Ammonia spike

[Swimjam]

Hi everyone,
It’s been awhile since I have started a new tank.
I added Dr. Tim’s one and Only it’s been about two weeks. When can I see some sort of ammonia in the tank? I am doing the cycle with no lights keep in mind this is a small innovative marine tank 20gallon. The filter sock is starting look look like it has a yellow stain? No algae or diatoms present. The Red Sea test kit showed a yellow blurry solution... no green hue to it? Thanks for any thoughts you might have. Should I seed the tank again with more live bacteria from Dr. Tim’s ?

 

[JCTReefer]

This might be a silly question, but you did add some ammonium chloride to the tank right?

 

[Swimjam]

This might be a silly question, but you did add some ammonium chloride to the tank right?

No not a silly question I did not and I just ordered some........ also ordered more Dr. Tim one and only..... do you think I need to start the process over?

 

[JCTReefer]

No not a silly question I did not and I just ordered some........ also ordered more Dr. Tim one and only..... do you think I need to start the process over?

Well, the bacteria need a food source “ammonia” to do their thing to start the cycling process. The last tank I cycled, I used Dr Tims one and only coupled with ammonium chloride also. There’s a dosing schedule that’s included with the product to get you going. Pretty simple and straight forward. It did take longer than the instructions said for my tank to fully cycle. Different folks have different results with this product. I’m not sure how long the bacteria will last without a food source. I’ve read once bacteria are established, bacteria can last dang near forever. And then, I’ve also read once established, bacteria need a food source every once in a while to keep the population up. Some people call it ghost feeding the tank. This would be a case where no livestock is present. It wouldn’t hurt to buy another bottle along with the ammonium chloride. Let’s see if @brandon429 has something to add.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Check this out - https://store.drtimsaquatics.com/Recipes_ep_54-1.html

 

[Idoc]

You don't need to start over. Just throw some fish food a (just a little bit) in the tank to start it breaking down into anmonia so the Dr Tims one and only can start populating while you wait for the other ammonia source to arrive.

 

[brandon429]

* before adding the new ammonia would you consider doing something that will be a first measure in reefkeeping

not a joke, this thread has hidden potential
This is a measure of unassisted cycle

Natural feed acquisition, a rare test you know the standard fare shows up eight ppm

But this tank, had only time and minor contamination feeding

*before* adding food or ammonia do an oxidation test with ammonia, before using it as feed

you will have a new measure for reefkeeping and the microbiologists that hang out in the chem forum want to see a theory tested

Yes you didn't feed, but you did do something

Time

How many days does a cycling chart show it takes to control ammonia

Did you meet that date here, for the ammonia time axis on any cycling chart?

You developed visual bioslicks, benthic growth, signifies something we can test with your ammonia

 

[brandon429]

you're basically getting to verify or deny a cycling chart we've relied on a hundred years lol who wouldn't relish that

cycling charts didn't ask what bac we dosed or what food we added, it's nature's measure



Did your tank access enough natural feed to bring the added bacteria into action in a brief two weeks?

Let's test if you'd like, your tank has been ordered in such a way as to provide helpful scientific data. A series of three pictures using that ammonia you have coming can reveal life or confirm lack of it

1. First pic is an ammonia reading the actual vial, current tank water before feeding, next to the color reference chart in clear room daylight no shadows. Baseline zero ammonia picture so we can see the whole ammonia reading on current water


2. Do not add ammonia per directions it'll mess up our test. You can feed bacteria with it after. When ammonia gets in, dose only about ten drops into the tank and wait five minutes, take an ammonia test (not nitrate or nitrite just ammonia) and see if the measure of ammonia changed at all from the baseline pic. If it didn't move up slightly, ten more drops wait five mins take another test. Picture #2 is when you drive the ammonia test slightly up above zero, not 2ppm that'll mess up the test, the slightest change up on the test so we now have two color hues to compare. We're adding the barest amount of ammonia we can to induce a tiny color change in pic #2


3. Pic three is one more ammonia test after the tank sits 24 hours, we see if it matches pic#1 or sticks as color test #2

this post can be used to measure natural feed acquisition and visual benthic markers.

If that third picture sticks it means that new growths we see can form before basic ammonia control is in place. although direct feeding is lacking we can still attempt to measure indirect feeding

 

[Swimjam]

 

[Swimjam]

This is test 2 ammonia test. Bellow .2ppm I’ll take one tomorrow and see if any change. Test one was just clear water in the .

 

[brandon429]

Thank you so much the pics make it hard to tell, did the second pic have more ammonia

excellent job not overdriving it to opaque that w take weeks to clear. If your eyes in person can see the difference that’s what’s needed to track motion overnite

 

[Swimjam]

so what you meant as picture 3 I think after 10 more drops of the ammonia did not change the color just made it blurry but no color change. What does that mean? We will see what it does tomorrow morning.!

 

[brandon429]

Either way those drops are great feed for the bacteria theyll take off fast now