Cycling new tank question

[A-man's_reef]

Hello all, new to the hobby and have been getting alot of good information from these threads.

My question :

I've been gost feeding a pinch a day and have been using seed from aquavitro for about a week and a half.

I never got a ammonia reading from my test kit but I finally have very low nitrite and nitrate readings now. My LFS said its normal as the seed did its job and yoy can now introduce fish

Wanted to get peons thoughts on this

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

When nitrites are present, nitrates may not test properly. The presence of nitrite means you have been getting some ammonia, but never getting a reading would concern me. A lot would depend on how big the tank is? If smaller a pinch might be enough to produce adequate ammonia to cycle, if the tank is bigger then maybe not.
Tank is fully cycled when it will reduce 2 ammonia to 0 in 24 hours. Since you are not dosing ammonia to reach that level, it is hard to tell. But the fact that you still have nitrites means the cycle is not fully established. When the cycle is complete, ammonia produced by excess food and fish respiration and waste is removed immediately and converted to nitrite which is then immediately converted to nitrate, which is removed by water changes or other mechanical or chemical methods.

1 1/2 weeks is awful fast using seed. I just cycled a 210g tank in 8 days, but I used prodibio quick start and dosed true ammonia to 2ppm daily until I got 0 in under 24 hours.

This was the first tank I have ever cycled fishless. All my others I introduced a hardy fish that I wanted to keep and dosed seed daily for 2 weeks minimum. Never lost a fish using this method. So I would say you can add a fish or two (again depending on the size of tank) but take it slow and continue dosing seed until you reach 0 nitrites.
Then depending on the nitrate levels you need to do a fairly large water change to remove the nitrates developed during the cycle. Then you should be able to maintain with weekly 10% changes if you don’t overstock or over feed. No more than the fish can eat in a minute 1-2 times a day (unless you have a fish that really burns the calories in which case you may need to feed more often [not more volume]).

 

[A-man's_reef]

When nitrites are present, nitrates may not test properly. The presence of nitrite means you have been getting some ammonia, but never getting a reading would concern me. A lot would depend on how big the tank is? If smaller a pinch might be enough to produce adequate ammonia to cycle, if the tank is bigger then maybe not.
Tank is fully cycled when it will reduce 2 ammonia to 0 in 24 hours. Since you are not dosing ammonia to reach that level, it is hard to tell. But the fact that you still have nitrites means the cycle is not fully established. When the cycle is complete, ammonia produced by excess food and fish respiration and waste is removed immediately and converted to nitrite which is then immediately converted to nitrate, which is removed by water changes or other mechanical or chemical methods.

1 1/2 weeks is awful fast using seed. I just cycled a 210g tank in 8 days, but I used prodibio quick start and dosed true ammonia to 2ppm daily until I got 0 in under 24 hours.

This was the first tank I have ever cycled fishless. All my others I introduced a hardy fish that I wanted to keep and dosed seed daily for 2 weeks minimum. Never lost a fish using this method. So I would say you can add a fish or two (again depending on the size of tank) but take it slow and continue dosing seed until you reach 0 nitrites.
Then depending on the nitrate levels you need to do a fairly large water change to remove the nitrates developed during the cycle. Then you should be able to maintain with weekly 10% changes if you don’t overstock or over feed. No more than the fish can eat in a minute 1-2 times a day (unless you have a fish that really burns the calories in which case you may need to feed more often [not more volume]).

Thanks ! Alot of good information here. After reading your comments I realised I might not have been reading my ammonia test kit correctly. I have the salifert kit and its not the clearest imo for ammonia.

I have the 32.5g fluval flex. Added alot of ciramique rings bio media and took out the carbon bags.

I retested this morning and here's that I can see

Ammonia: really can't tell if it 0 or .5 loll the test kit is hard to read
Nitrite: seems to be between .25 and .5
Nitrate seems to be between 25 and 50
PH: 8 ( not sure if ph matters during cycling)
Heat was at 83 f first week and been bringing it down about 1 degree a day for the last 3 days so I'm at 80f now.
Salinity is at about 1.024


Do you think I should still add fish? I was thinking about 2 of the smallest clown fish I could get from my local lfs.

Lfs said I should add fish and wait about 3 weeks before first water change. This was suggested to me by them when nitrite was at less then .25 and nitrate was at less then 10

As much as I'm getting impatient , I really want to make sure my first fish stay with me as long as they can so I'm willing to be as patient as possible.

Im afraid that ill miss a window to add my fish. (Not sure if that's possible)

If I wait another week and just continue gost feeding and dosing seed like I've been, will this be good for the tank?

I was thinking of maybe even stopping to gost feed and just dose seed until nitrite goes below .25 and ill do a nice 50% watwr change even if nitrites are low just in case before adding fish.

Your input would be greatly appreciated

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Thanks ! Alot of good information here. After reading your comments I realised I might not have been reading my ammonia test kit correctly. I have the salifert kit and its not the clearest imo for ammonia.

I have the 32.5g fluval flex. Added alot of ciramique rings bio media and took out the carbon bags.

I retested this morning and here's that I can see

Ammonia: really can't tell if it 0 or .5 loll the test kit is hard to read
Nitrite: seems to be between .25 and .5
Nitrate seems to be between 25 and 50
PH: 8 ( not sure if ph matters during cycling)
Heat was at 83 f first week and been bringing it down about 1 degree a day for the last 3 days so I'm at 80f now.
Salinity is at about 1.024


Do you think I should still add fish? I was thinking about 2 of the smallest clown fish I could get from my local lfs.

Lfs said I should add fish and wait about 3 weeks before first water change. This was suggested to me by them when nitrite was at less then .25 and nitrate was at less then 10

As much as I'm getting impatient , I really want to make sure my first fish stay with me as long as they can so I'm willing to be as patient as possible.

Im afraid that ill miss a window to add my fish. (Not sure if that's possible)

If I wait another week and just continue gost feeding and dosing seed like I've been, will this be good for the tank?

I was thinking of maybe even stopping to gost feed and just dose seed until nitrite goes below .25 and ill do a nice 50% watwr change even if nitrites are low just in case before adding fish.

Your input would be greatly appreciated

I’ve never used Salifert test kit, but ammonia looks to be 0. I would do a large water change to reduce nitrates before adding fish. Will not affect the cycle and gives you head start. Once you add fish, larger water changes can be more stressful, so if you reduce your nitrates now, it will be easier to keep them lower with regular water changes. Nitrites are not harmful to saltwater fish according to Randy the R2R chemist. Based on ammonia 0 and your nitrates you should be good to go. I would continue with seed for 1-2 weeks as a precaution. Won’t hurt anything. And so if you change your water you could add fish.
I run my tanks around 77 degrees so that my temp doesn’t get too high when it is hotter out.

 

[A-man's_reef]

I’ve never used Salifert test kit, but ammonia looks to be 0. I would do a large water change to reduce nitrates before adding fish. Will not affect the cycle and gives you head start. Once you add fish, larger water changes can be more stressful, so if you reduce your nitrates now, it will be easier to keep them lower with regular water changes. Nitrites are not harmful to saltwater fish according to Randy the R2R chemist. Based on ammonia 0 and your nitrates you should be good to go. I would continue with seed for 1-2 weeks as a precaution. Won’t hurt anything. And so if you change your water you could add fish.
I run my tanks around 77 degrees so that my temp doesn’t get too high when it is hotter out.

Thanks again for the great advice! Would a 50% change be enough or should do more? Also does the new salt water temp matter? If it does i can go out an buy a heater.

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Thanks again for the great advice! Would a 50% change be enough or should do more? Also does the new salt water temp matter? If it does i can go out an buy a heater.

As long as you don’t have any fish, temp doesn’t really matter. But you should have a heater for new water so water changes can always be same salinity and temp. The larger the water change the less nitrate you will start out with. I changed almost 100% on my 200g angel tank when I started it. It really made a difference as my nitrates are still good.

 

[A-man's_reef]

As long as you don’t have any fish, temp doesn’t really matter. But you should have a heater for new water so water changes can always be same salinity and temp. The larger the water change the less nitrate you will start out with. I changed almost 100% on my 200g angel tank when I started it. It really made a difference as my nitrates are still good.

Cool ill do the same then and yes other heaters have been ordered

Thanks again