Cycling tank help!!!

[mrsalnj]

Whats up guys its going to be a week that i been cycling my tank with live rock and live sand and coming from the freshwater hobby i know its not enough time to cycle my tank lol. I have been testing my water every other day since i bought the test kit so check it out and let me know. I also put in bio spira for extra bacteria Note i will be doing a 25% water change on Friday September 22, 2017. Please help me or give me advice, Im willing to learn.

September 18, 2017 (Before the Bio Spira)
Day 1
PH: 8.0
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Salinity 1.22-1.23

September 20,2017 (After Bio Spira )
Day 2
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
Salinity: 1.23-1.24

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Remember live sand, live rock will help your tank cycle faster but it's only at minimal BB rate and easy to crash, mini cycle happen when added live stock.
So if you want your tank have amber BB and avoid mini cycle, then dose your tank with pure ammonia to 2~4 ppm and see if it can process and reduce to 0 within 24 hrs, then take note if Nitrite reduced to 0 within 24 hrs too, don't do any water change it's just increase your tank cycling time, after your tank proper cycled then do a huge water change 75%~90% to get rid Nitrate and start adding live stock. You do need to add ammonia daily to keep Ammo bacteria alive while waiting for Nitrite Bacteria built up it colony.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/


check out the .25 ammonia reading portion on front page

post pics of your live rock, we want to see if its obviously live as in uncontestably live and purple. many bottle bac additives are packed in ammonia, up to 12 ppm actually, but that wont apply here.

Any true live rock system simply moved from one set of water to another without anything unusual cannot have sustained .25 for multiple days and it not be API's fault.

The most important part for you to discern is whether or not you are dealing with rocks that must cycle.

one set requires a cycle, one set requires the polar opposite action depending on animals obvious and in tow. crux of the whole thread.

 

[mrsalnj]

 

[mrsalnj]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/


check out the .25 ammonia reading portion on front page

post pics of your live rock, we want to see if its obviously live as in uncontestably live and purple. many bottle bac additives are packed in ammonia, up to 12 ppm actually, but that wont apply here.

Any true live rock system simply moved from one set of water to another without anything unusual cannot have sustained .25 for multiple days and it not be API's fault.

The most important part for you to discern is whether or not you are dealing with rocks that must cycle.

one set requires a cycle, one set requires the polar opposite action depending on animals obvious and in tow. crux of the whole thread.

photos are attached

 

[mrsalnj]

 

[brandon429]

nice.

to condense from the seven pager thread

those would be unverified claimed live rock. cannot see benthic growth, coralline, now if you see pods all around the tank in the mornings or at night that's alternate verifier of benthics

wherego benthic creatures, bacteria were long already set in full... that's the meter we use to determine skip cycle setups, yours is so far lacking the obvious life we can see off pics which impart dark coloration to the rocks. There may be subtler tones you can already see better up close, or some sparse algae growth

any of that indicates fully cycled rock, for that portion at least.

I had linked pictures of uber purple rocks in that thread, that's case shut type of confirmation


yours then proceeds into this:

if you have live animals in tow, though no coralline, don't add an ammonia product, go off the submersion timelines we cover on page 5+

give the system 30 days underwater before you start adding some corals, simple as that if you have some pods in the system but aren't sure of the full rock status.


if you have no pods, worms

you don't seem to have coralline, that can be handled like group A rock and ammonia+bottle bac is indicated. its about what animals are already there or not

if someone told you that rock was live, and it came from a wet bin at the store, its probably already been submerged 30 days or better

 

[mrsalnj]

nice.

to condense from the seven pager thread

those would be unverified claimed live rock. cannot see benthic growth, coralline, now if you see pods all around the tank in the mornings or at night that's alternate verifier of benthics

wherego benthic creatures, bacteria were long already set in full... that's the meter we use to determine skip cycle setups, yours is so far lacking the obvious life we can see off pics which impart dark coloration to the rocks. There may be subtler tones you can already see better up close, or some sparse algae growth

any of that indicates fully cycled rock, for that portion at least.

I had linked pictures of uber purple rocks in that thread, that's case shut type of confirmation


yours then proceeds into this:

if you have live animals in tow, though no coralline, don't add an ammonia product, go off the submersion timelines we cover on page 5+

give the system 30 days underwater before you start adding some corals, simple as that if you have some pods in the system but aren't sure of the full rock status.


if you have no pods, worms

you don't seem to have coralline, that can be handled like group A rock and ammonia+bottle bac is indicated. its about what animals are already there or not

if someone told you that rock was live, and it came from a wet bin at the store, its probably already been submerged 30 days or better

I bought the live rock from my lfs he took it out of the tank that was filled with water.He packed it in a cooler and wet news paper and within 15 min it was in my tank. I did read the article and its very interesting. I also re did an ammonia test and my test was now 0 and i followed the api instructions carefully, so maybe I'm slightly color blind, cause even my wife said it reads 0 lol

 

[brandon429]

they w rarely mislead at LFS

when they pack it like that, 99% likely its just not thick in coralline yet but fully cycled. if you wanted to zap a couple drops ammonia into the tank and recheck in 24 hours you could, but not necessary. if that was my tank, it would be group B rock add some zoanthids. wait a while on fish, but can add a few nice coral starters and some snails no biggie at all.

 

[mrsalnj]

they w rarely mislead at LFS

when they pack it like that, 99% likely its just not thick in coralline yet but fully cycled. if you wanted to zap a couple drops ammonia into the tank and recheck in 24 hours you could, but not necessary. if that was my tank, it would be group B rock add some zoanthids. wait a while on fish, but can add a few nice coral starters and some snails no biggie at all.

Its going to be a week on friday i had the rock, and i see some purple, red on the rock but not much, And your saying i have group B rock? this is my first reef tank i was a fresh water guy, so bare with me lol

 

[brandon429]

yep

on that first page its broken down into groups A and B based greyness or color, and animals in tow or not. time submerged underwater before we buy them also differentiates the two groups.

the A B labeling was the only way we could accurately discuss which kind of rock gets ammonia, and which kind never should based on animal and plant life in tow.

group B rock shows up simply ready, that's the neat part.

we also know from the thread that only ammonia matters in a cycle, not the other two. that just reduced your testing headaches 2/3

 

[mrsalnj]

yep

on that first page its broken down into groups A and B based greyness or color, and animals in tow or not. time submerged underwater before we buy them also differentiates the two groups.

the A B labeling was the only way we could accurately discuss which kind of rock gets ammonia, and which kind never should based on animal and plant life in tow.

group B rock shows up simply ready, that's the neat part.

we also know from the thread that only ammonia matters in a cycle, not the other two. that just reduced your testing headaches 2/3

ok thank you for the help ill just let it cycle for now then and see on friday, I was told at least wait 15 days since i have live sand and rock plus i put the bio spira in there as well, i been putting to much thought into this and I'm going nuts lol

 

[brandon429]

yep no hurry. waiting is just fine no rush.