Established tank setup for 10 plus years lost cycle`

[Cary Meredith]

Ok, long time member but back posting from awhile away. I have a 125 Gallon 300+ gallon system with Refugium and sump and deep sand bed, that seems to have lost it cycle. Yeah I neglected it for awhile my bad, fish are doing great, but corals and anemones aren't, I stopped adding anything and got myself back on track, after the neglect now. But curious how do you re-establish the nutrient cycle in an established tank, fish and most inverts are doing great. I don't want to rush things and kill everything but need to get things back to how they should be. Tank is a bit on the acidic side and is why I think fish are ok, the salinity is low and just starting to raise that slowly. I did order some bacteria to see if that works (MicroBacter7 - Complete Bioculture - Brightwell Aquatics) saw decent reviews. Anyway thanks in advance for your comments and help.

 

[CoralB]

Microbactor 7 is a yes . How’s your alk mag cal pho’s nitrates ph temp etc and have you done a water change recently?

 

[Cary Meredith]

phosphate 0, nitrates 0, nitrites
0, carbonate hardness is at about 14 which is why I think fish are ok, ph 8.0

 

[Cary Meredith]

tried testing the most important ones first tonight will do better testing once new test kits arrive

 

[Toob]

If the fish are doing great, what do you mean by it “lost its cycle”? Are you seeing ammonia readings?

 

[Cary Meredith]

8.0 but old expired kit but 0 nitrates and 0 nitrites

 

[Rmckoy]

As a system matures to old age I believe it starts to efficiently process nutrients
I have had similar issues where it doesn’t matter how heavy I feed . Even with little maintenance there seams to be a higher risk of nutrients bottoming out to zeros

I don’t believe the tank needs to be recycled but adding bacteria will never go wrong . But chances are it will lower nutrient levels lower if possible .

as long as there are fish producing ammonia , the end result has to be nitrates . There is no way around it .
That being said did you always maintain higher alkalinity levels ?

do you know what your other parameters are
Alkalinity , calcium , magnesium

can you confirm the nutrient levels are accurate by using another test kit ?

 

[OrchidMiss]

As a system matures to old age I believe it starts to efficiently process nutrients
I have had similar issues where it doesn’t matter how heavy I feed . Even with little maintenance there seams to be a higher risk of nutrients bottoming out to zeros

I don’t believe the tank needs to be recycled but adding bacteria will never go wrong . But chances are it will lower nutrient levels lower if possible .

as long as there are fish producing ammonia , the end result has to be nitrates . There is no way around it .
That being said did you always maintain higher alkalinity levels ?

do you know what your other parameters are
Alkalinity , calcium , magnesium

can you confirm the nutrient levels are accurate by using another test kit ?

 

[Cary Meredith]

As a system matures to old age I believe it starts to efficiently process nutrients
I have had similar issues where it doesn’t matter how heavy I feed . Even with little maintenance there seams to be a higher risk of nutrients bottoming out to zeros

I don’t believe the tank needs to be recycled but adding bacteria will never go wrong . But chances are it will lower nutrient levels lower if possible .

as long as there are fish producing ammonia , the end result has to be nitrates . There is no way around it .
That being said did you always maintain higher alkalinity levels ?

do you know what your other parameters are
Alkalinity , calcium , magnesium

can you confirm the nutrient levels are accurate by using another test kit ?

Buying new test kit tonight will be a few days
but I have lost corals and have some issues with that really thick algea

 

[Cary Meredith]

My nitrates were high before the ignorance issue

 

[Tamberav]

I don't think its possible to uncycle a tank just by neglecting it... if you mean processing ammonia.

 

[OrchidMiss]

My nitrates were high before the ignorance issue

lol Well, as said above, it likely isn't a need to be re-cycled, just a need to bring parameters back WNL (within normal limits).
I am no expert, however, I do agree on the new test kits and find where the biggest problem lies and go from there.
Looking forward to seeing you revive your tank!

 

[Cary Meredith]

I don't think its possible to uncycle a tank just by neglecting it... if you mean processing ammonia.

lol Well, as said above, it likely isn't a need to be re-cycled, just a need to bring parameters back WNL (within normal limits).
I am no expert, however, I do agree on the new test kits and find where the biggest problem lies and go from there.
Looking forward to seeing you revive your tank!

but why isn't ammonia being converted to nitrates and then nitrites shouldn't my nitrites be sky high?

 

[Tamberav]

but why isn't ammonia being converted to nitrates and then nitrites shouldn't my nitrites be sky high?

It is Ammonia > nitrites > nitrates.

nitrites should be 0

Nitrates will be high or low... sometimes these also get used up in old tanks.

 

[Cary Meredith]

opps yeah your right but still same question

 

[OrchidMiss]

I look at it the same way I look at people's bloodwork.
I can't look at old labs or use expired blood tubes and expect any answer to properly treat my patients.
If you don't know what your baseline labs (parameters) are, you don't know how to properly find and then treat the problem.

 

[Cary Meredith]

Ok why do these test expire and why do meds expire when they are solid tablets that can't rot?

 

[OrchidMiss]

Certain enzymes and chemicals used in these things deteriorate over time. This causes a change in the chemical composition and will lead to inaccurate readings and less effective medications, or increased medication reactions.

 

[OrchidMiss]

@vetteguy53081 thoughts?

 

[Cary Meredith]

so I shoudnt
dose nitrates