instructions. Otherwise you can get some from Ace Hardware but you need to make sure it is pure ammonia. Many "clear ammonia" products add soap and you can't use those.

Otherwise, some people like to add a raw shrimp to their tank. Others prefer to just ghost feed as if there were fish in the tank. Those options both work it is just harder to control the amount of ammonia created. And the shrimp really looks nasty after about a week

+1 on this.

I used the Dr. Tim's ammonia additive with great success.

If you dont add an ammonia source, it won't magically appear. No ammonia means no nitrifying bacteria which means no cycle

brandon429 · Mar 2, 2017

http://realreefrock.com/

If that's what you used then you are already cycled per this thread here below. RR classifies as group B rock below, we don't cycle that kind

Add no ammonia to live rock here:
http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

Ways you can verify your rock being group B:
Was wet upon arrival

Didn't stink

Had any forms of life on it

The live sand already was cycled for the same reasons. If it was wet out of the bag, it was ready to go. Wet and unsterilized + submersion time exceeding 40 days always equals bacteria

If your rock was painted fake coralline and not cured underwater (site says otherwise) or dry upon arrival then treat it like group A rock in the thread

That site makes it seem like they are selling the most choice group B rock on the planet. Shipping never ever removes bacteria it grows them, because microbenthic life forms are likely to die off in shipping (why we don't add ammonia to make problems worse) and their death feeds bacteria

even if the benthics aren't on the rock and nothing dies, shipping isn't antibacterial if the rock shows up wet. The hardest mode in reefing is knowing which systems need to have ammonia dosed and which ones do not need it at all
some show up ready, which yours sure sounds to be the case.

Cycling: everyone must cycle. sometimes we buy setups where someone else did the cycling. sometimes we start w all dry setups and must do the cycling ourselves. moving rocks among tanks, even over state lines, doesn't cause loss of bacteria if kept wet... it may or may not cause loss of benthic life like worms, pods, sponges etc

Brew12 · Mar 2, 2017

brandon429 said:
http://realreefrock.com/

If that's what you used then you are already cycled per this thread here below. RR classifies as group B rock below, we don't cycle that kind

Add no ammonia to live rock here:
http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

Ways you can verify your rock being group B:
Was wet upon arrival

Didn't stink

Had any forms of life on it

The live sand already was cycled for the same reasons. If it was wet out of the bag, it was ready to go. Wet and unsterilized + submersion time exceeding 40 days always equals bacteria

If your rock was painted fake coralline and not cured underwater (site says otherwise) or dry upon arrival then treat it like group A rock in the thread

That site makes it seem like they are selling the most choice group B rock on the planet. Shipping never ever removes bacteria it grows them, because microbenthic life forms are likely to die off in shipping (why we don't add ammonia to make problems worse) and their death feeds bacteria

even if the benthics aren't on the rock and nothing dies, shipping isn't antibacterial if the rock shows up wet. The hardest mode in reefing is knowing which systems need to have ammonia dosed and which ones do not need it at all, they show up ready, which yours sure sounds to be the case.

Cycling: everyone must cycle. sometimes we buy setups where someone else did the cycling. sometimes we start w all dry setups and must do the cycling ourselves. moving rocks among tanks, even over state lines, doesn't cause loss of bacteria if kept wet... it may or may not cause loss of benthic life like worms, pods, sponges etc

Good point. I forget that Real Reef Rock is man made but then put in a green house to grow bacteria.

I still recommend adding an ammonia source to verify that the bacteria that shipped with the rock is still functioning. If everything is working well you should never see ammonia but should start seeing Nitrates. Ideally, you would be ready for fish almost immediately when using a product like this.

saltyfilmfolks · Mar 2, 2017

If its live rock you probably won't see ammonia. but give another week and watch ammonia levels nitrites. Put some snails in on week three.

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

Wow great info, the Rock was delivered wet and sand was wet. I'm about test nitrites.

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

I just tested for nitrites and nitrates and both read zero.

mcarroll · Mar 2, 2017

6 days....not 6 weeks.....

If you stock slowly, there's nothing wrong with proceeding from here.

Add a snail or two, then maybe a crab or two in a couple weeks. Then maybe a couple more snails in a a few more weeks, etc.....until you get up to corals and then later fish.

Back in the day this was the only way to do it. We all made vicious fun of "Biozyme", which was the first product I was aware of designed to shorted the initial cycling of the tank.

I still used it since it came with the used setup I started with, but I had no means of knowing whether it worked, so I still just went with the slow method of stocking the tank.

I need to go eat something. LOL

Bosko777 · Mar 2, 2017

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. I am going to grab a couple snails today.

AndrewNC · Mar 2, 2017

Yes patience is key. I wouldn't add any livestock until you are 100% it's been fully cycled. Cycling sucks but be patient

Layllah · Mar 2, 2017

Def +1 on all the tips- I've cycled small tanks for qt/frags/hospital needs quite quickly with live sand, ghost feeding and dosing Seachem Stability or Dr Tim's to seed bacteria. I'd also recommend getting a ammonia badge, like $8 on amazon, when you're waiting for the cycle its much nicer to be able to reference that in-tank chart quite quickly, and then once you see the ammonia read and drop, test for the trites.