It has been 30 days since I started a fishless cycle. I did dump in a bottle of bio-spira and put a shrimp in the first day after a couple weeks i never noticed a ammonia spike so I started to ghost feed the tank noticed a little bit of build up but nothing crazy. I never seen a nitrite spike and as of right now I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 2ppm of nitrate and there is no algae growing. it looks like it did from day 1. now is it because I used the bio-spira that I didn't see the spikes? and do you think it is safe to add fish? any info greatly appreciated
need some info
- Thread starter Jebber
- Start date
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Mastiffsrule
Where ever you go, there you are, so be nice 2 you
Also, how often did you test. Is it possible the tank cycled and you missed the spike during a time you did not run a test?
BestMomEver
2500 Club Member
Maybe you missed it! If you used real, cured live rock and live sand then you’re probably good.
BestMomEver
2500 Club Member
Btw... welcome to the reef!
cracker
5000 Club Member
Welcome jebber, 30 days now? I gotta hand it to you for being so patient ! What happened to the shrimp? Did it melt away or did Ya take it out? You may of had a very mellow cycle & I "think " You could add one hardy fish .Please keep a close eye on any ammonia & be ready to take care of it. Best to wait for more opinions . Good luck !
ps One thing I have learned is what one reads & actually happening can be 2 totally different things.
ps One thing I have learned is what one reads & actually happening can be 2 totally different things.
RIreefGuy
Salt life
My guess is that you would be ok to add a fish. If u do, play it safe and grab an ammonia badge and a bottle of prime jic. I would also add just one small fish and slowly add more. I would also encourage you to think about QT before adding fish to your tank. OH AND WELCOME TO R2R!!!!!!!
cracker
5000 Club Member
that's good. So the shrimp rotted & supplied am, right? Te bacteria ate this am & now after a month all is testing well. Sounds good to me ! Again when Ya add your clowns , be real careful for ant Am & be ready to deal with it . Water changes ,Amquel or other am remover. That's all I can think of. 
Marco S
Always Learning
Welcome to R2R!!!
Every time I have used Bio-Spira, the Ammonia spike is very minimal and quick and the Nitrites usually stick around for several days to a week. During the Nitrite spike the Nitrates slowly build up and the Nitrites slowly disappear over the course of a week or two. I have never seen it take more than a couple weeks to completely cycle and I have done this many times while Quarantining fish. If you are not checking daily you would definately miss the spikes. At 30 days and with Ammonia at 0, Nitrite at 0 and Nitrate at 2 ppm, I would say you are cycled.
Every time I have used Bio-Spira, the Ammonia spike is very minimal and quick and the Nitrites usually stick around for several days to a week. During the Nitrite spike the Nitrates slowly build up and the Nitrites slowly disappear over the course of a week or two. I have never seen it take more than a couple weeks to completely cycle and I have done this many times while Quarantining fish. If you are not checking daily you would definately miss the spikes. At 30 days and with Ammonia at 0, Nitrite at 0 and Nitrate at 2 ppm, I would say you are cycled.
thank you for the info.that's good. So the shrimp rotted & supplied am, right? Te bacteria ate this am & now after a month all is testing well. Sounds good to me ! Again when Ya add your clowns , be real careful for ant Am & be ready to deal with it . Water changes ,Amquel or other am remover. That's all I can think of.
THANK YOU!! This is are first tank and just wanted to make sure we wasn't missing anything before we toke are clowns out of the QT tank. Now do you think we should do a 20% water change before we put them in or wait?
Marco S
Always Learning
With Nitrate at 2 ppm, I would wait until it builds up a bit more. I usually do a water change when Nitrates get between 10 - 20 ppm. This is with fish only so far though, once you start adding coral, (if you plan on adding coral) this may change and I will leave that to the coral experts to speak to.
Edit: Just wanted to add that I am not advocating not doing water changes and building up Nitrates, but in my experience, doing to many water changes during a cycle or just after can have adverse effects.
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