cycling update

sergifed91 · May 9, 2018

I have been struggling with the final stage of the nitrate cycle. it stalled. ammonia and nitrites where being broken down. but from nitrates where not. it was stuck at 160+ ppm. went to 3 different stores for tests and all got the same results as I was. I popped in some BIO-Spira on sunday. went and tested it yesterday and had all 3 retest it again. now for there tests looked like 40 ppm. but they all said 20ppm. so if it looks like to me 40 ppm. that's what i'm going for. a 25% wc in a few days from now. and see what I get. I finally got a skimmer that is not busted on me. either from shipping or just poor packaging to begin with. have ran that in water and vinger mix for a few hours this afternoon. and rinsed it out thoughly before I put it on the tank. now have it on the tank and just dial it in now. got a eshop skimmer. maybe not the best but it's not bad for what I need. I had bad shipping experience with coralife, Bubble magus and CPR. it seems to be working well. now as far as fish for the tank not sure yet. or if i'm going to wait. I haven't had diatoms or an algea outbreak yet. I have been leaving the lights on 24/7 hoping to get diatoms or a quick algea outbreak. I guess my question here is should I wait to get fish for atleast 2 weeks. do a wc this weekend of 20 to 25%? Ido I still not want to add ammonia or a raw shrimp. cause I don't think I should. I want to see if the nitrates go down by itself even more with out a WC.

Maggie321 · May 9, 2018

I think it sounds like you have a pretty solid grasp of what's going on! Sounds great to me!

Crabs McJones · May 9, 2018

new setup said:
I have been struggling with the final stage of the nitrate cycle. it stalled. ammonia and nitrites where being broken down. but from nitrates where not. it was stuck at 160+ ppm. went to 3 different stores for tests and all got the same results as I was. I popped in some BIO-Spira on sunday. went and tested it yesterday and had all 3 retest it again. now for there tests looked like 40 ppm. but they all said 20ppm. so if it looks like to me 40 ppm. that's what i'm going for. a 25% wc in a few days from now. and see what I get. I finally got a skimmer that is not busted on me. either from shipping or just poor packaging to begin with. have ran that in water and vinger mix for a few hours this afternoon. and rinsed it out thoughly before I put it on the tank. now have it on the tank and just dial it in now. got a eshop skimmer. maybe not the best but it's not bad for what I need. I had bad shipping experience with coralife, Bubble magus and CPR. it seems to be working well. now as far as fish for the tank not sure yet. or if i'm going to wait. I haven't had diatoms or an algea outbreak yet. I have been leaving the lights on 24/7 hoping to get diatoms or a quick algea outbreak. I guess my question here is should I wait to get fish for atleast 2 weeks. do a wc this weekend of 20 to 25%? Ido I still not want to add ammonia or a raw shrimp. cause I don't think I should. I want to see if the nitrates go down by itself even more with out a WC.

Nitrates are the last phase of the nitrogen cycle, they dont break down any further. Nitrates have to be removed from the tank via water changes, skimming, refugium, or reactors. If you're showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites it means your tank should be done cycling. Do a series of small water changes to bring nitrates down to around 5 to 10 ppm and you should be good to add fish. With all that being said, if you have the capability I would strongly suggest setting up another much smaller tank, and running your fish through some sort of quarantine system. Itll save you the headache and heartache in the long run.

sergifed91 · May 9, 2018

got the smaller tank ready and as soon as the skimmer is up and adjusted. i'm thinking the first part of june. after the long weekend. planning on heading to vegas. to tie the knot if everything goes as plan. right now. looks like a big disappointment right now. but the next few days will only tell.

sergifed91 · May 9, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
Nitrates are the last phase of the nitrogen cycle, they dont break down any further. Nitrates have to be removed from the tank via water changes, skimming, refugium, or reactors. If you're showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites it means your tank should be done cycling. Do a series of small water changes to bring nitrates down to around 5 to 10 ppm and you should be good to add fish. With all that being said, if you have the capability I would strongly suggest setting up another much smaller tank, and running your fish through some sort of quarantine system. Itll save you the headache and heartache in the long run.

I haven't had diatoms and haven't even gone through the ugly stage. wanna wait and see if it even occurs. I don't wanna get fish if it's not done yet. My dry rock just looks like it did the way it did when I put it in the tank. no algea no diatoms.

Palyzoa · May 9, 2018

Sometimes the algae or diatoms are delayed until after you add the fish and CUC. I would do a WC and get you Nitrates down to around 10ppm like @crabs_mcjones said. Then add a fish but be careful not to add more that 1-2 fish for the first month or so. With the addition of fish and feeding the fish, you will start to see algae and diatoms pop up. You need a constant source of ammonia to keep the nitrogen cycle going so the addition of fish will help there. If you plan on QT first (highly recommended) then you will need to keep ghost feeding the tank to keep the ammonia/nitrogen cycle going until QT is done and your fish are added to the display.

Sounds like you're well on your way tho

Keep up the good work.

sergifed91 · May 10, 2018

Palyzoa said:
Sometimes the algae or diatoms are delayed until after you add the fish and CUC. I would do a WC and get you Nitrates down to around 10ppm like @crabs_mcjones said. Then add a fish but be careful not to add more that 1-2 fish for the first month or so. With the addition of fish and feeding the fish, you will start to see algae and diatoms pop up. You need a constant source of ammonia to keep the nitrogen cycle going so the addition of fish will help there. If you plan on QT first (highly recommended) then you will need to keep ghost feeding the tank to keep the ammonia/nitrogen cycle going until QT is done and your fish are added to the display.

Sounds like you're well on your way tho Keep up the good work.

how much of a wc should I do. 25 %?