I think I messed up...

[Regular_Reefer]

So my tank has been cycling for about 22 days now. Two days ago I went to my lfs to check it out and got into a conversation with one of the employees about the set up I was using (microcater live rock starter) during said conversation the employee told me that I’ve hit a plateau (my ammonia was at .50 and nitrite was .25 for about 6 days) she advises me to add more of the QuickCycl (ammonia, and ammonium chloride) to “feed” the bacteria since I was not ghost feeding. Long story short I add another dose of the QuickCycl when I get home and immediately feel like I messed up. So I email the Brightwell guys and the ceo responds telling me to “almost never” re-dose the QuickCycl. Now my ammonia levels have **** up to 2.0 over the last two days. Do I let time run it’s course? Or is there something I should do to get it back on track ?

 

[Regular_Reefer]

Shot up* haha don’t know why that was filtered

 

[MERKEY]

Does the ammonia come down at all over the last 24hr period or does it stay at 2?

 

[Regular_Reefer]

It’s stayed at 2, I’ve added some more of the microbacter start xlm, since then as well

 

[Gablami]

Let time run it’s course. You didn’t mess up. Ammonia at 2.0 isn’t toxic. Bacteria will win.

 

[Greg Goby]

A properly cycled system of anything other than some nano or pico tanks should process 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours. If your ammonia is not going down daily then your rock does not have the proper bacteria present. Monitor ammonia and keep it between 1-2ppm until you notice that ammonia is reading null 24 hours after dosing for several days in a row. Then your tank is cycled.

You will need to do a large water change at the end of this, as your bacteria has turned all that ammonia into a lot of nitrates.

 

[Regular_Reefer]

Ok cool thanks for the feedback guys. The reading I’ve been doing made me think I was fine (after all it’s a completely empty tank) I just needed to get some experience from the group and make sure I didn’t need to start over

 

[vetteguy53081]

Give it 72 hours bd test again

 

[Regular_Reefer]

Can I continue to dose the bacteria in since I bought the new bottle or would that even do anything at this point ?

 

[Regular_Reefer]

I really do appreciate the feedback, I know I ask what probably seems like silly or minor questions but I have been doing the research and the reassurance is nice to have from such vast experience available here

 

[MERKEY]

Feel free to dose away as it won't hurt anything and you don't want to waste the open bottle

You are doing just fine and give it another few days to start working!

 

[Greg Goby]

The bottle will just speed up the process. If you just dose ammonia to rocks and circulating saltwater the same process will happen it just takes a week or two longer. The bottles are designed so that people can add fish immediately to un-cycled rock and water (think fish and coral events), which I personally would not recommend for a home tank. It is best if the system is given some time (even after adding bottled bacteria) to allow the bacteria to colonize on the rocks and build up that natural defense. Even low levels of ammonia are very stressful and quickly deadly to fish.

I don't think it's necessary to have ammonia over 1ppm while cycling the tank unless you're planning on adding a large quantity of fish all at once. If you add one or two fish at a time, the tank will naturally adjust to the new levels of ammonia that the fish load creates.

 

[Regular_Reefer]

I only plan on adding every piece from fish to coral one at a time so I can learn by observing the changes in the water

 

[Greg Goby]

Then you're good to dose to 1ppm ammonia. If you've been adding bottled bacteria it will only take a few days max to start seeing ammonia dropping quickly. I would continue dosing past this point for 3 days or so, and then you should be good after that. Best of luck!