Cycle going slow.

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CDN Reefing

CDN Reefing

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I am currently on day 9 of my cycle, and it's for my quarentine tank. In it I have a bio brick amd bare bottom. Nothing else running g except heater and return pump right now. No skimmer or mechanical filtration.

My hanna tester I have only does nitrites in ppb. And after adding ammonia 9 days ago, nitrates are only climbing by about 10 ppb a day. So on day nine I only have 80 ppb nitrites or .08 ppm. I used microbacter start xlm and wondering if I should drain tank and start over or are my nitrites climbing at an ok rate.?
Tank temp and salinity are 77° and 34.5 ppt.
 
CDN Reefing said:
I am currently on day 9 of my cycle, and it's for my quarentine tank. In it I have a bio brick amd bare bottom. Nothing else running g except heater and return pump right now. No skimmer or mechanical filtration.

My hanna tester I have only does nitrites in ppb. And after adding ammonia 9 days ago, nitrates are only climbing by about 10 ppb a day. So on day nine I only have 80 ppb nitrites or .08 ppm. I used microbacter start xlm and wondering if I should drain tank and start over or are my nitrites climbing at an ok rate.?
Tank temp and salinity are 77° and 34.5 ppt.
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Ammonia is being consumed, so that’s good. What is the ammonia at now?
 
Deltec
How much ammonia was added and how big's the tank? Could be a low dose with established media just gets diluted in the tank volume and has been working normally basically from the beginning.
 
DaJMasta said:
How much ammonia was added and how big's the tank? Could be a low dose with established media just gets diluted in the tank volume and has been working normally basically from the beginning.
Click to expand...
I added ammonia to 1 ppm. Has not changed in my testing
 
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Looks tidy. Are you sure you removed any chloramine or chlorine from the salt water before adding the bacteria?
 
Well if the bio brick was new and the ammonia is all in there, it hasn't cycled. Do you have any circulation? No flow could certainly slow the speed of bacterial colonization to a crawl.
 
I think you just need to give it more time. Microbacter doesn't instantly cycle your tank, but it does speed up the process. Without any bacterial seeding you'd be looking at 4-6 weeks to cycle. With the product I'd expect it to be closer to the 3 week mark. I think you're on your way. The bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate usually develop slower than those that convert ammonia to nitrite, but you're starting to see signs they're there. I don't think you need to intervene at this point. Watch it for another week or 2 imo.
 
CDN Reefing said:
I am currently on day 9 of my cycle, and it's for my quarentine tank. In it I have a bio brick amd bare bottom. Nothing else running g except heater and return pump right now. No skimmer or mechanical filtration.

My hanna tester I have only does nitrites in ppb. And after adding ammonia 9 days ago, nitrates are only climbing by about 10 ppb a day. So on day nine I only have 80 ppb nitrites or .08 ppm. I used microbacter start xlm and wondering if I should drain tank and start over or are my nitrites climbing at an ok rate.?
Tank temp and salinity are 77° and 34.5 ppt.
Click to expand...
It's not going slow.

Check for ammonia in another 20 days and if it's still measurable I'll be surprised.

Cycling normally takes 30 days or so.
 
Deltec
Thanks everyone. I know it's a game of patience, I just didn't want to be wasting my time if something got off to a wrong start
 
CDN Reefing said:
I am currently on day 9 of my cycle, and it's for my quarentine tank. In it I have a bio brick amd bare bottom. Nothing else running g except heater and return pump right now. No skimmer or mechanical filtration.

My hanna tester I have only does nitrites in ppb. And after adding ammonia 9 days ago, nitrates are only climbing by about 10 ppb a day. So on day nine I only have 80 ppb nitrites or .08 ppm. I used microbacter start xlm and wondering if I should drain tank and start over or are my nitrites climbing at an ok rate.?
Tank temp and salinity are 77° and 34.5 ppt.
Click to expand...
Yes not reading other threads a quarantine tank should be bare bottom. Simple filtration. And light plus pvc fittings for fish to sleep, hide. You don't cycle it
 
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Garf said:
You got a display tank started up?
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I have a reefer 525xl sitting dry right now. Been collecting gear to get it up and going, but starting with this 13.5 Evo. ( quarantine) Hoping that it will help cycle the bigger tank down the road as well by moving some biological media over. Hoping to get water in the 525 this summer as I have almost everything I need. Waiting for the new rollermat from red sea to hit shelves
 
Freenow54 said:
Yes not reading other threads a quarantine tank should be bare bottom. Simple filtration. And light plus pvc fittings for fish to sleep, hide. You don't cycle it
Click to expand...
I understand that. I guess I should have not used the term " quarentine tank" its more of a starter tank, and will work as an observation tank before anything goes into main display.
 
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