The most cautious of people will say to wait. But once you start registering nitrAte, you know the tank has cycled and you can start adding a bioload of fish.
My nitrate is off the scale right now
Off high or off low? If off low, then you have not cycled. If off high, you're good to go.
It is off way high. Sorry. Sometimes forget to mention which way.
www.reef2reef.com
Do a water change...get it down to an acceptable range and enjoy your new fish!! Good luck
Who is randy and crew? I’ve watched my ammonia spike and go back down to zero. I’ve watched my nitrites and nitrates rise and now my nitrite and nitrate do not seem to be doing anywhere. I have been testing every day for the first 2 weeks and now every other day for the past week.Randy and crew point out that you can't measure nitrate this early accurately
So you're basing your cycle on the wrong params and from old cycling advice
Here's new rules:
Going off that thread, was your cycle complete twelve days ago?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...
I do not use an api test kit. I use Red Sea and Hanna.
If you’ve got nitrite, then your nitrate most likely will read high. The nitrite interferes with the nitrate test kit. If you want to wait out the nitrite, you can add a form of phosphate (bit of spirulina powder, fish flake, whatever). That said, the nitrite isn’t really toxic in saltwater and you should be ok to add fish.
Yes this is exactly what I have. I thought that the 2 interfered with eachother. I just wanted the exact answer you gave me and just like a simple answer on what to do.
but it wont work. by December... some fish loss would be expected from no prep stocks
Well I decided to go and drip them for 30 min and they so far seem completely fine. Swimming around the whole tank. Just checked the whole test again and nitrites are dropping back down. So I think I will be ok.
100% accuratesimple answer: you were done about two weeks ago. before you add fish, select a disease protocol.
I told this to someone two weeks ago, they added fish with no protocol. one of their clowns is dying and the thread is running as a stuck cycle cause today (everyone debating the .25 api) when in fact they just simply skipped the next clearly described step.
your tank can carry fish two weeks ago, or on day one, bottle bac is this good.
before you add fish now, well after cycling has completed, select a fish disease plan and prep from the stickies in the fish disease forum.
if you choose not to, specifically don't look for the cycle to be the problem if one of the unprepped fish dies/pet store fish are notorious nowadays for this/reason for the advice.
disease is different nowadays, it wasn't like this in 2010. a change has taken place, disease preps are required. try and skirt them if you like
that's the trend. within eight months of setup. see the fish disease forum/all the help posts, scan the ages of the tanks asking for crypto brook and uro assistance.
The single most important takeaway you can gain from updated cycling science was that ammonia control happened when you poured the bac out of the bottle, no thought nor coaxing was required. all the thought and prep goes into fish disease preps, that's the new rule which runs massive work
