Trouble cycling - nitrite not going down

[tankstudy]

I understand that the clean liquid AC cycling is a better alternative than the shrimp method but since I already did the shrimp method I guess there's no turning back.

I see a lot of people shrimp and bottle bacteria frequently. The general problem with this method is that the initial dosage of ammonia is uncontrolled. If it greatly exceeds the recommended amount, the bottled bacteria will produce very high levels of nitrite, which really slows your cycle.

Since my ammonia wasn't gone in 24 hours I proceeded to do the large water change

Did you by chance add ammonium chloride to do this test right before the water change??

 

[beaslbob]

Before I started using macros to cycle, nitrite would peg at 5 ppm (kit max) until I stopped adding food. then they would drop down in a couple of days.

 

[Michael ross1]

post full tank pics pls

nitrite isn't needed to know in cycling, only what ammonia does, and how long a given set of dry rocks have been underwater cant wait to see pics to get a total picture

So my ammonia spiked and now down ...... nitrite still purple nitrate is 40 ppm ...... I added ammonia and in 24 hors it's gone is tank cycled yet or wait until nitrites go down

 

[brandon429]

if your tank has met ten days or longer wait time in this condition then for sure yes.


and even if it hasn't, about 10,000 aquarists here have logs on adding two clowns with no wait, not even bothering to verify ammonia like you've done, and those all turn out well too. By default, bottle bacteria works

I've never seen a bottle bac cycle fail on this forum since I've been typing on it.



the hidden point is that we're dealing with nearly perfectly streamlined outcome quality, that's a big deal when it spans years on end and all searchable.

waiting any longer doesn't lower the expression of fish disease, that's why we track ammonia only (or default to known timing for it in places where no testing is wanted)

correct and ideal settings fallow and quarantine affect fish disease expression, that's how we justify these new starting points. plus we're measuring these exact alignments now using other people's reef since about 2014 logged here, I can confidently say if you are using a common pre built aquarium (vs a home built one, they used moldproof silicone in the sump once and didn't tell us till page 8 of cycle doubt) and if you had common live rocks, more than one, in the display then yes you are safe and that's an honest relay of patterns. thanks tons for posting.


if youll please update here when fish have been in your tank a few days, that's the proof we need of the cycle holding.

ps: I predict right now the chance an api audit of my claims yields a fail. its a lie lol.

 

[GARRIGA]

I wouldn't panic. Seems early on Ammonia was at 8 ppm which is too high for both ammonia and nitrite reduction. Now that it has settled back down I'd just let it run it's course.

BTW, Seachem has test kits that only test free ammonia vs API which tests total ammonia. Total ammonia will read higher yet free ammonia what is lethal. Not sure if total ammonia what causes issues with nitrification so I go off that and keep total ammonia under 5 ppm as recommended by Tim Hovanec.

Worth watching.

 

[brandon429]

one handy dynamic in cycling that absolutely any seneye owner will notice is that any drop in ammonia immediately trends to the safe zone, and none stall in a mid line or partial way.

whatever the .00x baseline nh3 is for any system, there are no times during a drop phase that the ending measure ends in a reading above the baseline given that there are no abnormal things like a dead fish rotting. our surface area is too big in reefing to allow for that nonrebound in full and/or the bottle bac dosed provides a powerful uptake ability even as it swirls around in suspension.

the move down means the system can carry bioload, and by day ten a full water change can't unstick the bacteria-surfaces are truly activated.

in a basic clean system, any drop of ammonia after adding concentrated ammonia eating bottle back means toxicity doesn't rise again. in that way its neat because we won't have to know if you're on day ten, day ten is just the date in which you can do a 100% water change and all the cycling bacteria are stuck in place.

you've confirmed your bottle bac is alive because ammonia went down, it doesn't go to zero. expecting it to be zero is 100% against new cycling science. the chemists in the chem forum remind us that nh3 readings are not what people see when they take an ammonia test, and perceive it as stalled.

Not any aspect of that video applies above even though we're using his bac lol

in fact it make the potential for a false stall really risky:

100% Water Change

So in my previous thread, I had an ammonia issue that was out of hand. As suggested, I did a 100% WC and now i’m wondering when I should start adding fish back. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

www.reef2reef.com

that shows how reef cycles really don't stall, we don't really have to coax a cycle its just instant carry out of the bottle, ten days to implantation, done. if the bottle bac is dead, then feed the system and bump the wait time to 30 days, still cycled and locked into place.