Made Fatal Error please help!

[Deadlocked]

Hi all I just joined this forum and I need help. I bought the 32 gal biocube and i bought caribsea Hawaiian black sand. I added the sand first without realizing not having it in already mixed saltwater would kill the bacteria. After adding the sand I added RODI water and then I added salt. Now, my ammonia levels are at .25-.5 every day and my nitrate/nitrite levels are at 0. Ive done 2 different water changes and its barely made a difference. I dont know what else to do to lower my ammonia levels. Please help.

 

[JAC-]

Do you have any livestock in the tank? If not no stress, the bacteria will form naturally just give it time. You should still cycle the tank anyway even using the "live" sand. I think you probably already know, but when doing water changes and such in the future alwayse mix the salt in your water before you add it to the tank. You should match the temperature too.

 

[Deadlocked]

Do you have any livestock in the tank? If not no stress, the bacteria will form naturally just give it time. You should still cycle the tank anyway even using the "live" sand.

I have no live stock. I cant add anything because the ammonia levels are too high. Im getting really frustrated.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

did you use RO water? Tap water is often contaminated with chlorine and other 'nasties'

You have started your nitrate cycle. Nitrates come from nitrites. Nitrites come from ammonia. You have ammonia. Eventually your Nitrites will begin to rise, from consuming ammonia. Then your Nitrates will rise from consuming nitrites. When you have ammonia & nitrite readings at zero, your established your biological level. Each new tank inhabitant will add to bioload, and mini-cycle will reoccur. Always go slow.

Going forward, never mix salt and water in aquarium. Use a bucket or trashcan dedicated to making saltwater (read: keep it clean). I have bucket with lid for making small saltwater batches, and I have a trashcan for making up to 30 gallon batches. You likely don't need anything as large as my trashcan while you have only 1 32g tank, but if more than one tank is in your future....

 

[Deadlocked]

did you use RO water? Tap water is often contaminated with chlorine and other 'nasties'

You have started your nitrate cycle. Nitrates come from nitrites. Nitrites come from ammonia. You have ammonia. Eventually your Nitrites will begin to rise, from consuming ammonia. Then your Nitrates will rise from consuming nitrites. When you have ammonia & nitrite readings at zero, your established your biological level. Each new tank inhabitant will add to bioload, and mini-cycle will reoccur. Always go slow.

Going forward, never mix salt and water in aquarium. Use a bucket or trashcan dedicated to making saltwater (read: keep it clean). I have bucket with lid for making small saltwater batches, and I have a trashcan for making up to 30 gallon batches. You likely don't need anything as large as my trashcan while you have only 1 32g tank, but if more than one tank is in your future....

I understand how the cycle works, but the guy at my fish store said i may have killed off all of the bacteria by adding the live sand before mixing the salt water. I also know not to mix salt water in the tank, but because theres no live stock i understand that shouldnt be an issue. And yes i did use RO water. I just want to know if I killed off all my bacteria in thje live sand and if so, did i waste all that money on live sand?

 

[dedragon]

dont worry about water changes right now, just add some bottled bacteria, I use fritzyme 9 because it worked well and i liked having it around just incase ammonia spiked randomly (never happened but nice to have it around)

 

[dedragon]

could be possible the bacteria perished but I hate the "livesand" bacteria from caribsea, doesnt work as well as anything bottled imo

 

[Deadlocked]

dont worry about water changes right now, just add some bottled bacteria, I use fritzyme 9 because it worked well and i liked having it around just incase ammonia spiked randomly (never happened but nice to have it around)

Add bottled bacteria even though theres no fish? I actually have that bacteria bottle on me, but I wasnt sure if i should use it without having fish.

 

[brandon429]

yes add it with a pinch of feed

wait ten days, change water, its cycled.

 

[dedragon]

yep dose the bacteria and im sure the cycle will be done asap, the stuff works well

 

[Mattg023]

I understand how the cycle works, but the guy at my fish store said i may have killed off all of the bacteria by adding the live sand before mixing the salt water. I also know not to mix salt water in the tank, but because theres no live stock i understand that shouldnt be an issue. And yes i did use RO water. I just want to know if I killed off all my bacteria in thje live sand and if so, did i waste all that money on live sand?

If there’s no livestock then it’s Not a big deal. I used “live sand” when starting my tank, but dumped a bottle of bacteria in as well to expedite the process. Works wonders

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I understand how the cycle works, but the guy at my fish store said i may have killed off all of the bacteria by adding the live sand before mixing the salt water. I also know not to mix salt water in the tank, but because theres no live stock i understand that shouldnt be an issue. And yes i did use RO water. I just want to know if I killed off all my bacteria in thje live sand and if so, did i waste all that money on live sand?

Freshwater dips are what people use to kill saltwater pests. I'll defer on specifics of your caribsea Hawaiian black sand to others. Perhaps if there is contact info on your sand container, you could also reach out there.

 

[Deadlocked]

yep dose the bacteria and im sure the cycle will be done asap, the stuff

 

[Deadlocked]

yep dose the bacteria and im sure the cycle will be done asap, the stuff works well

I appreciate the response. How much of the bottle should i put in? Someone else said add feed? I don't have food for saltwater fish, but i have flakes for the betta i used to have.

 

[Not an IT guy]

You are rushing to do everything at once. This hobby I know from experience is all about patience and more patience and after that more patience. You are trying to recreate something that happens in nature. Just make sure your SG is where you want it and use bacteria in a bottle wait and keep waiting. Then test. Live sand alone will take longer to cycle.

 

[JAC-]

Curious, how long have you been cycling the tank and are you adding something to cause the ammonia to rise?

It's frequent for test kits to show the range of ammonia you are seeing when it is essentially 0 in saltwater.
You may just have a misleading test kit and not be adding enough filth to start the cycle.

 

[Peace River]

You may want to check out the YouTube videos about Dr. Tim's bacteria.

 

[Peace River]

You may find the following R2R article helpful:

Cycling an Aquarium

Cycling a new aquarium. One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank...

www.reef2reef.com

Good luck!

 

[dedragon]

guys i think deadlocked just thought they made a catostrophic mistake, while it was a mistake it wont end up being an issue long term. i agree patience is key in this hobby and nothing will happen overnight.
for fritzyme 9 you can dose up to 10x as much as the dosage no problem. i stuck to 5x the dosage at the beginning then added some of the rest after the first waterchange when ammonia was zero. it took 3 days for me but note that it may take longer and ammonia will help show wen its finally done. also the betta food shud be fine just like the other person said just a pinch. storebought shrimp will do they same thing as fish food, but i do also suggest Larry reef services reef frenzy food for all reef tanks, works great and has all you need inside

 

[CanuckReefer]

Not a 'fatal ' error.... dose the bacteria as others mentioned, and keep going. This will be a long ride with a few ups and downs along the way. You'll get this phase over with soon enough. Best...