Saltwater Tank cycled, Not Cycled, What do I do???

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 15, 2016

I have a 60 gallon Saltwater with 100 lbs 1/2 live and 1/2 dead sand, 50 pounds premium Aquacultured cured live rock. My ammonia is .5ppm, 0 Nitrites, and 10ppm nitrates. My tank has been setup for 4 weeks now. After 2 weeks, I bought 5 blue legged hermit crabs and 5 red legged hermit crabs which are all still living. The 3rd week I bought 5 more blue legs and 5 more red legged crabs which are all still living. 3 days ago, I bought 1 domino damsel and he is still alive. Has my tank cycled yet? What should I do now?

mcarroll · Apr 15, 2016

Is .5 ppm ammonia equal to zero ppm on your test? I'd double check if ammonia is actually zero. (Test double-check at LFS?) If it is, you're all set to do a water change and begin slowly stocking your tank!

Sabellafella · Apr 15, 2016

Chiefmaster30 said:
I have a 60 gallon Saltwater with 100 lbs 1/2 live and 1/2 dead sand, 50 pounds premium Aquacultured cured live rock. My ammonia is .5ppm, 0 Nitrites, and 10ppm nitrates. My tank has been setup for 4 weeks now. After 2 weeks, I bought 5 blue legged hermit crabs and 5 red legged hermit crabs which are all still living. The 3rd week I bought 5 more blue legs and 5 more red legged crabs which are all still living. 3 days ago, I bought 1 domino damsel and he is still alive. Has my tank cycled yet? What should I do now?

Welcome aboard! Tank looks great, id just give it a little more time (maybe another week or three) or untill you no longer read ammonia, then you can do what you want! Stock that beauty with some nice fish and corals! Any questions toss up a thread, also theres tons of info and nice folks on here. Just a reminder, be patient Happy reefing!

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 15, 2016

I don't think .5 ppm is equal to 0 on my test. I'm using API saltwater master test kit. The color chart first color has 0ppm beside it, 2nd one is 0.25ppm, third is .5ppm. Ammonia has read .5 ppm every day for the past week.

Sabellafella · Apr 15, 2016

They say api sometimes has a false ammonia reading unless its real high, you have nitrate in your tank with 0 nitrite so it should show your tank has somewhat adequate bacteria population to control your nutrients. Just to make sure, add more fish atleast a week after it says 0

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 18, 2016

Can anyone tell me if I'm reading this right? Trying to figure out if I'm cycled or not!

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 18, 2016

My readings have been this way for 2 weeks now

ScottMyers123 · Apr 18, 2016

Tank looks good. I would take a sample of your water to the LFS just to double check. Like stated above API test kits will sometimes give false readings.

Sabellafella · Apr 18, 2016

Looks good to me, if i tested ammonia with my old api test kit, it would prob look the same color as yours

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 18, 2016

Sabellafella said:
Looks good to me, if i tested ammonia with my old api test kit, it would prob look the same color as yours

I see that everyone is saying the Api gives a lot of false readings. What test kit would y'all recommend?

Chiefmaster30 · Apr 18, 2016

Chiefmaster30 said:
I see that everyone is saying the Api gives a lot of false readings. What test kit would y'all recommend?

Sabellafella · Apr 18, 2016

Chiefmaster30 said:
I see that everyone is saying the Api gives a lot of false readings. What test kit would y'all recommend?

Your tanks more then a month old and possibly already cycled so you dont necessarily need another ammonia /nitrite test kit.

Sabellafella · Apr 18, 2016

You could get a second opinion but if you dont have them already, get a reliable p04 n03- calcium alk and mag test kit if you plan to keep corals. But tank looks ready to me!

BoneXriffic · Apr 18, 2016

Sabellafella said:
You could get a second opinion but if you dont have them already, get a reliable p04 n03- calcium alk and mag test kit if you plan to keep corals. But tank looks ready to me!

+1

ihavecrabs · Apr 18, 2016

Chiefmaster30 said:
I see that everyone is saying the Api gives a lot of false readings. What test kit would y'all recommend?

Red Sea Pro. For me, you have to buy tests you are willing to use often. I rarely test nitrate and nitrite now that my tank is stable but test kH every other day. Love Red Sea test kits.

michellejy · Apr 19, 2016

I did the whole ammonia chasing game with an API test kit, only to find out that it was not there when I used Red Sea instead. I don't think you are reading the test wrong, but there is a chance the test itself is wrong. Having said that, since your tank is only 4 weeks old and you have been adding livestock, it wouldn't hurt to take a water sample to the LFS and/or get another test kit for peace of mind.

brandon429 · Apr 19, 2016

lets dissect this claim for bio fun:

the tank was as cycled one hour after setup as it will be after 18 mos more time in state.

true or false based on pics above

the hardest part of cycling a reef is knowing when the finality is here

when is it done

when can one start, reasonably. the entire point of this thread below is that your tank was cycled instantly, skip cycled, as long as those aren't fake painted coralline rocks above.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/
There is nowhere to be leaking ammonia in that tank, no source.

(dead worms)

the last time I saw dead worms causing a true extended cycle, and overcoming the known abilities of live rock and live sand to oxidize ~4 ppm of ammonia to zero within 24 hours (all reefs that are done cycling) was in 2005. what are the chances that's happening right now, in this thread
low chance

you have organisms moving around the tank that cannot tolerate persistent trace ammonia, trust the crabs and snails

brandon429 · Apr 19, 2016

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/04/18/reefapalooza-breaks-the-mold-of-marine-aquarium-presentations/

you wouldn't think a giant marine convention with half a million bucks of living reef animals for sale/education ties into your thread but it does

how are all those vendors setting up reef tanks without recycling during the relocation to the convention? and, how is that different than coming home from a pet store

when in doubt regarding ammonia test kit accuracy, you can find signs of life in a tank that wont tolerate free ammonia, and the best is a fanworm stuck to the rocks somewhere, little sabellidae or spirorbidae

got any tiny fanworms open?

the way we can transport group B rocks back and forth without causing a recycle is to transport them underwater, which kills nothing

Oceansize · Apr 19, 2016

I'm pretty sure you're good. I've had both freshwater and saltwater tanks, and while the API Ammonia test for freshwater would consistently read 0, I never did get the saltwater version to be any less green than your pic. So yeah, for the API test, that may be as low as you're going to get.

My LFS only stocks API and Salifert tests, I've gone to Salifert for everything except for dKh.

brandon429 · Apr 19, 2016

and what makes it hard is some API kits really will read zero, enough to cause dissention in the doubter ranks and an endless debate on when cycles are finished. I haven't owned any of the test kits but I read online salifert is primo has less dissention. search results sure agree