Tank cycled in 13 days?

[loungefrog11]

Hey guys.

Long story short, I have a 55 gallon tank with fish, corals, snails, crabs, etc. Everything is doing good in that tank, it's about 10 months old. I upgraded to the Red Sea 350. Used all new sand and rock and have been cycling for almost 2 weeks. I had 10 ceramic balls in my old tank for about 2-3 weeks, and put them in the sump when I started the cycle in the new Red Sea 350. Poured a bottle of Dr. Tims, and dosed with ammonia as per the directions just as I did with my original tank. I went out of town after about a week into the cycle and when I got back, my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all zero at day 13. Thinking that's a pretty quick cycle, I dosed ammonia 1 more time yesterday, 24hrs later (today), ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all zero again. Does this mean my tank is ready? Seems awful quick, but then again I did cycle with the ceramic balls in the sump that were in my other tank for 2-3 weeks. Thanks for all your help/advice.

 

[Propane]

What are you testing with? Nitrates should not be zero after a cycle.

 

[Lavey29]

If nitrates are zero then you are not cycled yet.

 

[loungefrog11]

What are you testing with? Nitrates should not be zero after a cycle.

The standard API saltwater kit.

Ya I thought everything at 0 was a bit odd. I'm definitely no expert, but just didn't seem right.

 

[loungefrog11]

So I'm assuming I should continue to dose/test?

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

So I'm assuming I should continue to dose/test?

Keep feeding and testing. Nothing to dose except food.

 

[Rmckoy]

If nitrates are zero then you are not cycled yet.

This is where Brandon’s theory gets confusing .

If ammonia is added and no test kits done.
How can a system be cycled in 10 days

13 days later we have zero nitrates meaning there was never any nitrogen processed

 

[Dan_P]

Hey guys.

Long story short, I have a 55 gallon tank with fish, corals, snails, crabs, etc. Everything is doing good in that tank, it's about 10 months old. I upgraded to the Red Sea 350. Used all new sand and rock and have been cycling for almost 2 weeks. I had 10 ceramic balls in my old tank for about 2-3 weeks, and put them in the sump when I started the cycle in the new Red Sea 350. Poured a bottle of Dr. Tims, and dosed with ammonia as per the directions just as I did with my original tank. I went out of town after about a week into the cycle and when I got back, my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all zero at day 13. Thinking that's a pretty quick cycle, I dosed ammonia 1 more time yesterday, 24hrs later (today), ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all zero again. Does this mean my tank is ready? Seems awful quick, but then again I did cycle with the ceramic balls in the sump that were in my other tank for 2-3 weeks. Thanks for all your help/advice.

If you added used ceramic balls and Dr Tim’s, you added a large amount of nitrifying bacteria. I would not be surprised the ammonia is consumed quickly, but a bit surprised there is no nitrite and very surprised there is no nitrate. Did you add a large number of ceramic balls?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys.

Long story short, I have a 55 gallon tank with fish, corals, snails, crabs, etc. Everything is doing good in that tank, it's about 10 months old. I upgraded to the Red Sea 350. Used all new sand and rock and have been cycling for almost 2 weeks. I had 10 ceramic balls in my old tank for about 2-3 weeks, and put them in the sump when I started the cycle in the new Red Sea 350. Poured a bottle of Dr. Tims, and dosed with ammonia as per the directions just as I did with my original tank. I went out of town after about a week into the cycle and when I got back, my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all zero at day 13. Thinking that's a pretty quick cycle, I dosed ammonia 1 more time yesterday, 24hrs later (today), ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all zero again. Does this mean my tank is ready? Seems awful quick, but then again I did cycle with the ceramic balls in the sump that were in my other tank for 2-3 weeks. Thanks for all your help/advice.

While you can sure be cycled this quick, typically after you added your ammonia chloride, you want to monitor ammonia and When your ammonia is steady at zero for 5 days and Nitrate is steady at 20 or below- You are cycled. Ignore nitrIte Unless sky high
The tank will go through two phases in which ammonia will rise then fall and nitrate will rise and fall which is normal. When fish are added, the bacteria population will increase with the new bio load, converting waste to nitrate.

 

[Propane]

Double check your testing. If you added ammonia you should have some nitrates after 13 days.

 

[loungefrog11]

If you added used ceramic balls and Dr Tim’s, you added a large amount of nitrifying bacteria. I would not be surprised the ammonia is consumed quickly, but a bit surprised there is no nitrite and very surprised there is no nitrate. Did you add a large number of ceramic balls?

I used 10 of them

 

[Dan_P]

I used 10 of them

Another thought. When you added the ammonia did you measure it? Was it 1 or 2 ppm? Did you also detect nitrite any time during the experiment?

 

[loungefrog11]

Another thought. When you added the ammonia did you measure it? Was it 1 or 2 ppm? Did you also detect nitrite any time during the experiment?

Not sure how much as far as ppm, but I did follow the directions on the ammonium chloride (Dr tims). Never did get any nitrite

 

[blecki]

The bacteria you seeded with processed the ammonia you dosed, that's all. You measure zero nitrates because the conversion rate is not 1-to-1 from ammonia to nitrate. Without a continuous source of food, how are the bacteria supposed to multiply?

 

[Dan_P]

Not sure how much as far as ppm, but I did follow the directions on the ammonium chloride (Dr tims). Never did get any nitrite

So strictly speaking we don’t know if ammonia was added and that possibility correlates with the absence of nitrate. Sounds weird, but that’s all I can come up with.