Hi I am in the process of cycling a 150 gallon tank (175 gallons total) I am using red sea reef mature to cycle I am at day 21 of the cycle and according to them I should have 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 5ppm nitrate. My readings for the past 1.5 weeks have been the same. nitrite is about 5 ppm, .5 ppm ammonia and 10 nitrate. Its seams like my cycle is stuck. I am at day 21 and the levels are far from safe to add fish. I was reading online that some people have this issue also and started to use dr Tim's and it helped. I'm not sure if that's the right thing. If anyone can help with advice that would be great help.
HELP! My cycle is stuck!
- Thread starter sean rand
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Double check the ammonia test if you can.
Keep in mind , the presence of nitrate means it IS cycling.
If you do nothing , it’ll Finish processing the Ammona.
If you add bacteria it’ll also finish processing the Ammona.
Keep in mind , the presence of nitrate means it IS cycling.
If you do nothing , it’ll Finish processing the Ammona.
If you add bacteria it’ll also finish processing the Ammona.
sean rand
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My ammonia was at 1 ppm and then went down but the nitrite went up. I thought the cycle was nitrite, ammonia and then nitrate..
To your point of adding dr Tim's if I add the bacteria without enough ammonia for it to love on how would it finish the cycle?
Nitrite just shows it working.
Ammonia-nitrate. It IS working.
You have Ammona in the system. So, it’s good for the bacteria.
When it’s low , The bacteria will now consume the nitrate and phosphates.
One thing folks forget , we all have ammoina in the system at all times. It’s constantly being produced, just not at high enough levels to test for.
Also you do have good bacteria in there already that are working and growing.
Ammonia-nitrate. It IS working.
You have Ammona in the system. So, it’s good for the bacteria.
When it’s low , The bacteria will now consume the nitrate and phosphates.
One thing folks forget , we all have ammoina in the system at all times. It’s constantly being produced, just not at high enough levels to test for.
Also you do have good bacteria in there already that are working and growing.
IslandLifeReef
Valuable Member
You could do either. Waiting will be training for the patience that is required to run a successful reef tank. Dr. Tim's "may" help speed things along. I'm not familiar with the Red Sea Reef Mature program. What are you adding?
Red Sea I belive is one or two strains of bacteria. DT tims is seven.
Myself , I know it takes about a month for a tank to be ready (IMO) so I’d wait. Despite the sales pitches of a faster cycle.
Nopox , fwiw , is organic carbon dosing. The third thing bacteria needs. No3 Po4 and a carbon.
Myself , I know it takes about a month for a tank to be ready (IMO) so I’d wait. Despite the sales pitches of a faster cycle.
Nopox , fwiw , is organic carbon dosing. The third thing bacteria needs. No3 Po4 and a carbon.
sean rand
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So I according to red sea j shoild be dome my cycle and my levels should be 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 2 ppm nitrate. My nitrite is 5ppm nitrite is 5 and nitrate is 40ppm. So frustrated.
I stopped dosing nopax.
I ordered dr Tim's. Let's see what happens.
Any suggestions???
I stopped dosing nopax.
I ordered dr Tim's. Let's see what happens.
Any suggestions???
SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
I used Dr. Tim's from day 1 of my cycling process, but it still took 36 days before cycling was complete. I discovered on day 24 that my PO4 was at zero. I had been running a GFO reactor and growing chaeto in a refugium which stripped all the PO4 out, so I turned off the GFO reactor and PO4 increased to 0.03 ppm within a day. Cycling completed 12 days after that. I wonder how much the lack of PO4 impacted the cycling speed.
SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
Since I didn't use Red Sea Reef Mature, I can't comment directly on your situation. However, based on my experience I'd recommend you test your water to see what your phosphate level is. If it's at zero, the cycling may be stalled because the bacteria needs some PO4 to reproduce. If that's the case, then adding Dr. Tim's probably won't help. Do you have a PO4 test kit?
