Is my tank cycled? What should I do?

[xnguven]

Hey guys thank you for taking your time and reading this. I just recently started a saltwater tank roughly 8 days ago. I added a bottle of bio spira, live rocks, and live sand to the tank. My current readings are 0.25ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrate, and 5.0ppm to 10ppm. Is my tank cycled? And what should I do moving forward?

Thanks again,

fish noobie

 

[Hitman]

Welcome to R2R!!!
Not cycled yet. You need to get your ammonia to 0. I’m surprised after adding Bio Spira you have ammonia.

 

[xnguven]

Thank you for the quick response Hitman and for welcoming me to the community! I added a picture of the testing just incase somebody has a better set of eyes than me lol. Me too as well but trying to get the ammonia down. I been using daily doses of seacham prime. Anything I should do differently?

 

[Marco S]

+1 on the Ammonia...

I've used BioSpira many times during QT over the last few months and have never seen any signs of Ammonia. Usually Nitrites and Nitrates show up in a couple days and it takes a few more days to a week to get Nitrites to 0.

How big is the tank and how much BioSpira did you use? Is the rock actually, "Live" or is it dry live rock or any other variant of that? Did you cure the rock first? What type of water did you use, (tap or RODI) and did you use any other chemicals like water conditioner or cleaning bacteria?

BTW...Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[xnguven]

The tank is a 40 gallon breeder and yes I believe it is live rock and is covered with purple coralline algae. When I got it from the fish store I made sure it was fully submerged in water to prevent as much die off as possible. I believe it was cured. I used tap water for the tank. Should I test my tap water to see if that could be the cause for high nitrates? Some other chemicals I used was instant ocean marine conditioner. And I have seachem purigen and chemipure elite in the filter.

Thank you Marco!!

 

[Marco S]

Oooooooh...it's an API test kit. Lol

They are pretty hard to read and every time I use them during a cycle it shows ammonia, but the ammonia badge and other test kits don't show any. If you do not have an ammonia badge in the tank I would recommend you get one, (at least during the cycle). You could also try another test kit or bring your water into your LFS to test. If they show 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite with some measurable amount of Nitrate, then you are cycled.

 

[BadFish619]

Welcome to R2R! Looks like you're on the right track. Unfortunately that api test kit will test for total ammonia so you'll get a false positive. Meaning that .25 you see is likely zero. Nitrite is at zero. Looks like you're cycled to me.

 

[xnguven]

Will definitely check out some other test kits once the API runs out.Any recommendations? I don’t know how I feel about the ammonia badges.. I have a seachem ammonia alert in my freshwater tank but it always stay in the safe zone. Not sure if it’s working right lol.


Thank you Badfish! I hope you’re right... I added seachem prime just incase. I did a 25% water change yesterday. Then did the testing about an hour ago and got those results. What should I do moving forward?

 

[Marco S]

Will definitely check out some other test kits once the API runs out.Any recommendations? I don’t know how I feel about the ammonia badges.. I have a seachem ammonia alert in my freshwater tank but it always stay in the safe zone. Not sure if it’s working right lol.


Thank you Badfish! I hope you’re right... I added seachem prime just incase. I did a 25% water change yesterday. Then did the testing about an hour ago and got those results. What should I do moving forward?

The Ammonia should always be in the safe zone after the tank has been cycled, so there really isn't a need for the badge after the cycle. If you ever see Ammonia after the tank has been successfully cycled then something is wrong.

I personally use the Red Sea test kit and have some of the Hannah Checkers for Calcium, Phosphate and copper, (The copper is just for QT) and I have an Apex for my PH, ORP and Temp. I have heard a lot of good things about the Salifert test kit as well as a few others out there that I can't remember off the top of my head, (I think Nyos may have been one as well).

 

[BadFish619]

Will definitely check out some other test kits once the API runs out.Any recommendations? I don’t know how I feel about the ammonia badges.. I have a seachem ammonia alert in my freshwater tank but it always stay in the safe zone. Not sure if it’s working right lol.


Thank you Badfish! I hope you’re right... I added seachem prime just incase. I did a 25% water change yesterday. Then did the testing about an hour ago and got those results. What should I do moving forward?

I use a badge also. You can test it by holding it over a bottle of household ammonia. Most likely it will turn color. Prime will bind ammonia making it not harmful however this will also mess with your test. Do you have anything in the tank yet? Best bet, wait 48 hours and test again, this will have allowed prime to move from your system. If in 2 days it is still showing .25 (or zero) I think you'll be fine. Did you start with live rock or bacteria?

 

[xnguven]

The Ammonia should always be in the safe zone after the tank has been cycled, so there really isn't a need for the badge after the cycle. If you ever see Ammonia after the tank has been successfully cycled then something is wrong.

I personally use the Red Sea test kit and have some of the Hannah Checkers for Calcium, Phosphate and copper, (The copper is just for QT). I have heard a lot of good things about the Salifert test kit as well as a few others out there that I can't remember off the top of my head, (I think Nyos may have been one as well).

Good point on the ammonia always being in the safe mode after the tank is cycled. Will add that to my shopping list tomorrow. I heard about the Red Sea test kit. Will look into that for my next test kit. Thank you Marco!

 

[Bryson.bobby]

Seachem prime will not rid the ammonia just detoxifies it

 

[xnguven]

I use a badge also. You can test it by holding it over a bottle of household ammonia. Most likely it will turn color. Prime will bind ammonia making it not harmful however this will also mess with your test. Do you have anything in the tank yet? Best bet, wait 48 hours and test again, this will have allowed prime to move from your system. If in 2 days it is still showing .25 (or zero) I think you'll be fine. Did you start

I use a badge also. You can test it by holding it over a bottle of household ammonia. Most likely it will turn color. Prime will bind ammonia making it not harmful however this will also mess with your test. Do you have anything in the tank yet? Best bet, wait 48 hours and test again, this will have allowed prime to move from your system. If in 2 days it is still showing .25 (or zero) I think you'll be fine. Did you start with live rock or bacteria?[/QUOTE

When I buy the ammonia badge I will definitely test it out with the household
Ammonia ammonia first. Right now in the tank I have 3 nassarius snails and two turbo snails. And okay I will wait 48 hrs and test again and post the results when I can. I started with live sand, added the live rocks, then added the bio spira

 

[Marco S]

Good point on the ammonia always being in the safe mode after the tank is cycled. Will add that to my shopping list tomorrow. I heard about the Red Sea test kit. Will look into that for my next test kit. Thank you Marco!

You're welcome and good luck with your build! You should think about starting a build thread to document the process and take lots of pics to share with everyone.

 

[xnguven]

Seachem prime will not rid the ammonia just detoxifies it

Thank you for your input Bryson

You're welcome and good luck with your build! You should think about starting a build thread to document the process and take lots of pics to share with everyone.

Sounds like a great idea. Can already see how this forum will be a powerful tool to help me be successful in this hobby. Thank you again for your tips and advice. Really appreciate it!

 

[KrisReef]

Welcome to Reef2Reef.

If the tank looks cloudy (?)then you probably still have ammonia in the water. Stop doing water changes.

Are you planning to add only fish?
Clean up crew?
Corals?

 

[xnguven]

Welcome to Reef2Reef.

If the tank looks cloudy (?)then you probably still have ammonia in the water. Stop doing water changes.

Are you planning to add only fish?
Clean up crew?
Corals?

Thank you Kris! The tank doesn’t look cloudy, it actually looks pretty clear right now. I plan on adding two clownfishes, I have a clean up crew in there right now 3 nassarius snails and 2 turbo snails. Corals I will wait till my tank is more stable so I can care for them better.

 

[RJinPV]

Will definitely check out some other test kits once the API runs out.Any recommendations? I don’t know how I feel about the ammonia badges.. I have a seachem ammonia alert in my freshwater tank but it always stay in the safe zone. Not sure if it’s working right lol.


Thank you Badfish! I hope you’re right... I added seachem prime just incase. I did a 25% water change yesterday. Then did the testing about an hour ago and got those results. What should I do moving forward?

Welcome to R2R! here is the advice I was just posting in another thread on test kits: I think a lot of us start with API for cycling but those kits aren't good for the long haul because they are not accurate enough for a reefer to know what is happening in the water. API will be ok for the long haul if you have a fish only tank. For a reef tankl you'll want calcium, nitrate, alkalinity, magnesium and phosphate test kits. I have Red Sea kits. I like their nitrate test kit and their calcium kit. The Red Sea alkalinity kit is very hard to read because of the very subtle color change so I'll be switching to something else. People like the Hanna Alk test kit so that may be my next try. I have used the Salifert Alk kit and it is very easy to read and use. For phosphate I have the Hanna low range kit. I would often get a 0.00 ppm reading so if I were to do it again I would get the Hanna Ultra low range phosphate kit. Before you buy a lot of kits go check the reviews on the Bulk Reef Supply or Marine Depot websites too. Good luck!

 

[xnguven]

Welcome to R2R! here is the advice I was just posting in another thread on test kits: I think a lot of us start with API for cycling but those kits aren't good for the long haul because they are not accurate enough for a reefer to know what is happening in the water. API will be ok for the long haul if you have a fish only tank. For a reef tankl you'll want calcium, nitrate, alkalinity, magnesium and phosphate test kits. I have Red Sea kits. I like their nitrate test kit and their calcium kit. The Red Sea alkalinity kit is very hard to read because of the very subtle color change so I'll be switching to something else. People like the Hanna Alk test kit so that may be my next try. I have used the Salifert Alk kit and it is very easy to read and use. For phosphate I have the Hanna low range kit. I would often get a 0.00 ppm reading so if I were to do it again I would get the Hanna Ultra low range phosphate kit. Before you buy a lot of kits go check the reviews on the Bulk Reef Supply or Marine Depot websites too. Good luck!

Will definitely check out the test kits you listed above, thank you RJ!

 

[lapin]

Hey guys thank you for taking your time and reading this. I just recently started a saltwater tank roughly 8 days ago. I added a bottle of bio spira, live rocks, and live sand to the tank. My current readings are 0.25ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrate, and 5.0ppm to 10ppm. Is my tank cycled? And what should I do moving forward?

You started with live rock and added bacteria. Your tank is cycled. (API not the best as others have said) Your cleanup up crew is not dead so ....However it is not safe to add too many fish too fast.

Seachem prime will not rid the ammonia just detoxifies it

What prime does is bind the ammonia for 48 hours then it gets released back into the water. I would not add any more of it and watch your ammonia levels. If ammonia climbs to an unsafe level then add it.