Oh no another cycling question!!

[Letterkenny]

Well, I think my cycle is done. Dosed 5ml of ammonia which got me to about 2ppm and the bac ate it up in 24 hours each time. Let it sit a day or two extra and tested ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates (Red Sea nitrate Kit) for 0, 0, and 2-5ppm respectively.

 

[andrewey]

Well, I think my cycle is done. Dosed 5ml of ammonia which got me to about 2ppm and the bac ate it up in 24 hours each time. Let it sit a day or two extra and tested ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates (Red Sea nitrate Kit) for 0, 0, and 2-5ppm respectively.

Congrats Happy Reefing!

 

[brandon429]

if you add any, the results for cycle completion are the same as if you added the exact right amount of ammonia



you cant mess up a cycle

when adding fritz: add .5 ppm it cycles same date as if you drive it to 1 ppm, 2, or 5. It takes varying lengths of time to clear your wastewater, that makes cycles seem to range, but the ~ ammonia wont affect the bioslicks that develop in 48 hours (tested by dr Reef already) by using fritz. It doesnt matter how much ammonia you use.

in order to stop the cycle, or stall it, you'd have to make the water bathroom cleaner levels of ammonia.

if you feed your system anything (food is already getting in by the second, homes are not bacteria labs/sterile) then your tank is cycled in under 48 hours using fritz. Cycled meaning what you add will live, after you change out the wastewater. it may not oxidize nitrite fully in 48 hours, but nitrite doesnt matter anyway only ammonia control matters (10,000 fish in cycles says so, marine conventions that start all on the same day employ this rule etc)

waiting for wastewater to clear isnt the real way to test a cycle, thats the old school way like when we used to download songs at 55 mins per song, and now its eight seconds. nowadays we can input some feed, the bottle bac already known to work, wait a couple days, change water, and go (or reprove oxidation for ammonia with a new test if required)

 

[Letterkenny]

if you add any, the results for cycle completion are the same as if you added the exact right amount of ammonia



you cant mess up a cycle

when adding fritz: add .5 ppm it cycles same date as if you drive it to 1 ppm, 2, or 5. It takes varying lengths of time to clear your wastewater, that makes cycles seem to range, but the ~ ammonia wont affect the bioslicks that develop in 48 hours (tested by dr Reef already) by using fritz. It doesnt matter how much ammonia you use.

in order to stop the cycle, or stall it, you'd have to make the water bathroom cleaner levels of ammonia.

if you feed your system anything (food is already getting in by the second, homes are not bacteria labs/sterile) then your tank is cycled in under 48 hours using fritz. Cycled meaning what you add will live, after you change out the wastewater. it may not oxidize nitrite fully in 48 hours, but nitrite doesnt matter anyway only ammonia control matters (10,000 fish in cycles says so, marine conventions that start all on the same day employ this rule etc)

waiting for wastewater to clear isnt the real way to test a cycle, thats the old school way like when we used to download songs at 55 mins per song, and now its eight seconds. nowadays we can input some feed, the bottle bac already known to work, wait a couple days, change water, and go (or reprove oxidation for ammonia with a new test if required)

Do I even need to do a water change in my nitrates are reading 2-5? I have some fresh chaeto to feed.

 

[andrewey]

Do I even need to do a water change in my nitrates are reading 2-5? I have some fresh chaeto to feed.

If your nitrates are that low, no real reason to do a water change at this point if you started with dry rock. If previously live rock that may have bound phosphate, a water change will reduce the amount of phosphate in the water.

 

[andrewey]

@brandon429 - as I've pointed out before, these statements you have made are not completely accurate, as they are written. There are elements of factual information scattered throughout, however some of the hyperbolic statements you have made can not and probably should not be made.

There is nothing wrong with using any of these products, but the claim that they will work 100% of the time in under 48 hours is unfounded and seems to ignore real world variability in the supply chain of products and individual tank parameters. As the OP has demonstrated, the practice of "trust, but verify" is a very sound technique. There are very few treatments, chemicals, or additives in this hobby that do not come with some risk of variability and to wholesale ignore this variance does a disservice to the reefing community.

 

[Letterkenny]

@brandon429 - as I've pointed out before, these statements you have made are not completely accurate, as they are written. There are elements of factual information scattered throughout, however some of the hyperbolic statements you have made can not and probably should not be made.

There is nothing wrong with using any of these products, but the claim that they will work 100% of the time in under 48 hours is unfounded and seems to ignore real world variability in the supply chain of products and individual tank parameters. As the OP has demonstrated, the practice of "trust, but verify" is a very sound technique. There are very few treatments, chemicals, or additives in this hobby that do not come with some risk of variability and to wholesale ignore this variance does a disservice to the reefing community.

I am an accounting auditor so “trust but verify” is in my blood. Given it is for a new DT I am a bit more cautious. Now if it was for a QT or HT, I wouldn’t worry so much.

To your earlier post, it’s all dry rock so no leach there. I am planning on running carbon as soon as the mounts come in for my reactor but is it worth it to run GFO yet? My last tank is being plagued by algae growth but I didn’t run GFO until late in the game and no refugium.

 

[andrewey]

I am an accounting auditor so “trust but verify” is in my blood. Given it is for a new DT I am a bit more cautious. Now if it was for a QT or HT, I wouldn’t worry so much.

To your earlier post, it’s all dry rock so no leach there. I am planning on running carbon as soon as the mounts come in for my reactor but is it worth it to run GFO yet? My last tank is being plagued by algae growth but I didn’t run GFO until late in the game and no refugium.

Some people start their GFO right away, but I'm not a big fan of that technique. I like to figure out what my phosphate level hovers around first to determine if that particular tank will require GFO and it also allows me to estimate my GFO consumption level. For example, there's a chance this system might not require a reduction in phosphate or your phosphate level will be covered by other means (e.g your water changes, skimmer, presence of a refugium, etc).

The other big concern is that with dry rock and a new tank, there is a risk of bottoming out your phosphate and causing some issues (e.g. dinos). For these reasons, I usually will wait and test before installing something like a GFO reactor. There's really no "right" or "wrong" way to do it, but that's the approach that speaks to me.

 

[brandon429]

No agreed that’s ok nitrate no harm no algae

 

[Letterkenny]

Some people start their GFO right away, but I'm not a big fan of that technique. I like to figure out what my phosphate level hovers around first to determine if that particular tank will require GFO and it also allows me to estimate my GFO consumption level. For example, there's a chance this system might not require a reduction in phosphate or your phosphate level will be covered by other means (e.g your water changes, skimmer, presence of a refugium, etc).

The other big concern is that with dry rock and a new tank, there is a risk of bottoming out your phosphate and causing some issues (e.g. dinos). For these reasons, I usually will wait and test before installing something like a GFO reactor. There's really no "right" or "wrong" way to do it, but that's the approach that speaks to me.

Yep agreed. I may get it mounted and ready but will keep the gate valve off until it’s ready. However, I usually like to run carbon unless you think there is a reason why you shouldn’t so early. I know some only run it on occasion as well.

No agreed that’s ok nitrate no harm no algae

I don’t think I’ve ever had my nitrates this low on my other tanks. That said, I do have a much larger skimmer and an algae reactor so hoping to keep it down! Tired of the algae issues with my other tank.

 

[Arabyps]

There is a GREAT DEAL of authoritative info in BRS videos regarding various cycling methods and results. When I read these comments, often times they are in conflict with the observations/reports of BRS. I recommend you review the BRS videos (and others) for empirical support. Cycling in my experience is not actually that complicated.

 

[andrewey]

Yep agreed. I may get it mounted and ready but will keep the gate valve off until it’s ready. However, I usually like to run carbon unless you think there is a reason why you shouldn’t so early. I know some only run it on occasion as well.


I don’t think I’ve ever had my nitrates this low on my other tanks. That said, I do have a much larger skimmer and an algae reactor so hoping to keep it down! Tired of the algae issues with my other tank.

I've never seen a compelling reason for or against running carbon at this stage of your tank. I suspect it's purely personal preference. In my case, I usually spend this time "troubleshooting" my equipment, so I'm in the habit of bringing my carbon reactor online around this time (same reasoning behind bringing my skimmer online) and that allows me to fine tune flow, noise, and various other considerations related to my wiring/plumbing and apex programming.

 

[Letterkenny]

I've never seen a compelling reason for or against running carbon at this stage of your tank. I suspect it's purely personal preference. In my case, I usually spend this time "troubleshooting" my equipment, so I'm in the habit of bringing my carbon reactor online around this time (same reasoning behind bringing my skimmer online) and that allows me to fine tune flow, noise, and various other considerations related to my wiring/plumbing and apex programming.

Yea I just got my trident online and will bring my DOS and Kamoer X1 (which was running on my old tank) once my ESV Bionic settles from mixing. I’m just still surprised by the readings. I heard Fritz is good but didn’t realize it was that much better than Biospira or Dr Tim’s.