First Tank Cycle

[Reefer-Noob]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the hobby and cycling my first tank. I have a 32.5g Fluval Flex. I started the cycle on 3/21. I used Dr Tims One & Only at the start. Inside the tank I've got the Caribsea Arag-Alive sand and Carib Sea Shapes rock. Currently, my readings are:

Ammonia: 1 PPM
Nitrite: .5 PPM
Nitrate: 30 PPM

Is it strange to have all three present at once? I guess what I am asking is, is this cycle going okay and are there any steps I need to take if not? I appreciate all input!

Thanks!

 

[Perthegallon]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the hobby and cycling my first tank. I have a 32.5g Fluval Flex. I started the cycle on 3/21. I used Dr Tims One & Only at the start. Inside the tank I've got the Caribsea Arag-Alive sand and Carib Sea Shapes rock. Currently, my readings are:

Ammonia: 1 PPM
Nitrite: .5 PPM
Nitrate: 30 PPM

Is it strange to have all three present at once? I guess what I am asking is, is this cycle going okay and are there any steps I need to take if not? I appreciate all input!

Thanks!

Yes completely on the right path what’s your ammonia source also?

 

[Perthegallon]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the hobby and cycling my first tank. I have a 32.5g Fluval Flex. I started the cycle on 3/21. I used Dr Tims One & Only at the start. Inside the tank I've got the Caribsea Arag-Alive sand and Carib Sea Shapes rock. Currently, my readings are:

Ammonia: 1 PPM
Nitrite: .5 PPM
Nitrate: 30 PPM

Is it strange to have all three present at once? I guess what I am asking is, is this cycle going okay and are there any steps I need to take if not? I appreciate all input!

Thanks!

Also the fact your getting all three means your near the end of your cycle

 

[brandon429]

Those readings show caribsea sand brings in bacteria. Simply wait about a week or so and change water you'll be cycled due to the bottle bac. Agreed the sand is able to already handle bioload, the extra time is for the dry surfaces to catch up

 

[Reefer-Noob]

Yes completely on the right path what’s your ammonia source also?

I am using 2 clownfis

 

[Perthegallon]

I am using 2 clownfis

I don’t know who suggested that but that’s a really bad idea I would do a water change even 0.5 nitrite is unhealthy with 1.00 ppm of ammonia is bad also are you priming the water?

 

[Dom]

I don’t know who suggested that but that’s a really bad idea I would do a water change even 0.5 nitrite is unhealthy with 1.00 ppm of ammonia is bad also are you priming the water?

I've seen that before. The LFS by me will rent you Damselfish for just the reason. Personally, I don't like it. I think it's cruel to put the fish through that.

 

[brandon429]

Don’t worry, your clownfish would be dead over nite were it not for the sand and bottle bac theyll handle it. Lots of people do fish in cycling thanks to fish stores...it won’t kill them. Post a full tank picture there’s a critical detail about your cycle we need to see, not measure from a test kit. It’s the water quality/clarity


i can tell you if your fish will live during the cycle based on a picture and asking how many days the fish have been in the tank, has it been a week with them in place

people: fish in cycling doesn’t burn fish. They die over nite when burnt. There is no irritation level of ammonia. It’s death, or not there, no middle ground. It’s why fish in cycles are so popular. They work. Disease risk is the risk

 

[Reefer-Noob]

I don’t know who suggested that but that’s a really bad idea I would do a water change even 0.5 nitrite is unhealthy with 1.00 ppm of ammonia is bad also are you priming the water?

I saw a lot of conflicting reports saying you can cycle with/without fish... Its bad/Its not bad if you cycle with fish - especially if you use bacteria in a bottle, etc... The clowns seem to be doing great, honestly. No signs of distress at all yet. Eating great. Swimming great. I picked them because they are hardy fish. No I am not priming - I dont know what that is

 

[Perthegallon]

I've seen that before. The LFS by me will rent you Damselfish for just the reason. Personally, I don't like it. I think it's cruel to put the fish through that.

That's a very cruel there’s no reason to do something like that anymore even the herment crab method when we have bottled bac and pure ammonia that works even better

 

[Perthegallon]

I saw a lot of conflicting reports saying you can cycle with/without fish... Its bad/Its not bad if you cycle with fish - especially if you use bacteria in a bottle, etc... The clowns seem to be doing great, honestly. No signs of distress at all yet. Eating great. Swimming great. I picked them because they are hardy fish. No I am not priming - I dont know what that is

Priming is used to make ammonia and if you add enough low amounts of nitrite non toxic

 

[Reefer-Noob]

Don’t worry, your clownfish would be dead over nite were it not for the sand and bottle bac theyll handle it. Lots of people do fish in cycling thanks to fish stores...it won’t kill them. Post a full tank picture there’s a critical detail about your cycle we need to see, not measure from a test kit. It’s the water quality


i can tell you if your fish will live during the cycle based on a picture and asking how many days the fish have been in the tank, has it been a week with them in place

They have been in there since day 1 so about 10 days now. They have been doing great. I will post a pic shortly! Water quality seems great IMO. We have the same name btw

 

[Perthegallon]

I saw a lot of conflicting reports saying you can cycle with/without fish... Its bad/Its not bad if you cycle with fish - especially if you use bacteria in a bottle, etc... The clowns seem to be doing great, honestly. No signs of distress at all yet. Eating great. Swimming great. I picked them because they are hardy fish. No I am not priming - I dont know what that is

I would very much suggest bottle bac and pure ammonia next time I started over 5 reef tanks with bottled bac in less then a week dry sand and dry rock

 

[Perthegallon]

I saw a lot of conflicting reports saying you can cycle with/without fish... Its bad/Its not bad if you cycle with fish - especially if you use bacteria in a bottle, etc... The clowns seem to be doing great, honestly. No signs of distress at all yet. Eating great. Swimming great. I picked them because they are hardy fish. No I am not priming - I dont know what that is

Lol my name is also Brandon

 

[Reefer-Noob]

Lol my name is also Brandon

Wow... LOL

 

[brandon429]

Agreed the hobbyists will direct you to no fish cycling as thats safer for fish, but after ten days with living bioload, you are now fully cycled

and, your fish aren’t going to die. The feed input alone is working your filter bac way more than fish, you did what bottle bac allows. Hey look at all these guys who skipped a cycle too (how did they get a room full of reefs instantly started, on the start date, without delay)
triple Brandons cycle thread o lort

 

[Reefer-Noob]

I would very much suggest bottle bac and pure ammonia next time I started over 5 reef tanks with bottled bac in less then a week dry sand and dry rock

I will do that next time. I just saw a lot of conflicting opinions and I obviously wanted to pick the one with a couple fish if I could. And to be fair, they are doing great. No bad signs at all.

 

[brandon429]

Worlds most offensive fish in cycle (adds a $300 anemone on day one with eight large fish lol) but a favorite thread of mine for demonstrating how only ammonia control matters in cycling, not nitrite or nitrate

Bio-spira works great

I just started a new tank a little over a week ago. I started with all dry rock and new sand. I added a bottle of Bio-Spira and put fish and coral the same day. Never saw any ammonia and fish and coral seem healthy.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Reefer-Noob]

Worlds most offensive fish in cycle (adds a $300 anemone on day one with eight large fish lol) but a favorite thread of mine for demonstrating how only ammonia control matters in cycling, not nitrite or nitrate

Bio-spira works great

I just started a new tank a little over a week ago. I started with all dry rock and new sand. I added a bottle of Bio-Spira and put fish and coral the same day. Never saw any ammonia and fish and coral seem healthy.

www.reef2reef.com

I am definitely new but I have done a fair bit of research because I want to do things right. From what I have gathered, there are many ways to get to the same biological answer. Everyone has their opinion but in reality you can do a lot of different things and have the same result

 

[brandon429]

Agreed but with this limit: if the bottle bac was dead during shipping then the new fish will die over nite and water will by rule be cloudy and bad, visually. The one step bottle bac makers should put on the label / they may have already not sure / is that demonstration of ammonia control should be proven, before adding fish. In your case you had proof bottle bac were alive 24 hours after adding fish.


since 99% of shipping isn’t killing bottle bac, it’s how the hobby keeps getting away with no pre verification.