So sorry- cycling again.

[Brooke24]

Ammonia at 1-2 ppm nitrite at 5+ ppm nitrate at about 40-80 Day 5 what do i do now? I added a few pieces of live rock in the beginning, but now mostly dry rock.

 

[Brooke24]

bump

 

[Garf]

Ammonia at 1-2 ppm nitrite at 5+ ppm nitrate at about 40-80 Day 5 what do i do now? I added a few pieces of live rock in the beginning, but now mostly dry rock.

Your nitrates are not really that high. The kit is detecting the nitrite. Did you add the ammonia with live rock?

 

[Brooke24]

Your nitrates are not really that high. The kit is detecting the nitrite. Did you add the ammonia with live rock?

I did, but only about 3-4 pieces- the rest is mostly dry rock

 

[CrimsonTide]

You need your nitrite to spike and go down. Most test kits turn nitrate test into nitrite to test. So if you have any nitrite in your system the nitrate will be super elevated. I would not add any more ammonia until your nitrite does down or ammonia drops.

 

[CrimsonTide]

How big is the tank? And did you add ammonia or just the live rock?

 

[Brooke24]

You need your nitrite to spike and go down. Most test kits turn nitrate test into nitrite to test. So if you have any nitrite in your system the nitrate will be super elevated. I would not add any more ammonia until your nitrite does down or ammonia drops.

My ammonia already dropped. I have only done one round of ammonia drops, and it was at 4-5 ppm at first. It’s now at about 1.5

 

[Brooke24]

How big is the tank? And did you add ammonia or just the live rock?

It’s 90 Gal with a 20 sump. A few pieces of live rock, with more dry, and ammonia with bottled bacteria.

 

[CrimsonTide]

It’s 90 Gal with a 20 sump. A few pieces of live rock, with more dry, and ammonia with bottled bacteria.

Ok cool! Nice size tank. If your Ammonia was that high thats good then bc its dropped a lot. In the next couple of days your nitrite will drop could be anytime now. More than likely it will drop pretty much over night to zero. The bacteria that turn nitrite into Nitrate take a little longer to multiply. So far you are doing everything correctly.

 

[Brooke24]

Ok cool! Nice size tank. If your Ammonia was that high thats good then bc its dropped a lot. In the next couple of days your nitrite will drop could be anytime now. More than likely it will drop pretty much over night to zero. The bacteria that turn nitrite into Nitrate take a little longer to multiply. So far you are doing everything correctly.

Sweet! So should I just test water again in a couple days? If it’s at 0 i can change water + add fish?

 

[CrimsonTide]

If nitrite goes to zero and nitrate shows and your Ammonia is close to zero then theoretically you are cycled. Once everything goes to zero a lot of people like to add some Ammonia and see if it all goes away after 24hrs to just make sure there's enough bacteria to support a fish. You can do whatever you prefer. I like the 24hr option to give peace of mind.

 

[Garf]

My ammonia already dropped. I have only done one round of ammonia drops, and it was at 4-5 ppm at first. It’s now at about 1.5

Depends on how heavily you’re gonna stock it obviously but with a light bioload, the live rock should have been able to manage it without adding the ammonia.

 

[brandon429]

Garf one thing she posted is very fascinating: a reported 3 ppm drop but not enough to drop 3 ppm again

just once

now seems stuck at 1

if it cleared three, why is one more too hard


bc that’s test kit lowest end clearance

its through the collective outcome of these scent trails we’ve determined that no reef tank with common surface area and motion ever stalls above the normal running baseline. biofilters don’t stutter like a Datsun they just run

 

[CrimsonTide]

Yeah Idk how many lbs of live rock are in your DT but you probably shouldn't just add a bunch of ammonia on top of it if its truly live. Not great for anything alive in the rocks.

 

[Thaxxx]

If you added true seeded live rock then everything else you did was not needed.
Add a fish.

 

[Brooke24]

If nitrite goes to zero and nitrate shows and your Ammonia is close to zero then theoretically you are cycled. Once everything goes to zero a lot of people like to add some Ammonia and see if it all goes away after 24hrs to just make sure there's enough bacteria to support a fish. You can do whatever you prefer. I like the 24hr option to give peace of mind.

Depends on how heavily you’re gonna stock it obviously but with a light bioload, the live rock should have been able to manage it without adding the ammonia.

Garf one thing she posted is very fascinating: a reported 3 ppm drop but not enough to drop 3 ppm again

just once

now seems stuck at 1

if it cleared three, why is one more too hard


bc that’s test kit lowest end clearance

its through the collective outcome of these scent trails we’ve determined that no reef tank with common surface area and motion ever stalls above the normal running baseline. biofilters don’t stutter like a Datsun they just run

Yeah Idk how many lbs of live rock are in your DT but you probably shouldn't just add a bunch of ammonia on top of it if its truly live. Not great for anything alive in the rocks.

If you added true seeded live rock then everything else you did was not needed.
Add a fish.

I also have a 15 g biocube. It was before I knew much about the tank, my mom did- so I didn’t cycle it myself. But I could take some water from there to seed my tank. It’s fully matured now, been at least 3 years and my clowns/ zoas are doing well. Nice pods and coralline growth

 

[Brooke24]

Depends on how heavily you’re gonna stock it obviously but with a light bioload, the live rock should have been able to manage it without adding the ammonia.

I’m hoping for a Squaretail Bristletooth tang, coral beauty, clown pair, either 2 banggais or three darts, a snowflake eel, maybe a Valentini puffer, and a wrasse. I had good nutrient export, though. Two socks, protein skimmer for up to a 200 Gal, and a refugium. I wanted some already added live rock and even more bacteria to establish, so I decided to add more bacteria