Dr tims ammonia

[op6rigo]

Tank has been up and running with no inhabitants for 4 weeks and 2 days. 30 gallon all in one tank. 30 lbs live cultured purple rock. 2-3 inches of fiji pink live sand.
All levels ammonia, nitrite have been zero the entire time.
After reading all the hype I purchased dr tims ammonia and followed the directions of 1 drop per gallon. Any suggestions on whats next. If the ammonia doesnt go down do i need to add a source of bacteria?

 

[pelphrey]

I would test for ammonia to see exactly where you are at. Ammonia will go down, it just takes time. If you started with dry rock you just started the cycle, it is now a waiting game!

 

[brandon429]

howdy

the specific start date for you OP is when your tank can digest 2 ppm of ammonia down to zero, in 24 hours as indicated by a reliable ammonia test kit. once you can do that test 2 or 3 times, begin reefing with a light initial bioload, as a reasonable bioload is only a fraction of 2 pm each day/

if you used live rock in your new tank, has coralline, you don't need to add bacteria.

if you used bone white rock, no worms/coralline/pods, its ok to add some bottle bac or you'll be waiting a long time for them to get in naturally. the kind of rock you started with matters 100% lets see a pic of it

 

[brandon429]

the single most important takeaway for your start date is not that ammonia came down once, its when it does 2ppm approximately, to certain zero, 2 or three times, with each test interval being a 24 hour assessment period. when you have done that in 24 hours, you can begin light initial reefing. cycle would be done at that point, not rock maturation, but initial start date cycle.

 

[op6rigo]

 

[op6rigo]

Thats the rock

 

[op6rigo]

Youve seen it brandon, lol we meet again, so thats where im at with my tank

 

[brandon429]

its ok! I fully deem that ready. and yes I can see you have water in it this time! nice clear water. look at all that purple. surely you've seen a single pod, or starfish, or fanworm in there by now? if so, that means fully ready. if not, im confused lol
that rock looks exceptionally live and ready to go last month.

 

[op6rigo]

So i got home tonight and tested its been 24 hours since i added dr tims ammonia.. I added 2ppm and here are the results... What should i do now wait until it hits zero?

 

[brandon429]

The cycle thread linked in prior thread shows using API ammonia is the same as total guessing, not useful. So bypassing that we should look for life on your rock.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/
Do you have any worms, pods, sponges, any moving organisms on the live rock

Lastly, are you certain it's true live rock not painted? Going off the coralline alone, and any moving animals, we know your rock has been ready since day 1.

Here's the thread for reference linked above. The entire thread says your group b rocks have always been ready.

We can't use API ammonia to help our cycle testing, only because we are dealing in specifics. API ammonia can be used only to make guesses, you must use non API for cycling or forego it altogether. If your coralline is real, you are harming your live rock by spiking ammonia.