Cycling an Aquarium

[IslandLifeReef]

Great article ! I am new to the hobby and relatively new to forums. I have a question. I have a 40 gallon breeder tank that I just added ammonium chloride to yesterday along with 2oz of turbo start 900. One day later (today) my ammonium is low .025 nitrite high and nitrate at 40. So after reading your article I added more ammonium chloride to get ammonia level back to 2 ppm. Was this correct ? Also I just noticed pH is now 7.8 so I will have to add something to bring that back up. Also, how to I get the nitrates out of tank ? I’m assuming just water change but at what point I am already at 40 ppm. I have dry Marco rock and 40 lbs of live sand that might not be live after all this. Lol. Thanks for all your help in advance !

First, don't worry about the nitrates now. If you have nitrite in the tank, your test kit is giving you a false high reading. It is impossible for 2 ppm of ammonia to be converted into 40 ppm of nitrate.

Second, don't keep dosing the ammonia until you see nitrites spike and then start coming back down. If you dose to much, you could stall your cycle by having to much nitrite in the tank.

Don't worry about what you have already dosed, you should be fine. Just wait until nitrites peak, and then go back down, preferably below 5 ppm.

@Brew12, you are quick on the draw!

 

[Venzzla]

Yeah my initial test went from 2 ppm ammonium to .025. Nitrites were 2. Nitrate 40. After 24 hrs. So I raised back up to 2ppm of ammonia. So basically I want ammonia and nitrite to read 0 within one day?

Thanks

 

[Brew12]

Yeah my initial test went from 2 ppm ammonium to .025. Nitrites were 2. Nitrate 40. After 24 hrs. So I raised back up to 2ppm of ammonia. So basically I want ammonia and nitrite to read 0 within one day?

Thanks

You want ammonia to reach 0 within a day. It's ok if nitrite takes a little longer. Once your nitrites come down to 0ppm I feel you can add a few smaller fish.

 

[Venzzla]

Thanks for all your help!

 

[OutsideBrian]

And it begins...

 

[Venzzla]

My ammonium is coming down faster and faster 0.25 on next day after ammonium chloride additions. Nitrites are now (day 5) off the chart 5.0ppm at least, nitrates are off chart as well (assuming that is accurate). Have I not been going high enough on the ammonium chloride (usually raising it to 1.0-2.0 ppm per day)? I'm thinking I need to go to 4. This is day 4 , added water and ammonium chloride on Thursday. Initial ppm of ammonium chloride was 2.0ppm on Thursday. Any help would be great!

 

[Venzzla]

Turbo Start 900 was used

 

[Brew12]

My ammonium is coming down faster and faster 0.25 on next day after ammonium chloride additions. Nitrites are now (day 5) off the chart 5.0ppm at least, nitrates are off chart as well (assuming that is accurate). Have I not been going high enough on the ammonium chloride (usually raising it to 1.0-2.0 ppm per day)? I'm thinking I need to go to 4. This is day 4 , added water and ammonium chloride on Thursday. Initial ppm of ammonium chloride was 2.0ppm on Thursday. Any help would be great!

I would stop with the ammonia chloride additions. It's processing more than fast enough. At this point I would wait for nitrites to come down and call the tank ready for some small fish.

 

[Venzzla]

Ok thanks, in your opinion would 2 clowns and 2 diamond gobys be ok. Or would you just add clowns, wait a week or two then the gobys?

 

[Brew12]

Ok thanks, in your opinion would 2 clowns and 2 diamond gobys be ok. Or would you just add clowns, wait a week or two then the gobys?

What size tank?

 

[Venzzla]

40 gallon breeder

 

[Venzzla]

What size tank?

Also, should have asked but there is no other way to get the nitrates out other than water change once the tank is completely cycled correct? That water change will probably be in the 75% range if so.

 

[stanleo]

Currently cycling a 120 gallon. I used a piece of shrimp for the ammonia source. I have cycled several FW tanks and that process takes weeks. How different is the process for a SW tank? I have live rock and live sand. the bed is 5 inches deep and I have 6 pieces of live rock. How quickly can I expect the ammonia to go down? The level is at .50 ppm for two days in a row with no reading for nitrite and nitrate.

 

[Venzzla]

Stanleo, newbie here so I probably can't answer your question. But I can say this if you want to really speed this up pick up some turbo start 900. It will speed up things by having nitrifying bacteria in the bottle. I am on day 5 and I'm hoping 2 more days tops.

 

[Brew12]

40 gallon breeder

I would just do 2 fish to start and then wait a few weeks before adding the other two.

Also, should have asked but there is no other way to get the nitrates out other than water change once the tank is completely cycled correct? That water change will probably be in the 75% range if so.

Wait and see where you are at when your nitrites get to 0ppm. You won't get an accurate nitrate reading with nitrites in the water. Algae and coral will both consume nitrate.

 

[Brew12]

Currently cycling a 120 gallon. I used a piece of shrimp for the ammonia source. I have cycled several FW tanks and that process takes weeks. How different is the process for a SW tank? I have live rock and live sand. the bed is 5 inches deep and I have 6 pieces of live rock. How quickly can I expect the ammonia to go down? The level is at .50 ppm for two days in a row with no reading for nitrite and nitrate.

I'm not a FW guy, so I have no idea how that process works. With live rock I would have expected ammonia to go down almost immediately. That is the main reason for using live rock. Since your live rock isn't performing as expected it's hard to say how long it will take.

 

[Venzzla]

Currently cycling a 120 gallon. I used a piece of shrimp for the ammonia source. I have cycled several FW tanks and that process takes weeks. How different is the process for a SW tank? I have live rock and live sand. the bed is 5 inches deep and I have 6 pieces of live rock. How quickly can I expect the ammonia to go down? The level is at .50 ppm for two days in a row with no reading for nitrite and nitrate.

https://www.buildyouraquarium.com/how-to-fishless-cycle/

 

[Venzzla]

Hmm just checked, nitrites still at top of chart. Takes time for that nitrobacter to catch up. One things for sure I’m going to have one heck of a biological filter when this is over . I’ll check again in morning. I did turn temperature up to 80 (was 78). Also increased salinity just a bit.

 

[Venzzla]

I’m really trying to be patient. Lol. I want to do this the right way.

 

[Venzzla]

Another thing I should have asked but just realized I hadn’t. I have two kessil lights that I haven’t cut on yet for fear of an algae outbreak with all the excess nitrites and nitrates. Should I have these off?