Did I just screw up my tank cycle?

[piranhaman00]

Dr Tim's wrong on three points he's claimed for cycling and we have threads to prove it.

1. Max ammonia allowed. Dr Reefs bac thread tested out to eight ppm.

2. Nitrite stalling a cycle. Has never occurred in reefing. Microbiology of reef tank cycling thread is seventeen pages of testless cycling specifically because none of the params matter, including nitrite. You can't stall a reef cycle, only make it take longer to clear, first answer above is right

3. No nitrifiers are in the water, stated in his cycle talk video. See aquabiomics thread specifically finding nitrifiers in water.

Im not disagreeing with you but on point 2, isnt taking longer to clear = stalling?

I read about freshwater waste water treatment being stalled by high nitrite concentrations during some research. Much different than our systems but had me thinking!

 

[brandon429]

Agreed and nice call, but that's also only one option in reefing, to deal with wastewater.

Today's cycling knowledge knows that you can let pretty much any arrangement stew, change all water, retest, and it passes. A true stall would make that part not work

**this thread has potential to be a big deal for cycling science if you'll test claims. The hallmark characteristic of a cycle is that no degree of water changes undoes the cycle, unsticks bacteria.

If after two weeks stew this system cannot pass a full water change test, then you found the upper limits of ammonia bac can tolerate. For the first time on this whole site

Nearly any bottle bac we can buy will pass the full change test in about 48 hours, long before nitrite regulators show up. Nitrite regulation simply doesn't matter, ammonia control is all that matters. fish - in cycling threads demo this fact daily. Their damsels and clowns would die if nitrite control mattered in saltwater chem

 

[Quietman]

What levels are nearly off the chart ammonia? If it's under 10 ppm...maybe change some water (25% or less) and that's a hard maybe. Waiting a day or two could save you some salt money. And heck, I'm curious to see what happens.

And you don't really need to add any bacteria. There's enough in the environment to start everything (unless you live in some hermetically sealed clean room). The products do cut days off the cycle time though.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[3rdMoon]

Are you showing any nitrates at all? Or is this within the first day?

It’s day 1. So nothings had a chance to convert yet.

 

[lapin]

If you've got the time, we have the beer or some old saying

 

[KrisReef]

I know right. I did a fishless cycle for specifically that reason. Why make a living thing suffer for MY stupidity and lack of experience? So can I add too much live bacteria? I don’t wanna OD on Dr Tims.

You have to be glad that there were no animals in the tank when the ammonia landed!

Change out all of the polluted water, test, add ammonia and see if it gets consumed or not.

 

[3rdMoon]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post. I freaking love how the reefing community comes together to help even a dummy like me Since Ive been assured that the ammonia level won’t poison my rock and substrate, I think I’m gonna do a partial water change and just monitor it for a bit. People keep saying the most important part of reefing is patience. So I choose to stand on the shoulders of giants and heed that advice. Thanks again for all the advice and well wishes.
May the reef be with you