New tank cycle question

[reefguy565]

Hi all I have started a new 12 days ago with the good old shrimp. I added a bottle of dr. tims bacteria as well. Day 3 I swapped out the shrimp and added a new shrimp as the smell was bad. I have the shrimp in a bad so it does not make a mess if the tank.. It is almost gone.. So here are my parameters:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite- very high
nitrates - very high

I am using red sea tests and nor nitrate and nitrite are maxed out on the color chart.

Should i remove the shrimp now? I also have some dr. tim's ammonia if needed and to test ammonia with.

Should I remove shrimp, do a water change and then a ammonia test? or just remove shrimp and wait it out.?

 

[Brett newell]

I'd say do a water change then add the ammonia and test 24 hours later. When I started mine years ago I added ammonia, waited 2 weeks then added CUC

 

[Billldg]

I would remove the shrimp and use the ammonia concentrate by itself, that's what I did on my DT and several QT tanks with no problems.

 

[reefguy565]

I would remove the shrimp and use the ammonia concentrate by itself, that's what I did on my DT and several QT tanks with no problems.

how much ammonia do i use and for how long? am I about 1/2 way to the end of the cycle?

 

[Billldg]

Depends on the size of the tank, I followed the instructions, just have to divide it depending on the size , on a 20 gal tank I would fill the cap to the first ring inside it and test everyday till it was at 0 and then do it again, you want ammonia to be down to 0 ppm in a 24 hour period. Remember though, the cycling period is not clear cut, their is no time frame, their r many factors that can lengthen or shorten your cycle, my cycle on my DT was 2 weeks, but I also put in 90 pounds of carib sea life rock and 80 pounds of carib sea live sand and 2 big bottles of instant ocean bio spera.

 

[reefguy565]

Depends on the size of the tank, I followed the instructions, just have to divide it depending on the size , on a 20 gal tank I would fill the cap to the first ring inside it and test everyday till it was at 0 and then do it again, you want ammonia to be down to 0 ppm in a 24 hour period. Remember though, the cycling period is not clear cut, their is no time frame, their r many factors that can lengthen or shorten your cycle, my cycle on my DT was 2 weeks, but I also put in 90 pounds of carib sea life rock and 80 pounds of carib sea live sand and 2 big bottles of instant ocean bio spera.

did your nitrite go down on its own or only after a water change?

 

[Billldg]

did your nitrite go down on its own or only after a water change?

Truthfully, doing it the way I described I never had high nitrates or nitrites, plus, some people may tell you different and they may be right, but I never worried about nitrates and nitrites during the cycle, I just worried about ammonia levels as they are all related as part of the nitrogen cycle. The high nitrates and nitrites are due to the shrimp, they will drop if you remove it. The bacteria breaks down the ammonia into nitrates and nitrites as part of the cycle, but needs the ammonia to feed. I really didn't worry about nitrate and nitrites until I put corals in the tank, plus, LPS and Softies like a little dirtier tank.

Remember, as the bacteria colony grows, it will break all those down quicker, thus cycling your tank. Good Luck!!!

 

[Brew12]

I normally recommend doing the pure ammonia chloride and not the shrimp method. Since you have already gone down the shrimp road, and have no ammonia but have nitrites and nitrates, I wouldn't worry about adding more. If your tank couldn't process ammonia rapidly you wouldn't have the nitrite and nitrates. I would just wait if this were my system.

Also keep in mind that you can't trust your nitrate numbers right now. Your nitrate test works by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and measuring it that way. It won't be close to accurate until you have near 0 nitrites since your nitrite test is basically adding nitrites and nitrates together.

 

[reefguy565]

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I normally recommend doing the pure ammonia chloride and not the shrimp method. Since you have already gone down the shrimp road, and have no ammonia but have nitrites and nitrates, I wouldn't worry about adding more. If your tank couldn't process ammonia rapidly you wouldn't have the nitrite and nitrates. I would just wait if this were my system.

Also keep in mind that you can't trust your nitrate numbers right now. Your nitrate test works by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and measuring it that way. It won't be close to accurate until you have near 0 nitrites since your nitrite test is basically adding nitrites and nitrates together.

thank you for the input.