Is my cycle going smooth ?

[Piece of reef]

Hey guys
Just want to make sure everything is going well

I was under the assumption that ammonia would go down before nitrites?

My ammonia is 0.25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates between 20ppm and 40ppm

Using api test kit

Have dry rock
And fiji pink sand
Thanks

 

[brandon429]

The test kits we use in cycling won’t follow rules most of the time. The nitrate proves you have live bacteria all set.

the next step is not waiting until the the nitrite is zero and ammonia is zero, that can take three months on some test kits, it’s to see the # of days on the bottle bac directions and know that’s when the cycle is done.


what brand is your bottle bac

dr Tim’s is ten day, fritz and biospira are two day mixes.

when you reach the number of days under water the directions show on the bottle, do a big water change and begin, cycle is done. No more testing is needed above, you have a perfectly working cycle. A stalled cycled would be all ammonia, zero nitrites and zero nitrates

do a search for false .25 api reading, you’ll see half a million examples on google, thats why your kit reads .25 ammonia.

 

[Piece of reef]

The test kits we use in cycling won’t follow rules most of the time. The nitrate proves you have live bacteria all set.

the next step is not waiting until the the nitrite is zero and ammonia is zero, it’s to see the # of days on the bottle bac directions and know that’s when the cycle is done.


what brand is your bottle bac

dr Tim’s is ten day, fritz and biospira are two day mixes.

I have dr tims both amonium
And the one and only

But i watch the video from dr tim who says not to add the ammonium untill u have 0 ammonia

So should i add that now ?


Also second question
I want to qurantine fish before i add
Them
How can i keep the tank cycled untill im ready for livestock ? I was thinking to add cuc but im not sure if that sufficient for the beneficial bacteria
Thanks

 

[brandon429]

You’ll have to choose between the steps above laid out vs the video. Choose one and run it no problem, the recommended way isn’t factoring the video instructions it’s factoring the misreading examples you can see in searches

you would add your ammonium chloride now if you haven’t already and wait the number of days on bottle, also add in one pinch of flake food to the mix as you wait ten or so days with the bottle bac, some ammonium chloride and flake feed all mixing

the reef will never uncycle after it cycles, you can’t starve it out even if you added nothing, the bacteria still get feed if you provide none, by ways bacteria have always been able to get feed if humans didn’t offer any help.

 

[Piece of reef]

You’ll have to choose between the steps above laid out vs the video. Choose one and run it no problem, the recommended way isn’t factoring the video instructions it’s factoring the misreading examples you can see in searches

you would add your ammonium chloride now if you haven’t already and wait the number of days on bottle, also add in one pinch of flake food to the mix as you wait ten or so days with the bottle bac, some ammonium chloride and flake feed all mixing

Awesome thank you

So ill add the ammonium and food
Then after 10 or so days
Ill add cuc to keep the bacteria happy

Sound good ?

 

[brandon429]

That will work fine agreed

dont forget to change out most of the water before starting, its to export all the built up algae fuel

 

[Piece of reef]

That will work fine agreed

dont forget to change out most of the water before starting, its to export all the built up algae fuel

Should i do a 20% water change ?

 

[brandon429]

Change as much to 100% as you are willing to do, like Jack did here:

100% Water Change

So in my previous thread, I had an ammonia issue that was out of hand. As suggested, I did a 100% WC and now i’m wondering when I should start adding fish back. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Piece of reef]

Change as much to 100% as you are willing to do, like Jack did here:

100% Water Change

So in my previous thread, I had an ammonia issue that was out of hand. As suggested, I did a 100% WC and now i’m wondering when I should start adding fish back. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

www.reef2reef.com

Lol ok im abit stupid lol is a 100% water change literally changing all the water ?

Wouldn't that restart everything all over again ?

 

[brandon429]

Check out his thread let me know what you think, youll see his strong start reef after changing out all the water or most of it

 

[Piece of reef]

Check out his thread let me know what you think, youll see his strong start reef after changing out all the water or most of it

Awesome stuff man thank you !

 

[brandon429]

That thread also shows how the system was ready even though his ammonia said 8 ppm

we changed out the water, then it wasn’t 8 anymore it was ready after waiting the required number of days stewing

 

[ReefRusty]

Aftet the help from @brandon429 I did a 60% WC 140L lowered my Nitrates but they were very high so made no difference to a fully cycled tank. Wait 10 days change as much water as you can. Add socks skimmer ect back in.

 

[Piece of reef]

That thread also shows how the system was ready even though his ammonia said 8 ppm

we changed out the water, then it wasn’t 8 anymore it was ready after waiting the required number of days stewing

Yeh i understand

My ammonia was 0.25
I added the ammoium
Now it reads 1.5 ppm
Ill check in 24 hours to see what it read

Might get some cuc tomorrow to qurantine

Any recommendations?

Aftet the help from @brandon429 I did a 60% WC 140L lowered my Nitrates but they were very high so made no difference to a fully cycled tank. Wait 10 days change as much water as you can. Add socks skimmer ect back in.

Thanks man i have a 300l tank
So im going to do a 200l water change because thats the biggest tub i have

Then see what happens after that thanks

 

[brandon429]

With that much water being changed / fifty gallons that’s a lot of work and cost, we can avoid having to change that much if you won’t dose any more ammonia. The initial amount is going to turn into a known amount of nitrates and as long as you don’t add more you can begin without any water change. We usually get posts after they’ve dosed four times thinking bacteria were not well fed


that builds up most, so just let this mix stew for ten days and if you want to add cuc they will live, because it’ll be ready in ten days of stew

i wouldn’t expect your test kits to agree on day ten, we think they’re just about useless in cycling other than to prove bacteria can move ammonia or nitrate as shown. Nitrite is not factored at all in today’s updated cycling rules, we don’t even test for it once.

 

[Piece of reef]

With that much water being changed / fifty gallons that’s a lot of work and cost, we can avoid having to change that much if you won’t dose any more ammonia. The initial amount is going to turn into a known amount of nitrates and as long as you don’t add more you can begin without any water change. We usually get posts after they’ve dosed four times thinking bacteria were not well fed


that builds up most, so just let this mix stew for ten days and if you want to add cuc they will live, because it’ll be ready in ten days of stew

i wouldn’t expect your test kits to agree on day ten, we think they’re just about useless in cycling other than to prove bacteria can move ammonia or nitrate as shown. Nitrite is not factored at all in today’s updated cycling rules, we don’t even test for it once.

Thanks man im going to take your advice
Appreciate it !