Botched Red Sea Reef Mature kit - what should I do next?

[bill.mccrary42]

I've read a few botched cycle threads, and some things re. red sea reef mature specifically. I haven't found a match to my specific observations so wanted to toss out a thread in hopes someone has some good advice.

tl;dr, IMHO - Reef Mature kit can probably work for experienced reefers, but I suspect it is not meant for newbies that have A) no sump, and/or B) dry rock.

The combo of the instructions not worrying about making your skimmer go nuts, + the implied support of pre-existing corraline algae made me draw that conclusion.

Here goes:

• 1st saltwater tank (10 years freshwater experience, but 0 saltwater other than the last 6 months of research)
• 50g (40g footprint), all HOB stuff, no sump - aquamaxx HOB 1.5 skimmer
  • also tidal 55 + BRD HOB refugium (no chaeto yet)
• Started reef mature kit, which says to turn on the skimmer, however my skimmer went nuts - please see this post of minere. that specifically
  • The NoPoX in the reef mature kit is the culprit
• I had to disconnect my skimmer, because it was leaking all over the place. So I was running the reef mature kit with no skimmer, and they specifically tell you turn the skimmer on (which is fine if it goes nutz in a new setup w/ sump).
  • My assumption is that I was suffocating the bacteria. The combo of no skimmer + NoPoX was exhausting oxygen, and those bacteria could not grow properly.
• Reef mature day 10 is supposed to be the day you add clean up crew, but my nitrites were off the chart, >5ppm per API test kit.
• Day 14, still >5ppm nitrite - this is the day you are supposed to add the 1st fish, which I assume is intended to be the permanent food source for the ammonia eating bacteria - so day 14 still no livestock in the tank.
• Ammonia was 0 though on day 14, and the reef mature kit was no longer supplying food for those bacteria. In a moment of panicked ignorance, I added a tiny amount of ammonia chloride to the tank to bring the ammonia back to ~2ppm. I'm unclear as to whether this was a horrible mistake or not - and if so, why?
• Today I'm on day 20, and ammonia has been decreasing ~0.25-0.50 ppm every day, so I assume that is working, but nitrites are still >5ppm.
• I've also done 2x 50% water changes over the span of a week to try and get the NoPoX out of there so I can run the skimmer. Good news is the skimmer is going less and less nuts, but still eventually overflowing so I can't run it 24/7 yet.
• More salt just arrived yesterday, so today I plan to do another >50% water change to try and get more NoPoX out.

I'm tempted to go get one of those more simple bacteria started kits like Dr. Tim's or something from Fritz or Brightwell. What would you all do? I'm ok with a slower natural cycle but I feel like the nitrites should be coming down by now (high for 10+ days is abnormal right?). Especially if I did something to damage the cycle, I don't want to get stuck in some bad state while algae grows and the tank goes to crap before I ever add livestock. Understood that all tanks are unique, and I can be patient if need be. I just don't want sat on it when I should have been acting, ya know?

 

[PigDaddyF15E]

Patience. No need to add more bacteria.

Stop dosing ammonia...tank is processing it...maybe not as fast as you want...but if it's processing it...then working as intended.

Nitrite tests are not accurate in the presence of Nitrates...which is what you should be testing for. Perhaps a typo...if it is...and that's nitrates...then you are good. You can add your first fish once the ammonia comes back down to zero.

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Patience. No need to add more bacteria.

Stop dosing ammonia...tank is processing it...maybe not as fast as you want...but if it's processing it...then working as intended.

Nitrite tests are not accurate in the presence of Nitrates...which is what you should be testing for. Perhaps a typo...if it is...and that's nitrates...then you are good. You can add your first fish once the ammonia comes back down to zero.

I've stopped adding ammonia about 4 days ago. I'm testing nitrItes - I heard that nitrAte tests read high when nitrites present, but I hadn't heard that nitrites read high when nitrates present. (I triple checked that - no typos!)

I also heard nitrites aren't a problem for saltwater fish, only freshwater, but that sounds a little unsafe to me so I was going to wait until I had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates - planned on a water change before adding fish to minimize nitrates, and then order my chaeto.

 

[PigDaddyF15E]

I heard that nitrAte tests read high when nitrites present

Yup..my bad.

I think most will tell you to stop testing for nitrites. I don't really know the answer...but seems like a good idea at first just to see how the bacteria are growing as it cycles from ammonia - nitrite - nitrate.

Water changes will help get rid of the nitrites/nitrates. Neither should be bad for your first couple of fish...once the ammonia zero's out.

At this point...I'd be thinking about QT for fish. I fell victim to the "I can't afford that". and I will tell you it costs way more to deal with the headache then to have just done it right the first time. Might be worth searching the forums for.

As for the skimmer...off when it needs to be for your additives...but I think most suggest to just let it skim right back into the chamber/tank until it breaks in...which can be a while. Mine has been a pain in the butt to dial in...and I'm going on 15+ months.

 

[bill.mccrary42]

Yup..my bad.

I think most will tell you to stop testing for nitrites. I don't really know the answer...but seems like a good idea at first just to see how the bacteria a growing as it cycles from ammonia - nitrite - nitrate.

As for the skimmer...off when it needs to be for your additives...but I think most suggest to just let it skim right back into the chamber/tank until it breaks in...which can be a while

Please educate me re. not adding more ammonia. I stopped because everything I read said to, but nobody said why. My reasoning is the 1st bacteria, the ammonia eating kind (nitrosomonas?), would die off before I was able to add a fish. Since I'm waiting for nitrites to go to 0, but that may take days/weeks, and I can't see definitively how long those nitrosomonas will survive with 0 ammonia being produced. I'm probably overthinking it but that's part of the fun!

 

[PigDaddyF15E]

Please educate me re. not adding more ammonia. I stopped because everything I read said to, but nobody said why. My reasoning is the 1st bacteria, the ammonia eating kind (nitrosomonas?), would die off before I was able to add a fish. Since I'm waiting for nitrites to go to 0, but that may take days/weeks, and I can't see definitively how long those nitrosomonas will survive with 0 ammonia being produced. I'm probably overthinking it but that's part of the fun!

I'm not an expert...but I think I read that the bacteria don't die of starvation...they go dormant. I suppose some might die...but it's not like you have to start all over again. This is proven by the fact that you added ammonia after reading zero...and it's come down again. so clearly your bacteria didn't die when it hit zero...

Once the ammonia comes down to zero...you can add your first couple of fish. Slowly add more occupants over time so you don't overload your new tank....