What do i do next?

[PegasisR]

After putting my nitrifying bacteria into the tank and dosing 25ml of dr tims ammonium chloride I waited 24hrs and tested my paramters and the results are

Ammonia- 0.2-0.4
nitrite- 1
nitrate- 50

what should i do now?

 

[Oscaror]

After putting my nitrifying bacteria into the tank and dosing 25ml of dr tims ammonium chloride I waited 24hrs and tested my paramters and the results are

Ammonia- 0.2-0.4
nitrite- 1
nitrate- 50

what should i do now?

Keep feeding the bacteria your cycle isn't complete

 

[PegasisR]

Keep feeding the bacteria your cycle isn't complete

And do i wait till everything is 0 before dosing again?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

no maintain 2-3ppm. then when it goes down to 0 within 8-12 hours you’re cycled.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Dr Tims website has his recommended instructions for a fishless cycle. I would read those and follow as closely as you can.

 

[PegasisR]

Dr Tims website has his recommended instructions for a fishless cycle. I would read those and follow as closely as you can.

Okay so i read it and it says ammonia and nitrite have to be below 1 to dose ammonia again. The nitrite isnt below 1 its at 1, would i wait or dose more ammonia?

 

[lapin]

If you are sure your test kit is accurate I would wait 1 more day. It takes longer for the bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate to grow than the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite.
How long have you been cycling your tank?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

+1 to what @lapin said. It won't hurt anything to wait an extra day.

 

[PegasisR]

If you are sure your test kit is accurate I would wait 1 more day. It takes longer for the bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate to grow than the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite.
How long have you been cycling your tank?

I just started cycling my tank its only been a day since the bacteria went in and im using the red sea test kit to check for it! Would i need to test again tomorrow and see where its at? im following the dr tims fishless cycling recipe aswell!

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I just started cycling my tank its only been a day since the bacteria went in and im using the red sea test kit to check for it! Would i need to test again tomorrow and see where its at? im following the dr tims fishless cycling recipe aswell!

I would test again. Since everything went down in 24 hours, you want to make sure that your nitrite really is on the way down and not up. There really isn't a rush to add more ammonia, it won't hurt anything to wait and be sure.

How big is your tank? Based on you dosing 25ml of ammonia, it should be 125 gal.

Finally, there is no need to test for nitrate until nitrite is zero. Most test kits will give a false high reading for nitrates if there are nitrites present. I know that the Red Sea test kit does.

 

[PegasisR]

I would test again. Since everything went down in 24 hours, you want to make sure that your nitrite really is on the way down and not up. There really isn't a rush to add more ammonia, it won't hurt anything to wait and be sure.

How big is your tank? Based on you dosing 25ml of ammonia, it should be 125 gal.

Finally, there is no need to test for nitrate until nitrite is zero. Most test kits will give a false high reading for nitrates if there are nitrites present. I know that the Red Sea test kit does.

Its an rsr 525xl and i was given that amount to dose by a dr tims associate Ah alright! i wont test that again till its at 0 ill wait another 24hrs and test again

 

[PegasisR]

I waited again and tested and my new results are

Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 1
Ph- 8

should i dose another 25ml?

 

[lapin]

Ya add some more ammonia. It cant hurt. If the nitrite goes up and does not come back down then your tank still needs time to grow more bacteria that processes the nitrite into nitrate

 

[PegasisR]

Ya add some more ammonia. It cant hurt. If the nitrite goes up and does not come back down then your tank still needs time to grow more bacteria that processes the nitrite into nitrate

All done will continue testing tomorrow as followed by the doc tims cycling recipe! Thank you for the help

 

[Sailingeric]

It can take a couple weeks or more to cycle to where you can put fish in and when you do, do it slowly. Clowns and damsels are hardy. You could start with a couple clowns and give it a couple weeks to stabilize before adding anything else, along with testing daily to make sure you have no spikes. Slow and steady and you should not lose any fish.