First time fishless cycle-day 4

[ClaySaltman]

Good Morning All,

I'm setting up my first every 60 gallon Salt tank and am on day 4 of the cycle. After adding the dry rock, sand, and RO water I added Microbacter Quick start and the entire bottle of Microbacter XLM, but I'm still showing zero Nitrites after 4 days. The Ammonia has been 2 ppm for a couple days so my question is how long should I wait before I see some movement with the Nitrites? Thanks

 

[ScottJ]

IMHO, don't even test for NITRITES. That will just confuse you. What you are looking for is the ammonia to be converted to NITRATES. Usually, after 10 or so days, you should have detectable NITRATES with a reliable kit (Salfert, Red Sea, Hanna, not API) After that, GO SLOW when adding anything alive!

Post a pic of your tank so people can see the rock and layout to make sure it's all good.

Nature will work it out if you just give it time.

 

[ClaySaltman]

I just bought the API kit so I’ll be stuck with that for a while. I just tested Nitrates and they are still at 0. Is there a ballpark time when I should see things start to take off? Should I get another bottle of bacteria? I’m in no hurry, I just want to make sure I start everything the correct way. Thanks

 

[ScottJ]

I just bought the API kit so I’ll be stuck with that for a while. I just tested Nitrates and they are still at 0. Is there a ballpark time when I should see things start to take off? Should I get another bottle of bacteria? I’m in no hurry, I just want to make sure I start everything the correct way. Thanks

One bottle of bac is enough. Just give it some time.

 

[ED3]

Nothing good ever came quick in this hobby!

 

[ScottJ]

Good Morning All,

I'm setting up my first every 60 gallon Salt tank and am on day 4 of the cycle. After adding the dry rock, sand, and RO water I added Microbacter Quick start and the entire bottle of Microbacter XLM, but I'm still showing zero Nitrites after 4 days. The Ammonia has been 2 ppm for a couple days so my question is how long should I wait before I see some movement with the Nitrites? Thanks

Read everything you can on this forum and elsewhere. The more you research, the better off you will be. Personally, I find it one of the most enjoyable parts of keeping tanks. There is so much to learn, always some fascinating rabbit hole to go down.

 

[ClaySaltman]

I agree, I've been reading a lot and I figured I just needed to wait, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks