Cycling an Aquarium

[BST96]

What did you add for an ammonia source?

Brew,

Despite having read about all the ways to add ammonia and speed up the process, my LFS said it wasnt necessary. They suggested letting the tank do its thing for a few weeks and testing. So thats where I am at.

 

[Brew12]

Brew,

Despite having read about all the ways to add ammonia and speed up the process, my LFS said it wasnt necessary. They suggested letting the tank do its thing for a few weeks and testing. So thats where I am at.

It isn't necessary, especially since you started with live rock. You may even want to check this out because it is a viable option for you. The main reason for using live rock is to be able to skip the cycling process.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/15-steps-to-starting-a-saltwater-aquarium-the-lasse-method.597/

 

[brandon429]

concerns:

lately ive logged about 10 different threads on simple test misreads.

whats stated as a .5, shown not to be

they used prime...

whats stated as a .25, red sea, shown zero on salifert.

salifert and api and red sea all show diff readings on another thread


its to the point that single stated, unverified and uncalibrated readings for both ammonia and nitrite are hardly ever correct as in 1 out of 10 stated readings is right. if someone is using seneye, no confounds discovered yet. how rare are seneye reported readings though

how are recommends about cycling adjusted per misread expectancy here

it affects timing, accuracy of doser amnts, so much.

it affects when we can call a cycle complete, which I think is the #1 thing posters want to know regarding cycling.

neat article idea:

someone use seneye to calibrate known ammonia readings in clear vials. mark them in code so the author knows which are ammonia + and what level, vs a set of 3 other vials sent to each respondent which are known zero ammonia. when they test all four and report levels with the coding, we get to see each respondent running 4 tests/1 positive only they don't know the pre measured amounts digitally verified accurate

what their reported tests will show might be shocking

the author can use the data to make an article about how accurate today's ammonia testing is for the hobby

from that, we can make inferences about cycling science that might need bigtime reworking

mis testing makes titration testing almost unusable info, yet we literally ignore in thread posts that nearly all stated low level ammonia and nitrite readings are wrong...

 

[BST96]

It isn't necessary, especially since you started with live rock. You may even want to check this out because it is a viable option for you. The main reason for using live rock is to be able to skip the cycling process.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/15-steps-to-starting-a-saltwater-aquarium-the-lasse-method.597/

Thanks for the suggestion. I am using the "life rock" so not a true wet live rock. That being said I was more or less trying to understand where the tank was at in the cycling process. I think I will give it another week or so and test again to see if there are any changes.

 

[Joe del Rey]

I don't, but if the bottled bacteria works correctly your system should process small amounts of ammonia to nitrate almost immediately with no sign of a cycle.

I see. Thank you
There's currently one Yellowtail Blue Damsel in my tank and do small feedings everyday, so the bacteria may process more ammonia. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Joe del Rey]

I don't, but if the bottled bacteria works correctly your system should process small amounts of ammonia to nitrate almost immediately with no sign of a cycle.

I see. Thank you
There's currently one Yellowtail Blue Damsel in my tank and do small feedings everyday, so the bacteria may process more ammonia. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Brew12]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am using the "life rock" so not a true wet live rock. That being said I was more or less trying to understand where the tank was at in the cycling process. I think I will give it another week or so and test again to see if there are any changes.

I would add a food source or pure ammonia in your case. There is nothing that would feed nitrifying bacteria to get them to reproduce. There are other benefits to letting a tank sit wet other than nitrifying bacteria but I would add at least a little something to start that part of the cycle. Even a nice pinch of flake food every 3 or 4 days would help.

 

[Brew12]

I see. Thank you
There's currently one Yellowtail Blue Damsel in my tank and do small feedings everyday, so the bacteria may process more ammonia. Correct me if I'm wrong

Are you seeing any ammonia or nitrite in your system? If not, then what you are doing is just fine. Normally you would add the bacteria product before adding the fish.

 

[Joe del Rey]

Are you seeing any ammonia or nitrite in your system? If not, then what you are doing is just fine. Normally you would add the bacteria product before adding the fish.

I'm seeing a (very) little ammonia and nitrite (maybe because of the fish and the small feedings). The bottled bacteria I ordered online is expected to arrive tomorrow so yeah, I added the fish first before the bacteria. I am assuming there are already bacteria in the tank because its already a month and a half old. Just adding more bacteria to be sure.

 

[Brew12]

I'm seeing a (very) little ammonia and nitrite (maybe because of the fish and the small feedings). The bottled bacteria I ordered online is expected to arrive tomorrow so yeah, I added the fish first before the bacteria. I am assuming there are already bacteria in the tank because its already a month and a half old. Just adding more bacteria to be sure.

I would add the bacteria then. Normally you shouldn't get any measurable ammonia or nitrite when a tank is ready for fish.

 

[Joe del Rey]

I would add the bacteria then. Normally you shouldn't get any measurable ammonia or nitrite when a tank is ready for fish.

Thank you for the tip
My damsel is doing well (swims towards me when I'm around, following my hand, eats a lot). Plus I see copepods crawling at the glass so I am assuming everything is working well.
I'll just post an update if there are changes.

 

[brandon429]

Brew

Can you respond to my testing question pls I’m curious of your thoughts

 

[Brew12]

Brew

Can you respond to my testing question pls I’m curious of your thoughts

Sorry, missed the questions. I'm guessing you are referring to these?

how are recommends about cycling adjusted per misread expectancy here

it affects timing, accuracy of doser amnts, so much.

I change my recommendations based on time and nitrate. If a system is building nitrate with no new ammonia source, and still consistantly read 0.25ppm then I consider it a false positive. Otherwise I fall into the category of "if in doubt, wait it out".

If doing a fishless cycle I don't worry about accuracy. If a tank only process 0.5ppm ammonia in a day and not 2ppm ammonia it won't matter unless you heavily stock or feed your system on day one. One or 2 small fish, properly fed, will generate very little ammonia.

 

[brandon429]

well then I accept that fully

 

[clabern]

Looking for some advice on a tank swap. Currently have a Nuvo 20 with 4 fish (2 clowns, 1 wrasse, and 1 goby), small cleanup crew (4 snails and 2 hermits), and a handful of corals (GSP, xenia, 3 rock flower anemone, various zoa and mushrooms).

I've had my new Reefer 250 (65gal) for a while, but just started the cycling process (fish-less, with ammonia chloride) on April 24th. Started with CaribSea Live Reef Sand and Life Rock (dry rock, supposedly has inactive spores or something...), and a box of Bio-Spheres. Added a bottle of Bio-Spira shortly after filling (before I started the cycle off). Started dosing Microbacter7 on the 24th as well per the bottles instructions for a new tank. I dosed the tank based on the ammonia's instructions (Dr. Tims, 4 drops per gallon), which was supposed to be 2ppm, but after testing showed closer to 4ppm. Monitored the ammonia with my Seneye and tested with API kit to double check (Seneye says it's readings are ppm, but they aren't).

Continued daily doses of Mictrobacter 7 while the ammonia steadily dropped. By the 27th ammonia was down to undetectable (via Seneye and API test). Nitrites had spiked to over 5ppm and Nitrates were around 30ppm. I moved over a bag of Seachem Matrix that had been seeding in my Nuvo 20 for a few months to the Reefer 250.

I let the tank be for a few days (while still dosing Microbacter7), and dosed ammonia back up to 2ppm on April 29th. By April 30th (yesterday, less than 24 hours later) ammonia was undetectable again. Nitrites were actually lower (around 3-4ppm, I know Nitrites aren't really a concern, but I have the test so figured I'd monitor), and Nitrates around 50ppm (Nitrate testing with API and Salifert).

Here's my question: Where should I go from here and how should I handle moving my livestock from the Nuvo to the Reefer 250? The GSP rock and maybe a few others from the Nuvo will be moved into the Reefer (which should bring some additional bio filtration from the established tank).

Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Brew12]

Looking for some advice on a tank swap. Currently have a Nuvo 20 with 4 fish (2 clowns, 1 wrasse, and 1 goby), small cleanup crew (4 snails and 2 hermits), and a handful of corals (GSP, xenia, 3 rock flower anemone, various zoa and mushrooms).

I've had my new Reefer 250 (65gal) for a while, but just started the cycling process (fish-less, with ammonia chloride) on April 24th. Started with CaribSea Live Reef Sand and Life Rock (dry rock, supposedly has inactive spores or something...), and a box of Bio-Spheres. Added a bottle of Bio-Spira shortly after filling (before I started the cycle off). Started dosing Microbacter7 on the 24th as well per the bottles instructions for a new tank. I dosed the tank based on the ammonia's instructions (Dr. Tims, 4 drops per gallon), which was supposed to be 2ppm, but after testing showed closer to 4ppm. Monitored the ammonia with my Seneye and tested with API kit to double check (Seneye says it's readings are ppm, but they aren't).

Continued daily doses of Mictrobacter 7 while the ammonia steadily dropped. By the 27th ammonia was down to undetectable (via Seneye and API test). Nitrites had spiked to over 5ppm and Nitrates were around 30ppm. I moved over a bag of Seachem Matrix that had been seeding in my Nuvo 20 for a few months to the Reefer 250.

I let the tank be for a few days (while still dosing Microbacter7), and dosed ammonia back up to 2ppm on April 29th. By April 30th (yesterday, less than 24 hours later) ammonia was undetectable again. Nitrites were actually lower (around 3-4ppm, I know Nitrites aren't really a concern, but I have the test so figured I'd monitor), and Nitrates around 50ppm (Nitrate testing with API and Salifert).

Here's my question: Where should I go from here and how should I handle moving my livestock from the Nuvo to the Reefer 250? The GSP rock and maybe a few others from the Nuvo will be moved into the Reefer (which should bring some additional bio filtration from the established tank).

Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Once nitrite drops down to 0ppm I would take another nitrate reading. If it is under 25ppm I would go ahead and move all of the fish over at once. If it is over 25ppm I would do a large water change and then move the fish over. Feed lightly for a week or two and everything should be just fine. Your fish will produce no where near 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours and you already know your tank can handle that as long as you don't over feed.

 

[clabern]

Once nitrite drops down to 0ppm I would take another nitrate reading. If it is under 25ppm I would go ahead and move all of the fish over at once. If it is over 25ppm I would do a large water change and then move the fish over. Feed lightly for a week or two and everything should be just fine. Your fish will produce no where near 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours and you already know your tank can handle that as long as you don't over feed.

Thanks for the input! I'll continue testing nitrites and once they zero out I'll take a look at nitrates and go from there.

 

[GrumpyDaddy68]

Hi Brew,
My tank has completed one month in cycling; and I have some questions for you:
- The first time it took about 10 days for ammonia to go to zero
- It took and extra 7 days for nitrites to get to zero
- After this I have added ammonia to get to 2 ppm's and then wait until get back to zero.
The last couple of times that I did it took 3 days for both (ammonia and nitrites) to get to zero. (actually... Nitrites never really got higher than 0.25 these 2 times).
Is this normal? Should I keep repeating process until I get from 2ppm to zero in 24 hrs?
I have not done any water changes all this time (Nitrates are also zero)

I'm not really in a hurry since I will also be working on that QT tank for fish in parallel... (also I just found out that also I might need another (third) system to QT coral/invertebrates).
I have in the meantime put a AquaFilter50 sponge on the back of the tank and another small dry rock into the system to get them seeded with beneficial bacteria and use them on the other systems.

Thanks,

 

[Brew12]

Hi Brew,
My tank has completed one month in cycling; and I have some questions for you:
- The first time it took about 10 days for ammonia to go to zero
- It took and extra 7 days for nitrites to get to zero
- After this I have added ammonia to get to 2 ppm's and then wait until get back to zero.
The last couple of times that I did it took 3 days for both (ammonia and nitrites) to get to zero. (actually... Nitrites never really got higher than 0.25 these 2 times).
Is this normal? Should I keep repeating process until I get from 2ppm to zero in 24 hrs?
I have not done any water changes all this time (Nitrates are also zero)

I'm not really in a hurry since I will also be working on that QT tank for fish in parallel... (also I just found out that also I might need another (third) system to QT coral/invertebrates).
I have in the meantime put a AquaFilter50 sponge on the back of the tank and another small dry rock into the system to get them seeded with beneficial bacteria and use them on the other systems.

Thanks,

I would have expected some nitrates, but otherwise things look good. I wouldn't repeat it more than once every other week unless you also do some ghost feeding. No real need for that imo though.

 

[GrumpyDaddy68]

Thanks,
I will do it once a week.