This isn't my first tank and I used aquavitro seed to cycle the tank and I just tested the tank and the ammonia is at 0.8 and there's no nitrite and the nitrates are at 10 and here's pictures of the test so why is it like this??
Cycling a new tank
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nautical_nathaniel
Indecision may or may not be my problem.
The ammonia fixating and denitrification bacteria haven't established themselves yet, it sometimes take a while for them to get going.
IslandLifeReef
Valuable Member
Looking at your pictures, the ammonia looks closer to 1.2 and the nitrite looks closer to 0.1. If there is nitrite in the tank, your nitrate test will be false.
How are you cycling your tank? Did you add ammonia and how much? Are you ghost feeding? Other method?
What is your set-up. Dry rock, live rock, or something else?
Knowing more about your tank and what you have done will help others solve any problems.
How are you cycling your tank? Did you add ammonia and how much? Are you ghost feeding? Other method?
What is your set-up. Dry rock, live rock, or something else?
Knowing more about your tank and what you have done will help others solve any problems.
randy4083
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It's because it got darker before I took the picture but at the end of time it was .8. And this is my second tank so I used old live rock from my old tank and real reef rock and I'm using aquavitro seed bacteria and I didn't add anything else other then new live sand
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How long was the old rock out of the tank? Also the real reef rock was additional? Is it dry rock?
mjlash22
Well-Known Member
I could be wrong but I don't believe real reef rock comes curred. More than likely if you added more "new" rock than "old" rock, you would surely see a spike in your readings. Adding rock from your old tank (pending it hasnt been out of the tank for an extended period of time) and even some water from water changes would definitely speed up your cycle but not completely eliminate it.
Your cycle is done. Change out all the water and start reefing with a light bioload.
Check this thread for details below that was linked: the sand you used had bacteria. The old rock had massive amnt, and the new rock didn’t need any help getting bacteria it just needed put into the water it’s neutral. Only ammonia and 30 days underwater determines a cycle not the other two, as a new way to see tank cycles which makes them all totally simple. We do not need to know nitrite or nitrate to cycle a tank. This removes 2/3 of misread potentials
Check this thread for details below that was linked: the sand you used had bacteria. The old rock had massive amnt, and the new rock didn’t need any help getting bacteria it just needed put into the water it’s neutral. Only ammonia and 30 days underwater determines a cycle not the other two, as a new way to see tank cycles which makes them all totally simple. We do not need to know nitrite or nitrate to cycle a tank. This removes 2/3 of misread potentials
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randy4083
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I've got another question I bought cheato to put in the sump because I thought that it would have been finished by now so should I move the cheato to my other tank because it has a hob refugium or will the cheato be ok
It’s ok to keep chaeto but you need to change out your post cycle waste water, your cycle is done. You could add some coral after the water change
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/
You met the thirty days underwater with boosters used, so it’s done, that’s a universal rule. Plus, the boosters weren’t needed it could have skipped the whole cycle when you moved over the old rocks but people will usually do a new cycle simply when new glass, the new tank, is used although the materials already are cycled. Moving old live rocks to a new tank boosts their bacteria, not lowers it.
Submersion time and group B rock is why you skip cycled. Trace readings on hobby test kits vary too much to make decisions on, underwater length of time and status of substrates before you moved them over set the rules. Post pics
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/
You met the thirty days underwater with boosters used, so it’s done, that’s a universal rule. Plus, the boosters weren’t needed it could have skipped the whole cycle when you moved over the old rocks but people will usually do a new cycle simply when new glass, the new tank, is used although the materials already are cycled. Moving old live rocks to a new tank boosts their bacteria, not lowers it.
Submersion time and group B rock is why you skip cycled. Trace readings on hobby test kits vary too much to make decisions on, underwater length of time and status of substrates before you moved them over set the rules. Post pics
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IslandLifeReef
Valuable Member
If you want to confirm that your tank is ready, you could always add a known amount of ammonia and see if the tank cycles it in 24 hours. Since you haven't added anything as a food source to your tank for 3 months, ammonia or ghost feeding, I would be concerned about the amount of bacteria in the tank. I would like to know what brandon429 thinks about live rock underwater for 3 months with no ammonia source.
sheck this out, a rarity:https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/383510-ammonia-processing-rate-of-established-tank/
Two years worth of wait, still passes digest test. The reason the live rocks don't need feed is because by rule they're their own feed pumps and feed reserves. Any live rock that is hydrated keeps its nitrifiers forever. Ammonia gets in by trace amnts from natural systems and also because live rock makes its own detritus from the associated animals, those stores of detritus and resulting bacteria (non filtration types/they thrive and die in cycles with their rotting mass as endpoint trace ammonia for nitrifiers in close association) are an ongoing source of feed.
Dandelions test rocks weren't all purple and holey, they're base rocks. Simple hydration kept them active he didn't have the extra detritus loading.
That detail is so important, once we know what bacteria tolerate we are able to clean, move, rearrange tanks all knowing that biofilm is never going to leave.
If someone took true live rock and put it in a vat of water for ten years w no feeding and simply kept it topped off the bacteria would still be just fine. Once set, hydration is all that's needed.
Several of the bottled bac dosers have a shelf life of one year and no ammonia in the bottle.
This is how we cycled fw tanks back in the 80s: buy epoxy rocks and plastic plants and fill with water, wait a month, adding nothing but water, then add fish. The cycle base set itself long before speed boosters showed up for sale. Adding fish too early killed the tank in a cloudy mess. But after a month, bac got in and set up shop only bc we hydrated and waited. With boosters, we know we can do fish-in cycles nowadays if someone wants that mode.
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