Stuck Cycle or fake test results

[Blu-J]

So Ive been doing some reading on the forum, Started the tank with turbo start and ammonia. Ammonia is gone, nitrites and very low and nitrates are going up but nitrites seem to be holding steady. red sea test kits. I'm waiting for the hanna testers in the mail .

Is this a false stuck cycle according to the tests? Safe to add fish or should i wait or dose more ammonia.

Thanks!

 

[PotatoPig]

So Ive been doing some reading on the forum, Started the tank with turbo start and ammonia. Ammonia is gone, nitrites and very low and nitrates are going up but nitrites seem to be holding steady. red sea test kits. I'm waiting for the hanna testers in the mail .

Is this a false stuck cycle according to the tests? Safe to add fish or should i wait or dose more ammonia.

Thanks!

It doesn’t sound stuck.

Nitrites aren’t toxic in saltwater like they are in freshwater, at least not at any concentration you’ll hit without killing everything via some other means first, so if they are “very low” on the tests you’re fine.

From your description it sounds like virtually all your ammonia has been processed into Nitrates. For the basic cycle you’re done.

 

[Uncle99]

So Ive been doing some reading on the forum, Started the tank with turbo start and ammonia. Ammonia is gone, nitrites and very low and nitrates are going up but nitrites seem to be holding steady. red sea test kits. I'm waiting for the hanna testers in the mail .

Is this a false stuck cycle according to the tests? Safe to add fish or should i wait or dose more ammonia.

Thanks!

Assuming you used Rock, sand, saltwater, flow, heat + bacteria +2 days =cycled.

Safe to add fish.

 

[brandon429]

it's not that it's stuck it's that the ruleset between old and new cycling science is polar opposite

old cycling science: all three params must comply to be cycled
new cycling science: only ammonia control matters, if you never ran nitrite for the life of the tank nothing would be harmed. nitrate is optional to run, I have never owned the kit.

if you use updated cycling science rules, you're cycled.

 

[JNalley]

@brandon429


Edit: Haha... You posted as I was hitting submit!

 

[Blu-J]

Thanks for all the replys!

I went down the wormhole reading on the forum and found some old posts.

Appreciate you all.

Should I start the skimmer now or wait till the nitrites are zero

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks for all the replys!

I went down the wormhole reading on the forum and found some old posts.

Appreciate you all.

Should I start the skimmer now or wait till the nitrites are zero

Now, it takes time to break in and you can use the oxygenated waters flowing through in your system.

 

[brandon429]

also because you used fritz, you're cycled heh

 

[brandon429]

we covered that nitrite testing isn't required, you're testing something we don't use anymore. throw out the nitrite kit, don't own it, it causes false hesitation

reading in the disease forum what happens when qt and fallow are skipped comes next

cycle, done

(nitrite doesn't factor in reefing, it produces no 'burn' or harm, in freshwater, it's what matters and ammonia isn't a big deal. things are reversed between freshwater and reef tank cycling. to care about nitrite is applying freshwater cycling rules to reefing, where they don't factor)

 

[Blu-J]

THANK YOU!

Should I start running the skimmer? When when should I start running the UV

 

[brandon429]

anytime. uv's are great I like them. run it however you like. can start the skimmer anytime ready it's a fine oxygenation device as well. it probably won't pull waste for a while till the tank ages but is ok to set and run/begin

 

[Blu-J]

anytime. uv's are great I like them. run it however you like. can start the skimmer anytime ready it's a fine oxygenation device as well. it probably won't pull waste for a while till the tank ages but is ok to set and run/begin

so the UV i have is a 25W on my 110 Waterbox System, It sits in the basement under the tank, there is quite a few 90's in it to get it to work properly and im running it off a varios-8 pump, at max speed im getting about 300 GPH I only ran 1in pvc which I probably should of run larger but it is what it is now. the pentair says it needs like 700gph or something to get the algae benefit so i'm assuming 300gph will be ok.

 

[brandon429]

is it true that your ammonia control was established within ten days


asking because: that's the one variable we're missing from this cycle that most cycle troubleshoot threads provide, the length of time running. it's fun to see if the updated cycling science equation solves both ways for predicting reef tank start dates vs having to test for the permitted start date.

how long did ammonia up/down take to establish

 

[Blu-J]

is it true that your ammonia control was established within ten days


asking because: that's the one variable we're missing from this cycle that most cycle troubleshoot threads provide, the length of time running. it's fun to see if the updated cycling science equation solves both ways for predicting reef tank start dates vs having to test for the permitted start date.

how long did ammonia up/down take to establish

It took about 12 to 14 days for the ammonia to reach zero I have that seqchem little eye sensor in the tank just for fun, but I also was testing with the red sea throughout the whole time