Am I cycled already?

[Dquad18]

So my tank has been set up for roughly a week and a half now, and I have been using dr Tim’s and ghost feeding to start the cycle. As my test kit just came in the mail today these are the results of my first test. It looks like there is trace of nitrates already, could I possibly be cycled already or are my eyes just bad? Thanks for any help!

 

[bigdrew]

Sure looks like it. I’d hold off on adding anything for a few weeks, just to be sure. And, I’d keep testing during that time period. Either way, it’s a new tank, so I think although it may be cycled, waiting for that bacteria to keep stabilizing is a good thing.

 

[Mical]

I highly doubt it has cycled already. It probably hasn't even ramped up and peaked yet. Patience is a virtue in this hobby. Keep testing and watching.

 

[foxt]

Looks like you have ammonia > 0 (looks green, not yellow), so you are still cycling.

 

[phatduckk]

technically w/ Dr Tim's method you're "done" once your tank can process 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours.

From their site:

Continue to measure every day. When you can add 2 ppm ammonia and BOTH ammonia and nitrite are below 0.2 ppm (NH3-N or NO2-N) the next day your tank is cycled - congrats! You're done!

 

[Righteous]

It's possible to be cycled in 1 week with good live rock and Dr Tims, however your ammonia looks positive. I would keep testing ammonia on a regular basis and see if it drops.

Once you get zero, it's a good idea to try raising the ammonia to 2ppm and then see if it goes back to 0ppm within 24 hours.

I'm assuming you are using the Dr Tims ammonium chloride? If so I've never ghost fed on top of that. Ghost feeding when there is no cleanup crew is hard to cycle, since it decomposes at random rates, and will cause sudden high and low ammonia levels.

Also ghost feeding is going to be adding phosphates that aren't getting picked up by livestock. So test your phosphate levels, and run GFO if high so you don't get an out of control algae bloom.

 

[FishyDP]

Looks like you still have ammonia. I would say keep doing what you are doing until the ammonia test is clearly yellow. At this time do a partial water change, add some ammonia and see if the ammonia is processed within 24 hrs. I agree that you are still a few weeks out from being cycled.

 

[Dragon52]

Welcome to R2R

 

[hllb]

Your ammonia looks to be .5, so you're probably not quite there yet. But, my tank cycled in less than a week (and it's been 5 weeks now, so I do know that was correct). I will warn you that the API test for ammonia likes to never show true 0. It frequently will show .25. Because yours looks to be .5 though, I'd say that's real.

 

[Dquad18]

Thanks for the fast replies, ill keep watching the ammonia levels. Also dont know if this makes any sense but should i do a water chnage to get a clean slate, and then dose 2ppm of ammonia from there?

 

[Dquad18]

It's possible to be cycled in 1 week with good live rock and Dr Tims, however your ammonia looks positive. I would keep testing ammonia on a regular basis and see if it drops.

Once you get zero, it's a good idea to try raising the ammonia to 2ppm and then see if it goes back to 0ppm within 24 hours.

I'm assuming you are using the Dr Tims ammonium chloride? If so I've never ghost fed on top of that. Ghost feeding when there is no cleanup crew is hard to cycle, since it decomposes at random rates, and will cause sudden high and low ammonia levels.

Also ghost feeding is going to be adding phosphates that aren't getting picked up by livestock. So test your phosphate levels, and run GFO if high so you don't get an out of control algae bloom.

The reason i started ghost feeding was i was running out of Dr tims so i was trying to conserve FYI, also would preforming a water change be good in preventing high phosphates?

 

[Righteous]

Thanks for the fast replies, ill keep watching the ammonia levels. Also dont know if this makes any sense but should i do a water chnage to get a clean slate, and then dose 2ppm of ammonia from there?

I don't think a water change is going to hurt anything, but it's probably also not required. If the ammonia starts to get in the 4ppm+ range you might want to start doing some 20-30% water changes to make sure you don't start killing any life on your rocks.

Before adding livestock, doing some water changes to bring down nitrates can be a good idea. Though depending on if you're going to run a refugium, you might want to the level higher to give the algae a good start

 

[Righteous]

The reason i started ghost feeding was i was running out of Dr tims so i was trying to conserve FYI, also would preforming a water change be good in preventing high phosphates?

Yes it can help. Phosphate also has tendency to get into the surface of live rock, so running GFO also doesn't hurt.

Is this you're first tank? If so welcome!! Everyone loves to read about new tanks in the Members tank forum, plus if you list all your equipment and setup there, and link to it in profile people can provide better advice.

 

[brandon429]

we need to see a pic of your rocks as well, to see if they're live or dry type

 

[Dquad18]

we need to see a pic of your rocks as well, to see if they're live or dry type

This is my first saltwater tank, I first showed my set up in my first post

First saltwater tank

Hey all! im new here just starting my first saltwater tank. Just kinda wanted to show the tank in hopes I can maybe get some tips and advice from others. Tank is 15 gallon column with roughly 20+ (I believe) pounds of dry rock, just added 3 pieces of live rock yesterday. If all goes we’ll plan...

www.reef2reef.com

I have mostly dry rock and I added a pound of live rock as my LFS was having a large sale

 

[brandon429]

good deal, the way your blended cycle works is the live rock will transmit all the required life to the rest of the tank within 30 days regardless of what any test says. that simply means at day 30 of having saltwater, you can start with the planned initial bioload. it cannot fail to occur, cycles are predictable this way and thats neat to know you dont have to gain all permissions from a tester since they vary a lot. good setup, it'll work for sure.

*its done before day 30 and accurate testers w show that when ran, this 30 day is just a handy universal completion timeframe to have handy. since you used blended live and dry materials, the live portions are able to register the cycle actions. waiting 30 days lets the other surfaces catch up nicely

 

[Dquad18]

good deal, the way your blended cycle works is the live rock will transmit all the required life to the rest of the tank within 30 days regardless of what any test says. that simply means at day 30 of having saltwater, you can start with the planned initial bioload. it cannot fail to occur, cycles are predictable this way and thats neat to know you dont have to gain all permissions from a tester since they vary a lot. good setup, it'll work for sure.

*its done before day 30 and accurate testers w show that when ran, this 30 day is just a handy universal completion timeframe to have handy. since you used blended live and dry materials, the live portions are able to register the cycle actions. waiting 30 days lets the other surfaces catch up nicely

Cool thanks, should i still add ammonia to test for the cycle or hold back since the ammonia might hurt the live rock?

 

[brandon429]

its no harm either way. wont matter one way or another, in 30 days all of it is set for sure you can change out any wastewater built up from dosing/testing during that time and start. the bacteria will not die or work slower if you dont feed them, and if you do feed them, it wont be at levels to kill things go right ahead if you like. fun to watch the stuff at work but in the end submersion timing beats all testers that may disagree/handy yep

 

[Righteous]

I’ve found in the past that dry rock can often soak up phosphates faster than live rock and be more prone to algae issues. Some dry rock can also come with phosphate already bound to it from being mined from areas with runoff.

If you don’t have one yet, I’d get a low range phosphate test. Most people aim to keep things around 0.01 to 0.03ppm

Don’t be surprised if your levels are closer to 0.3ppm with possible die off from live rock and feeding. The quicker you can bring that down before adding livestock the better.

Here’s a great thread on the subject:

Rocks leaching phosphate

Working towards setting my tank back up. I have always bought dry rock from my lfs and seeded from maybe a piece or two of live. Other then that I cycle by throwing a shrimp in to start it. Have on every tank I set up. Thinking ahead a bit on this one, almost every tank I battle with HA and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[BeejReef]

Live rock, by definition, is already cycled. It will convert ammonia immediately, with or without any bacterial booster.
Most threads using Dr. T's and dry rock seem to close out their cycle at the 3-4 week range, myself included. That's roughly the point you might expect your dry rock to have become "live enough" to support a couple fish on its own.

So, you had fully cycled rock the moment you dropped in your nice live rock and a portion of your tank is already cycled. That's why you're crushing through the ammonia and nitrite so quickly. Thing is, no once can say whether there's enough bacteria on that rock to support a fish or two. In 2-3 weeks, there will be little doubt.