Cycling an established tank or dose nitrates forever

[blasterman]

Is your skimmer actually pulling waste / skimmate? If is is, then pulling the cup is a good idea and I can guarantee you will start seeing nitrate.

Anybody who thinks skimmers don't pull nitrate can just test the waste from a skimmer and you will see plenty of nitrate.

Ignore the ammonia tests. Nothing wrong with your tanks bacteria.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

That’s not a bad stock list for a 75 but you could probably add some more. Maybe some anthias or something. I have a 4’x2’x20” high 100 gallon display with a 35 gallon sump. I run a large skimmer and my stock list is:

Yellow tank
Tomini tang
Yellow coris wrasse
Sixline wrasse
Single clown
Helfrichi Fire fish
Tangoran goby
Diamond goby
Warpaint goby (they don’t really count they are so small)
Various inverts

Adding a leopard wrasse on Tuesday

Nutrients are pretty low. I feed heavy.

 

[Dolphins18]

I have no idea if this will help but I went through a somewhat similar expierience about 10 years ago. Up until 2011 my 90 gallon was a fish only without live rock. After making the switch using fully cured live rock, the first year was messy. Fish were fine but inverts, corals, even snails and hermits wouldn’t survive. I continued testing throughout the year and did a little dosing as needed and things just kind of fell right into place over time. I think you are 100 percent correct in the term “cycled” being binary. I look it at like this, when you moved to the new tank, bacteria needed to colonize across the whole surface of the tank. While the tank itself doesn’t provide surface area like rock or sand, it still is “new” and bacteria free. This (in my opinion, would generate a bit of a mini cycle, and that’s exactly what happened to me 10 years ago.) It’s a similar idea to skimmers needing a slime coat before successfully skimming. I have no idea the science behind any of this, it’s just my observations over the years.

 

[nashvillian]

@Kati537 how do your Hoevens and Exquisite get along?
I have a Melanarus and just added an Exqusite to my 65. Kole tang, Whitetail Dwarf Angel, Fancy Clown, Lyretail Anthias, Orchid Dottyback, Midas Blenny and Pink Spotted Watchman make up the rest.

 

[rmurken]

Ammonia is just bad. I would think about getting yourself over the hump by dosing Prime, Amquel, or similar if you’re truly seeing ammonia. It’s not good at any level that a hobby test kit might pick up (asterisk on the API kit, sort of).

I’m skeptical that corals or macro would significantly supplant nitrifiers.

 

[Brew12]

Ammonia is just bad. I would think about getting yourself over the hump by dosing Prime, Amquel, or similar if you’re truly seeing ammonia. It’s not good at any level that a hobby test kit might pick up (asterisk on the API kit, sort of).

I’m skeptical that corals or macro would significantly supplant nitrifiers.

Ammonia isn't bad. It's a natural food source. It is only bad if it get's high enough that it inhibits the ability for fish to expel waste through their gills.

 

[rmurken]

Ammonia isn't bad. It's a natural food source. It is only bad if it get's high enough that it inhibits the ability for fish to expel waste through their gills.

As you point out, the problem is that ammonia is toxic to fish (and inverts) when it accumulates. Getting the level down doesn’t mean less ammonia passes through the system (reducing ammonia in that sense is a fool’s errand). It means the same amount of ammonia gets consumed at a quicker rate.