First tank cycle test
- Thread starter MugiwaraGrape
- Start date
- Tagged users None
PotatoPig
Valuable Member
Don’t go out and buy a new test set just yet. The API is fine for what you’re testing for. Thread here on the accuracy of these tests:
API Tests
If nitrates are going up then ammonia is being processed, once you see these appear you should be good to do a water change to bring ammonia down and then add fish, as long as you add bioload somewhat slowly so you don’t overwhelm the early stage microbial capacity. Don’t add all the fish on day 1.
Bear in mind all fish you add, all inverts you add, and many foods will add cycling bacteria that will colonize along with what you’ve already added.
API Tests
If nitrates are going up then ammonia is being processed, once you see these appear you should be good to do a water change to bring ammonia down and then add fish, as long as you add bioload somewhat slowly so you don’t overwhelm the early stage microbial capacity. Don’t add all the fish on day 1.
Bear in mind all fish you add, all inverts you add, and many foods will add cycling bacteria that will colonize along with what you’ve already added.
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
Contact @brandon429 with regards to cycling your first tank .
Plenty of knowledge right down to the science of cycles and how long it takes . Without using any tests .
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
Quick(ish) update:
So I believe that my earlier readings were, as some of you mentioned about the API kits, false. I picked up the Hanna colorimeters for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. It seems I am 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 2ppm nitrates As of today (Day 6). I was curious and called my LFS and they stated the wet live rock I had purchased there initially was ready to go when I got it and that is why it seemed to cycle so quickly. The ghost feeding breakdown was slow and the bacteria were doing their thing from day one.
I've read on here about cycle skipping live rock before but I guess I never paid full attention when purchasing mine. I did notice from day one though that fan worms were popping out of the tubes and loving life the minute it hit the tank though. Haha
I am going to test again tomorrow for day 7 and if it bares the same results would it be feasible to assume I am cycled and ready to go?
So I believe that my earlier readings were, as some of you mentioned about the API kits, false. I picked up the Hanna colorimeters for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. It seems I am 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 2ppm nitrates As of today (Day 6). I was curious and called my LFS and they stated the wet live rock I had purchased there initially was ready to go when I got it and that is why it seemed to cycle so quickly. The ghost feeding breakdown was slow and the bacteria were doing their thing from day one.
I've read on here about cycle skipping live rock before but I guess I never paid full attention when purchasing mine. I did notice from day one though that fan worms were popping out of the tubes and loving life the minute it hit the tank though. Haha
I am going to test again tomorrow for day 7 and if it bares the same results would it be feasible to assume I am cycled and ready to go?
fanworms=attached to skip cycle live rock
same with rocks that have algae on them, or pods because they came from a holding vat at the pet store marked live rock, or rock with coralline, or corals attached to it. all that is skip cycle live rock/no testing needed. you just move it into your tank and you're cycled.
same with rocks that have algae on them, or pods because they came from a holding vat at the pet store marked live rock, or rock with coralline, or corals attached to it. all that is skip cycle live rock/no testing needed. you just move it into your tank and you're cycled.
Nitrate to me has alway meant cycled and ready to proceed slowly . I don't test ammonia or nitrite but I'm probably a minority.
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
I have always went this exact way as well and long ago cycling a tank by adding ammonia source and waiting is complete different compared to adding nitrifying bacteria .
Apparently you can have instant nitrates ,
And the level of nitrates after the cycle is complete now is far below what I’ve ever seen .
Freenow54
Valuable Member
You should read an article fishless cycling to get an idea as to how long it takes. You seem in a rush, and i have noticed a lot of people here are of the same mind. Right or wrong I take precautions because of the responsibility I feel I have towards the fish. The cycle is ammonia, then the bacteria develops to turn that into Nitrites which I have read also harms fish. Then the second bacteria evolves to turn Nitrites into Nitrates. Then it is all up to you with $$$ of filtration, skimmers etc to keep that in check. Mine took months, and by the way I had lots of times Nitrites were zero that I cant answer but finally it spikedHello everyone!
I did my first tank test today. This is my second day adding seachem stability and yesterday I added a pinch of fish food to get some ammonia going.
The test results so far are
Ammonia: .25-.5ppm
Nitrite: 0 (as far as I could tell)
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
Is nitrite supposed to be 0 here or should I be seeing a number as well?
Should I test every day, every other, or so on?
When should I do my first water change?
Problem with relying solely on nitrate as an indicator as a complete cycle, is thus;
You start with say 2ppm ammonia. You initially process 0.1ppm of ammonia into nitrite, but you don’t test it, so you don’t recognize this. This 0.27ppm nitrite is then converted by the nitrate test to read 27ppm nitrate due to interference. You consider it cycled but have barely touched the ammonia concentration in reality, there’s 95% of it left. Just saying
You start with say 2ppm ammonia. You initially process 0.1ppm of ammonia into nitrite, but you don’t test it, so you don’t recognize this. This 0.27ppm nitrite is then converted by the nitrate test to read 27ppm nitrate due to interference. You consider it cycled but have barely touched the ammonia concentration in reality, there’s 95% of it left. Just saying
Freenow54
Valuable Member
I agree completely Ammonia should be always zeroProblem with relying solely on nitrate as an indicator as a complete cycle, is thus;
You start with say 2ppm ammonia. You initially process 0.1ppm of ammonia into nitrite, but you don’t test it, so you don’t recognize this. This 0.27ppm nitrite is then converted by the nitrate test to read 27ppm nitrate due to interference. You consider it cycled but have barely touched the ammonia concentration in reality, there’s 95% of it left. Just saying
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2018
- Messages
- 7,571
- Reaction score
- 7,962
I am interested in why you used the Seachem product instead of the “standard” nitrifying bacteria in a bottle (Dr. Tim’s, BioSpira, Fritz Turbo) and ammonium chloride.Hello everyone!
I did my first tank test today. This is my second day adding seachem stability and yesterday I added a pinch of fish food to get some ammonia going.
The test results so far are
Ammonia: .25-.5ppm
Nitrite: 0 (as far as I could tell)
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
Is nitrite supposed to be 0 here or should I be seeing a number as well?
Should I test every day, every other, or so on?
When should I do my first water change?
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
The seachem stability is the bottled bacter as well so really it just came down to brand and the stability was recommended by several LFS employees. Haha
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
There is zero rush. Haha I am asking questions in advance to understand and be prepared. I understand entirely what the cycle is and how it works. Just to add I'm a biogeochemist. So familiar with the nitrogen cycle it hurts.
My confusion was really with the numbers themselves not being able to balance because of ghost feeding. I also wasn't familiar with the API test color parameters. I never visually match colors. Usually sip up on an ICP or a Spect, convert, and interpret. Haha
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
I understand both ends of the idea really, but the purpose of being cycled is to make sure you have the necessary biome ready to complete the nitrogen cycle. Though I agree it should be zero or extremely near it, the purpose isn't to never have ammonia ever. It is to be able to cycle it. So people saying the moment they see nitrates they consider it cycled and to proceed slowly means exactly that. The cycle has been completed and ammonia at some given point was nitrified by a built biome.
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
This. Haha I seen the color chart and my colors and looked over at my wife and said "I think I might be colorblind". lol
OP
OP
MugiwaraGrape
Community Member
I should also add that there is an immense amount of contradictory articles out there so I figured asking hobbyists directly and to almost take the information in averages. Lol
