API Master Test Results

[KantGetRite0625]

Good Afternoon,

I setup a Waterbox AIO 10g cube about 2 weeks ago and have been dosing ammonia to do a fishless cycle. I also added some API Quick Start about a week in.

So I tested my water today and got these results:

pH - 8.2-8.4
Ammonia - 1.0-2.0ppm
Nitrite - 0.0-0.25ppm
Nitrate - looks like its darker that 0.0 but lighter than 5.0ppm

Am I doing something wrong? Is everything normal? What should I do next?

 

[Nhjmc]

I've learned the hard way API test kits aren't very reliable. I had the master reef and saltwater master API kits threw them out.

 

[brandon429]

In this thread I post a detailed 3- picture way of Using ammonia tests only (not nirite or nitrate) to determine your start date. I suspect yours will pass, the timeframe + the bottle bac designed to work in that time frame

Why did my fish die?!

Foughter here's how to re proof your tank for a second go round, much safer: leave everything as is dont add more bacteria, I suspect what you added is fine, we're about to see step one is run an ammonia test right now and post the pic, this is calibrated zero reading, even though Im sure it...

www.reef2reef.com

run the three picture test for api ammonia in there and post pics, i can use your outcome in big cycling threads if the pics are clear And all the steps in order


side benefit of reading that thread, you won’t start with fish too soon lol


the single reading of api ammonia isn’t what we need. We need the 3x pictures to show movement, or stall. If it shows movement you can begin reefing, you’d change out your cycle water for new and begin after passing the motion down test.

 

[vetteguy53081]

With the mixed results offered by API test kits, I would take a sizable water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test water for you to compare with your API results and then you’ll know if future test results are reliable

 

[KantGetRite0625]

Okay, I did the three pictures like you said. So here are the results. Also, I did a nitrate test and it seems that my nitrates are up to 10ppm i think?

 

[brandon429]

ok nice start. we needed a test pic of your current tank water, before dosing any ammonia


and then the ammonia raised up pic


and then the last pic #3 comes in one day after adding the ammonia, to see if the color lightens back up, that motion change is what we're looking for among the three.

that above is after you added some liquid ammonia right?

I bet in a day or two that color lightens, so you'll be ready. especially if there's nitrate now it means you had live bottle bac and they're working.

 

[KantGetRite0625]

ok nice start. we needed a test pic of your current tank water, before dosing any ammonia


and then the ammonia raised up pic


and then the last pic #3 comes in one day after adding the ammonia, to see if the color lightens back up, that motion change is what we're looking for among the three.

that above is after you added some liquid ammonia right?

I bet in a day or two that color lightens, so you'll be ready. especially if there's nitrate now it means you had live bottle bac and they're working.

So the first picture was before I added more ammonia. I hadn't added ammonia for days before that.

 

[brandon429]

hey now that you mention it I do see the change and it was a bare change. thats a mighty dark number one picture lol/seems like has some good ammonia in it now before the add

lets see nitrate curious there. any nitrate at all that is obvious means the machinery is working, we just let it run a few days and change out that dense cycling water for new and we'll be set.


typically for pic 1 we do a full or nearly full water change, to get that reading down as light as possible, so the changes are easier to detect back n forth. but I can see it change a little above based on what you said

given two weeks and some nitrate you could change water and begin, all bottle bac is done before that long in test threads by Dr Reef.

 

[KantGetRite0625]

hey now that you mention it I do see the change and it was a bare change. thats a mighty dark number one picture lol/seems like has some good ammonia in it now before the add

lets see nitrate curious there. any nitrate at all that is obvious means the machinery is working, we just let it run a few days and change out that dense cycling water for new and we'll be set.


typically for pic 1 we do a full or nearly full water change, to get that reading down as light as possible, so the changes are easier to detect back n forth. but I can see it change a little above based on what you said

given two weeks and some nitrate you could change water and begin, all bottle bac is done before that long in test threads by Dr Reef.

 

[brandon429]

agreed you could change water in that tank and begin now, and we can track its outcome here in this thread below that uses solely time frames and a couple extra clues/nitrate in this case/to determine a start date even when things look all funky green on pic 1/most people would say wait another month and a half lol. you can start now, and if anything goes wrong then accountability thread for making bad cycle calls is right here:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

www.reef2reef.com

*gotta do a full water change or nearly full before adding anything.

 

[KantGetRite0625]

agreed you could change water in that tank and begin now, and we can track its outcome here in this thread below that uses solely time frames and a couple extra clues/nitrate in this case/to determine a start date even when things look all funky green on pic 1/most people would say wait another month and a half lol. you can start now, and if anything goes wrong then accountability thread for making bad cycle calls is right here:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

www.reef2reef.com

*gotta do a full water change or nearly full before adding anything.

What do you think? 2 50% water changes? More or less? It's been so long since I've done this.

 

[brandon429]

change as much as you can in one swoop and then refill w new water at the right salinity and temp, then add some snails or crabs or a cheap easy starter coral. wait on fish until you select how you are going to prevent disease in them, some systems make you wait 80 days before adding fish depending on what you select. adding fish before selecting a disease control system for marine fish, in a nano, nearly always results in death of the fish before 8 mos. nano reef fish require disease protocols in place to work correctly

the corals are easy to grow, we just feed and change some water weekly. do all your water at once, we want it clean water above the established bioslicks covered in the thread.

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s what i was was referring to and you can see the mixed results.
Now if you can, take a sample to a trusted LFS and have them test water for you and see what they come up with for comparison

 

[brandon429]

testing wastewater for compliance is 100% different than changing water and retesting, which will work now and much clearer using no confirmations. given the presence of nitrate, you can't be incompletely cycled, you just have api + wastewater and a bunch of metabolites from ammonia approximation going around.

if you change out the water and begin, your tank will do what the others in the example thread are doing.


the point of our thread above is how nobody using bottle bac tested to work in 5 days by Dr Reef is going to have to take longer than 5 days, if using updated cycle science.

if using old rules, they'll wait about a month.


if the lfs says you arent ready, then you're waiting 30 days, after buying 5 day bac (old school cycling using testers that can never show thousandths ppm which is the actual levels, post water change even with bioload in place)

proceed as you will, no harm in waiting 50 more days too. our thread above is logging starts with fish as we speak, using the updated means however. all within spec/start time

no matter what a lfs wielding API says, the tank is ready after the water change.

the set of pics above would be a little clearer to read with the full initial water change, but I wouldnt bother testing it again, its ready now based on times any cycling chart shows for ammonia control, under ten days.