How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

brandon429 · Feb 10, 2021

EMERGENCY - Mini cycle again?

Have a 75 gallon display with 40 gallon sump with refugium in sump. A couple of weeks ago, I began detecting ammonia (.2), Nitrite (.2) and nitrate (50). The tank has been running for 6 months and has been stable. All of a sudden, this issue began. Any recommendations? My nitrates don’t seem to...

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false mini cycle alert post, let’s track the outcome. At six months, no reef develops ammonia issues. Not possible.

revheat21 · Mar 8, 2021

What a great thread! Im cycling a nano tank right now using Dr Tims and dosing ammonia per instructions. My ammonia level was 2+ for the first 8 days and my nitrites and nitrates were in the stratosphere. Today the ammonia is 0 (or as close to zero as my Red Sea test kit can get). According to what you’re explaining here, my tank is cycled correct? If so, should i do a water change to bring down the nitrate? Also, what cuc would you suggest.

brandon429 · Mar 8, 2021

100% agreed its done, you can change water and begin with no further cycle testing. for sure, pls post updates when the fish are in thanks tons for posting!

in fact I have some recent data from my friend Jon who can show us what Dr Tims does to the thousandths ppm nh3 ammonia, the real accurate measures, this is where your tank is actually at currently:

Is anyone with a mindstream or seneye ammonia reader willing to co-fund a cycling experiment with me

What is the % ammonia contained does it say Not sure on the %. Nothing on the bottle. Website directions 40 mg/ml

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brandon429 · Mar 13, 2021

Is anyone with a mindstream or seneye ammonia reader willing to co-fund a cycling experiment with me

Jedi thank you for those contributions that’s so on point for our thread here for sure I didn’t know there were other seneye-seers out there lol that’s neat to see many confirmations of bottle bac efficacy

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Team that thread is a powerful study on cycling bacteria. It reinforces the work we have been doing here, plus it belongs back edited into the first paragraph. It’s a very very important proof thread.

brandon429 · Mar 14, 2021

Cycling Questions (Week 2, Waterbox 20 Cube)

Hey All - Have some cycling questions. I have a Waterbox 20 cube setup and have been cycling for almost two weeks. For some background, I am using CaribSea live sand (used good amount of liquid from bag), dry rock and Imagitarium pre-mixed saltwater (will phase this out once I get RODI filter)...

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not stuck, but ready.

The first tenet from post 1 in this thread is that nitrite has no bearing in any cycle, and it doesn't have any bearing in this post as well.

There has been an uptick lately of new posters being told to wait out their nitrite compliance. the entire point of paying for bottle bac vs waiting for a free natural cycle is so that you don't have to do that.
if you have three weeks to spare (wait) then don't buy bottle bac, adding food alone will cycle your tank per this thread:

Build Thread - My SPS Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15

Beautiful build and scape!

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We have twelve pages on file of other people's reefs meeting a predictable start date when using bottled bac for a reason, its that its predictable.

You do NOT have to input bottle bac, and then wait out the time for a feed-only cycle, that's redundant and you're wasting money. When you buy bottled bac, it makes your aquarium ready in a few days max.

revheat21 · Mar 15, 2021

brandon429 said:
100% agreed its done, you can change water and begin with no further cycle testing. for sure, pls post updates when the fish are in thanks tons for posting!

in fact I have some recent data from my friend Jon who can show us what Dr Tims does to the thousandths ppm nh3 ammonia, the real accurate measures, this is where your tank is actually at currently:

Is anyone with a mindstream or seneye ammonia reader willing to co-fund a cycling experiment with me

What is the % ammonia contained does it say Not sure on the %. Nothing on the bottle. Website directions 40 mg/ml

www.reef2reef.com

So, I did a large water change (75%) and ammonia returned to 0 a day after dosing 2ppm. I checked nitrites out if habit and they were still elevated.
I comprehend what you are saying about nitrites not really being a concern, but i have to admit its hard “unlearning “ the old way of cycling a tank.
I’ve not put any livestock in the tank yet because I’M stuck, not the cycle!
Am I being over cautious no good reason?

brandon429 · Mar 15, 2021

consider the links preceding this page, honestly I think that's the best eval.

we ask that every poster who uses timing to initiate an end of cycle post with updates and fish in the tank.

people on the web claim crazy stuff

agreed they do, but we can direct message any poster here who started a reef using the new science and see how things charted for fish health. This is why I love work threads, independent verification (or total slam disagree) of claims= readily avail.

plus the polling works well because people are 5x more likely to quickly report noncompliance than they will with a positive. when we don't hear back from folks= positive and they're reefing away.

some are dealing with velvet right about now, too

brandon429 · Mar 15, 2021

post #224 is a specific proofing for your concern, using seneye. We base our entire thread on that ability...but the funny thing is the proof came on page 12 after we'd started myriad full reefs/ we didn't need seneye to confirm updated cycling science from pages 1-12 cuz its strong/reliable

but when seneye came on scene it did confirm bottle bac ability to carry fish bioloading, precisely in that post. its relevant because we get to see precise fish behavior tied into rising nh3 levels and then totally controlled ones. we can also see the effects of both bottle bac + high surface area and low surface area testing (his quarantine tank) and resulting nh3 ammonia levels in that thread. its amazing actually.

Franci1017 · Mar 19, 2021

I'm currently cycling my Red Sea XL 425 with 60 pounds of caribsea arch rocks, 80 pounds caribsea sand special grade with 2kg Maxspect nano-tech bio spheres in the sump.. Fishless cycle with dr tim's one and only using Dr tims ammonium chloride solution. i'm on day 19 of cycle and nitrites not dropping, zero ammonia since day 8. On day 14, I did 25% water change but nitrite didn't dropped. what should i do?

brandon429 · Mar 21, 2021

post#229 is found handled in post one page one from this thread, that’s our flagship cycle type discussed, the easiest one of all to call. Clue hunt that one down on page one, post one here and it’ll reveal how it’s ready cycled in two key ways just from that post. Let me know if readers can find two distinct reasons the cycle in post #229 is done

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7 Weeks- No Cycle: could I have done something which would prevent my tank from ever cycling?

1) Problem: (Growing Despair) 75 gallon, bare bottom, dry rock fishless cycle using Microbacter7 (per instructions) using new API tests. Now at 7 weeks I still have a consistent 2ppm ammonia (initially from raw shrimp, and now Dr. Tim's ammonia) but the ammonia level never drops, and I've...

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this job was challenging because it’s a seven week system well fed but not bottle bac dosed, the reefing public doesn’t agree that natural filtration bacteria exist without being purchased. Linked inside this thread for proof his cycle is done are two seneye studies: one, an eight week old unassisted cycle. No bottle bac, no feed, still oxidizes ammonia due to the wait time we’ve discussed for pages here.

his ammonia test shows holding and stuck, it’s just a test misread but it made the reefer think his cycle which is done had never completed. They’re relying solely on api there while excluding complete contextual clues he’s cycled. What does the ammonia line on a cycling chart show on day forty as above

of three params that we could be measuring in cycles, which param have we focused on so far, how does that param line up on a cycling chart on day forty?

Franci1017 · Mar 22, 2021

Day 22, just added two chromis yesterday and they're doing fine..

brandon429 · Mar 22, 2021

Super clean water too, looking sharp there

brandon429 · Mar 22, 2021

Franci we do have a use for your nitrite data I'd enjoy seeing it continually tested and updated until it clears.

first time on the whole thread

reasoning: lets see just how long we'd have to wait should we strive for the classic zero ammonia zero nitrite, Im curious how much longer it will take.

A cycling chart which reliably helps us discern nh3 ammonia status in a reef tank says nitrite is about day 25, if it sticks much longer it will be good data to have

I never wanted the data before because nitrite stalling messes up cycling control badly, we lose 100% of start date timing when factoring it. I wanted this one cycling thread to be instant start date calls: no hesitation, no wondering if it will work, solid resolve.

But now that we can see by page 12 nitrite won't affect anything at all, we should track out its legit closing am curious to see how well an old school cycling chart keeps up with trending.

we're also dealing with the api factor...having no other tests to base from that sample means we can't truly know nitrite but at least we'll have some view. If you could run that exact nitrite test on a known post-cycle reef that w help baseline
b

Franci1017 · Mar 23, 2021

Day 23 of the Cycle..

brandon429 · Mar 23, 2021

Nice. It may take ten-fifteen more days to clear up that is expected can’t wait to see when it’s zero. I bet won’t be this month given the level on prior pics

Franci1017 · Mar 24, 2021

Day 24 of the Cycle.. Nitrites are dropping..

brandon429 · Mar 24, 2021

Neat, very close to cycle chart times neato

that was quite a change over nite

nathanieltyler · Mar 24, 2021

I am going to be cycling my tank next week, and have been reading up to ensure I do it right and this thread is full of so many great inputs, thanks

brandon429 · Mar 24, 2021

Hey if it helps, wanted to introduce a testless option distilled from our pages:

buy two different bottles or brands of cycle-specific bottle bac, ones we use here are great. Two individual sources for your tank

setup tank water rocks sand filters heater etc

add the dose from each bottle one time for the volume, add two pinches of any common flake food ground up really well. Wait fourteen days, change water, cycled and can‘t not be cycled. There’s no way two bottles back to back will be dead mixes due to bad shipping, and this combo will cycle either of the bottles alone. testless cycling based on submersion time

brandon429 · Mar 24, 2021

just thought of something funny, a challenge.

anyone reading, link us a thread you think constitutes a midway, unready, or not yet done cycle. any link, any forum. we share with reefcentral.com nobody minds if we post after reading their examples here. or any other site.

The rationale is this: we have Dr. Reef's bottle bac thread which shows seneye measurements on all major brands of bac

we know how long they take to work

we also have these twelve pages of post-cycle fish in place, no harm, showing the neutrality of nitrite and reliability of submersion timing when controlling free ammonia in new biosystems.

and from that, I cannot myself name any thread right now that isn't done cycling based on its source biomaterial

that doesn't mean there aren't five help threads for cycling currently posted, non seneye measurements, but it means nothing is wrong with their tanks they're done.

I cannot find a single post on the web for a half cycled reef.

*can't include ocean rocks he he omit all tampa bay, KPS curing

using the common dry start or live rock transfer from another tank, they're all ready. post away. send us a tough challenge, scan all reef boards go outbound, link back here.