Red Sea mature pro cycling question

[crash29ca]

Hi guys I am on day 19 of the Red Sea fishless cycling program. I have 100 gal of net water volume and my Tank was started with dry rock and dry sand. My last parameter checks were as follows nitrate was at 25 ppm phosphates were at 0.02 and alk was at 8.2 dkh. Temp steady at 77 deg. And salinity at 1.025. Calcium at 430. Ammonia is a bit difficult. I was using a seneye to watch it but not sure it’s reading properly. Nh3 always says 0.016ppm and nh4 goes from 16 to 28 but doesn’t give a unit. My question is I have been dosing 12 ml per day split in 2 doses, and over the last 2 days my phosphates dropped from 0.1 to 0.02. So should I now drop the dosage or keep dosing the same amount because nitrates are still up there. There are no tank inhabitants as I did not want to add them with my nitrates and phosphates elevated. WC is do on Saturday. If narrates are down I was thinking of adding a cuc and possibly a fish. Rock and sand were soaking in the tank with water flow for about a month before I started the cycle. Should I just wait for the 30 day mark to add anything and get a ammonia test kit and check my bacteria next week by bringing ammonia back up. Any thoughts welcome. I never got a diatoms bloom or any real algae. Dosage of the nopox had to be split up into 2 doses because 1 single dose would drop my ph too low.

 

[GoVols]

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[brandon429]

nice


Rock and sand were soaking in the tank with water flow for about a month before I started the cycle

that part is neat...that already had a base layer of bacteria down, due to natural acquisitions that run nature (slowly) and then you've now fed them 20~ days in addition, we'd have to call that bad boy cycled in the microbiology of cycling thread which isn't the chemistry test of cycling thread ha!

I say that in jest, you have great test gear but some simpler approaches are testable here for sure, to verify claims...if your cycling approach for sure has a bottled bacteria component, redundant additions to what was there after 30 days, and if that program has a liquid bac feeding portion, you can't not be cycled.

only the ammonia is needed to know, not the other two, no matter what they read for starters. there is a simple two step verification to know if you are cycled due to your stated submersion times....when you can verify on an ammonia test kit that your system has oxidized ammonia to zero, hundredths decimal plenty good enough , then use liquid ammonium chloride like you've mentioned to bring the system right at 1 ppm


retest in 24 hours

if its zero/same, done. if its not, post good details as our thread already calls that cycled before we know the outcome, we think submersion time is the sole requirement given certain time frames accepted (and 60 days is one of those marks where it doesn't matter what you've added, or withheld, if hydrated=cycled)

the reason we don't need to know nitrite and nitrate species is too long for here, its covered in the thread. only ammonia matters in cycling provided at least 30 days submersion isn't asking too much.


if someone needs a world record 12 day cycle, perhaps we test some others. you're approaching sixty days plus feeding, even if you had no ammonia or testing gear at all the only thing you'd have to do is a 50% water change and add some zoanthids and crabs n snails. the time you add fish is after they've completed qt and your tank has done the required 76 day fallow. your tank is cycled due to stated submersion timeframes and boosts, I cannot WAIT to see if seneye confirms or denies that.

 

[crash29ca]

Ok. Wasn’t sure if the 30 day submersion prior to starting the cycle would count. I only did that because I was starting with dry rock and I was planning a vacation and didn’t want to start without being able to test. When I was away. I am trying to take my time as I am in no real hurry just want a nice mixed reef tank that I will enjoy looking at and working on. Considering going with the zeovit system shortly as I like the idea of having to dose something every day. I think it will help me to not mess with things that A aren’t broken or B just don’t need to be messed with. Thanks to all the great people on here trying to help us all. System is base largely on what I saw on the 52 weeks of reefing episodes. Looking for long ter success this time around with mor attention payed to the tank.