Cycling an Aquarium

[Erik the Red]

I hope your cycle is moving forward.
Just to clear things up. You don't have chlorine in your water. Chlorine or other additives hasn't been used in Denmark since 2009

Thanks for the tip

cycle is still stuck at the moment. I dosed a little bit more starter, since ammonia is still at the same level.

Really have no clue. It never happened before...

in a week live rocks are coming in, so it will be 50:50 with dry rocks. Hope that will help

By the way, happy new year to everyone

 

[kilnakorr]

Thanks for the tip

cycle is still stuck at the moment. I dosed a little bit more starter, since ammonia is still at the same level.

Really have no clue. It never happened before...

in a week live rocks are coming in, so it will be 50:50 with dry rocks. Hope that will help

By the way, happy new year to everyone

Your situation looks similar to mine.
Bacteria bloom, but no decrease in ammonia levels. I stopped dosing bacteria (microbacter 7), and turn on my UV 24/7 plus added some filterfloss to get as much as possible out of the tank.
I don't think mb7 contains that many bacteria helpful to cycle the tank, and looks more like 'scavenging' bacteria feeding of carbon sources. Your product might be similar.

 

[Erik the Red]

Your situation looks similar to mine.
Bacteria bloom, but no decrease in ammonia levels. I stopped dosing bacteria (microbacter 7), and turn on my UV 24/7 plus added some filterfloss to get as much as possible out of the tank.
I don't think mb7 contains that many bacteria helpful to cycle the tank, and looks more like 'scavenging' bacteria feeding of carbon sources. Your product might be similar.

Did it work? and if it did, how long time did it take?

I have skimmer on and filter sock in as well but nothing changed. Don’t UV lights kill also the useful bacteria from live rocks?

 

[kilnakorr]

Did it work? and if it did, how long time did it take?

I have skimmer on and filter sock in as well but nothing changed. Don’t UV lights kill also the useful bacteria from live rocks?

Yes. The water is quite clear today. The filter sock was overflowing after only a few hours, so cleaned it.
The floss is also a bit dirty. UV won't kill what is already on the rocks, sand etc.

I also wiped down all sides in both DT and sump, just to get as much 'slime' as possible.
Got some Dr. Tims in the mail and hopefully that will do the trick.

 

[jramy123]

Ok been out if it for while and last time I did shrimp and dr tims to start cycle. What would I do if I buy live sand and rock? In a small 20g waterbox like I am using, I can actually afford live rock from fish store( I assume transport it in a tank water filled bucket?) Would I still want to get some ammonia in case? Dr Tims again? Sorry I been reading 1-30 of this thread and my head is spinning lol.

 

[Garf]

Ok been out if it for while and last time I did shrimp and dr tims to start cycle. What would I do if I buy live sand and rock? In a small 20g waterbox like I am using, I can actually afford live rock from fish store( I assume transport it in a tank water filled bucket?) Would I still want to get some ammonia in case? Dr Tims again? Sorry I been reading 1-30 of this thread and my head is spinning lol.

I would just ghost feed.

 

[jramy123]

I would just ghost feed.

Ok am I gonna still see ammonia spike? Do I still wanna go up to 2ppm?

 

[Brew12]

Ok been out if it for while and last time I did shrimp and dr tims to start cycle. What would I do if I buy live sand and rock? In a small 20g waterbox like I am using, I can actually afford live rock from fish store( I assume transport it in a tank water filled bucket?) Would I still want to get some ammonia in case? Dr Tims again? Sorry I been reading 1-30 of this thread and my head is spinning lol.

In my opinion, live sand has little to no value. There just isn't enough water flow through it. For live rock, this is my feeling.
If you are confident it was in good shape and properly established then go ahead and add livestock with light feeding for the first few weeks.
If you have any doubt if the live rock is as advertised, there is nothing wrong with adding ammonia up to 2ppm to verify that it processes ammonia as expected.

 

[jramy123]

In my opinion, live sand has little to no value. There just isn't enough water flow through it. For live rock, this is my feeling.
If you are confident it was in good shape and properly established then go ahead and add livestock with light feeding for the first few weeks.
If you have any doubt if the live rock is as advertised, there is nothing wrong with adding ammonia up to 2ppm to verify that it processes ammonia as expected.

Thanks for info. It is that colored reef rock that has been in my lfs bins for months if not years. Transported in saltwater and heated with flow till salt mixed tonight. Another question for u would be with live rock what am I mostly looking for? Ghost feed to see if bacteria is enough to keep ammonia at 0?

 

[Knew2saltwater]

New to the hobby here. I have started my first salt water aquarium, I have a 55g tank and used 50lb of dead coral along with 40lb of live sand mixed with 25lb of dry sand. I am using a SunSun HW-3000 canister filter and plan to add a protein skimmer once established. Temp is set to 78⁰f. I am running the filter with bio balls and ceramics and have dosed the tank to 4ppm Ammonia and added Dr Tims one and only. I am on day 3 since adding bacteria and Ammonia and I am a little perplexed with my test results. I am showing a PH of 8.2 Ammonia of 4.0ppm Nitrites are at 0 and have remained there, and Nitrates are holding steady at 5.0ppm. Why am I seeing nitrates but no nitrites? Also, why is my Ammonia level staying consistent at 4.0ppm? I am only on day 3 of my cycle but in all my findings I should see a rise in nitrites before the conversion to nitrates, correct? What is going on? Lol

 

[Garf]

New to the hobby here. I have started my first salt water aquarium, I have a 55g tank and used 50lb of dead coral along with 40lb of live sand mixed with 25lb of dry sand. I am using a SunSun HW-3000 canister filter and plan to add a protein skimmer once established. Temp is set to 78⁰f. I am running the filter with bio balls and ceramics and have dosed the tank to 4ppm Ammonia and added Dr Tims one and only. I am on day 3 since adding bacteria and Ammonia and I am a little perplexed with my test results. I am showing a PH of 8.2 Ammonia of 4.0ppm Nitrites are at 0 and have remained there, and Nitrates are holding steady at 5.0ppm. Why am I seeing nitrates but no nitrites? Also, why is my Ammonia level staying consistent at 4.0ppm? I am only on day 3 of my cycle but in all my findings I should see a rise in nitrites before the conversion to nitrates, correct? What is going on? Lol

You sure your fresh saltwater was zero nitrate to start with?

 

[Knew2saltwater]

You sure your fresh saltwater was zero nitrate to start with?

You sure your fresh saltwater was zero nitrate to start with?

My first test was 24 hours after adding my Ammonia and Dr Tims, I never tested the RODI saltwater before putting it into the tank or before adding Ammonia and Dr. Tims

 

[Brew12]

New to the hobby here. I have started my first salt water aquarium, I have a 55g tank and used 50lb of dead coral along with 40lb of live sand mixed with 25lb of dry sand. I am using a SunSun HW-3000 canister filter and plan to add a protein skimmer once established. Temp is set to 78⁰f. I am running the filter with bio balls and ceramics and have dosed the tank to 4ppm Ammonia and added Dr Tims one and only. I am on day 3 since adding bacteria and Ammonia and I am a little perplexed with my test results. I am showing a PH of 8.2 Ammonia of 4.0ppm Nitrites are at 0 and have remained there, and Nitrates are holding steady at 5.0ppm. Why am I seeing nitrates but no nitrites? Also, why is my Ammonia level staying consistent at 4.0ppm? I am only on day 3 of my cycle but in all my findings I should see a rise in nitrites before the conversion to nitrates, correct? What is going on? Lol

Most likely you are just seeing accuracy issues with your tests. Odds are your ammonia dropped a little, but not much. That created a little nitrite, but not much. Even a little nitrate will show up as a little nitrate, which is what you are seeing.
Hobby level tests don't have the accuracy or precision that a lab based test do. And that is before you add in human errors.
I wouldn't worry about anything at this point.

 

[Knew2saltwater]

Most likely you are just seeing accuracy issues with your tests. Odds are your ammonia dropped a little, but not much. That created a little nitrite, but not much. Even a little nitrate will show up as a little nitrate, which is what you are seeing.
Hobby level tests don't have the accuracy or precision that a lab based test do. And that is before you add in human errors.
I wouldn't worry about anything at this point.

Ok, I appreciate it, today's results showed Ammonia dropping, but just a touch, it also showed a small rise in nitrites, .25ppm and a small rise in nitrates also, maybe 1ppm from yesterday's test. Just gonna ride it out as I know I'm early in the cycle, was just a little confused with the early testing results.

 

[jramy123]

Ok, I appreciate it, today's results showed Ammonia dropping, but just a touch, it also showed a small rise in nitrites, .25ppm and a small rise in nitrates also, maybe 1ppm from yesterday's test. Just gonna ride it out as I know I'm early in the cycle, was just a little confused with the early testing results.

I had this happen even with live rock from lfs. I saw no ammonia and nitrite one day. Next day saw all 3 lol. Then ammonia spikes and nitrite went up. Then after 5 days started seeing it go down. As someone that is a new again person just take ur time and wait a few days u should see it look more like it should. I saw nitrates the entire cycle for some reason.

 

[Brew12]

I had this happen even with live rock from lfs. I saw no ammonia and nitrite one day. Next day saw all 3 lol. Then ammonia spikes and nitrite went up. Then after 5 days started seeing it go down. As someone that is a new again person just take ur time and wait a few days u should see it look more like it should. I saw nitrates the entire cycle for some reason.

Nitrate tests work by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and then measuring it. Early on your nitrate test was likely just reading nitrites

 

[Wannagofoto]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

Thank you .... most useful.

 

[Wannagofoto]

Thank you for taking the time!! Nice job!

Thanks a stack! Very useful as I am setting up right now.

 

[Knew2saltwater]

Update: Day 5, and Ammonia has dropped to 2ppm, Nitrites are rising, today they were at 1ppm, Nitrates up to 20ppm, starting to see brown on the rock and a little on the sand (diatoms?) Lights are on daylight setting approximately 10 hrs and night lights run for 6 hours. Should I cut the light? Is it acceptable for diatoms to grow in the beginning stages of a new tank? Also, the UV light in the canister filter is off, at what point should I start running it?

 

[DarkReefer]

Update: Day 5, and Ammonia has dropped to 2ppm, Nitrites are rising, today they were at 1ppm, Nitrates up to 20ppm, starting to see brown on the rock and a little on the sand (diatoms?) Lights are on daylight setting approximately 10 hrs and night lights run for 6 hours. Should I cut the light? Is it acceptable for diatoms to grow in the beginning stages of a new tank? Also, the UV light in the canister filter is off, at what point should I start running it?

Although I'm only new to the hobby myself and currently going through my cycle process, but I believe if you want to skip the 'ugly' stage you should turn your lights off.
Alternatively you can embrace it and get the required clean up crew needed to clean this up once it's cycled.