nitrogen cycle

Hello Reef2Reef Community! As I was cleaning my tank yesterday, I realized that in two months it will be 1 year in this hobby! I was thinking about how much I have learned throughout this experience and how many errors I have made along the way because I was not properly educated. Some of my...

Hello everybody! I have a 2 gallon jar that I am turning into a reef tank over time, and I just started the nitrogen cycle. I put about 2-3 ppm worth of Dr Tim's ammonia chloride in, and then a bottle of nitrifying bacteria. I did that about two days ago and I have yet to see any nitrite or...

I'm currently cycling my first tank, and somehow gaslit myself into think the nitrogen cycle was measured in days not weeks. I have an order of ecopods and oceanmagik coming from AlgaeBarn to develop the plankton population in the tank post cycle but it will arrive way before the nitrogen cycle...

Brand new to the hobby here. This is my first attempt at a nitrogen cycle. I used the Dr. Tim's method and followed the instructions exactly. I'm getting a bit concerned because nitrite processing seem to be stalled. Here's my setup and parameters so far: 75 gal tank + 20 gal sump live sand...

Hi All, My name is Raj, Living in Michigan. New to aquariums. Physician by profession. I am really glad to find this forum. Started exploring aquariums after my daughter asked for a small fish tank. After multiple trips to local fish store, impressed with reef and salt water ecosystems and...

Just diving into the sw world. Can someone please explain why adding too many fish after the cycle can lead to a bacteria bloom and kill the fish? I just don’t understand the science behind it. Does the same thing happen to an established tank (say 6-12 months)? Does the same thing happen when...

I finally got my tank wet and decided to try a new cycle technique (new to me) I'm doing a fish cycle using Ocean Direct sand and Dr Tim's one and only bacteria. I added the water, sand, MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia 1 1/2 Spheres, and small (maroon) clown on Sunday Nov 2nd. I didn't test for...

Hello. I’m currently at the end of the cycle for my tank. Ammonia is trace and nitrites have risen and are now nearing 0. Nitrates were at 25 ppm so I’ve done a 25/30% water change today to lower it somewhat. from advice on here I have added my first fish today and all appears to be healthy...

Hello. I am currently in the process of cycling my Red Sea Max Nano reef tank. I've added 20lbs of Carib-sea special grade live sand and about 15-20lbs of Carib-sea Life rock shapes (spored with bacteria). I've also added a mesh bag worth of Fluval bio tubes (for surface area for bacteria)...

So I’m on the 3rd day of cycling for my 38 gallon tank with the products Dr. Tim’s Ammonia Chloride and API QuickStart. First Day the Ammonia was on 2.0 ppm and has been for the 3 days but Nitrites have not gone up. Should I be worried or is this normal, Which day is usually when you see the...

Hello everyone, I'm trying to decide whether or not I should add ammonia and nitrifying bacteria into my tank. This is my third week into the nitrogen cycle and today my results are Ammonia: 0.6 Nitrite:0.5 Nitrate:10 PH:8

Hello to everyone on here. Firstly, let me introduce myself my name is Minh and I am completely new to the salt water aquarium hobby and I am extremely excited as I am about to embark on this new journey. However I have hit a cross roads and I figured I ask on here for some guidance and wisdom...

Hey Everyone! Second post here in Reef2Reef and a new member! My name is Jeff I just finished setting up my first Fluval evo 13.5 tank, everything stock except protein skimmer and a 240 wave maker. Iv did a fish less cycle with ammonia and as I believe its nearing the end im unaware of what to...

25 lagoon cycling. im about 4.5 weeks in with it up and running Hi I was wondering if anyone could let me know how the waters doing. .0-.25 Phosphate apx .1 No3 50 No2 .25 mg 1500 phosphate .62 how we doing? im adding a sump and a new skimmer soon.. also maybe an alge scrubber to get...

So i have always kept Cichlids and decided to setup a 20 gal reef tank beside my bed. I bought a 6 gallon setup from a guy which already had fish. Parameters were stable and there was alot of bio media in the mini sump. So I added that to the 20 gal setup. Saw some ammonia last night and my...

Hello all, So, I’ve been cycling live rock in a 30 gallon bin for about 6 weeks now, but I’m confused. When I dose the ammonia to about 3-4ppm, the ammonia is gone in less than 24 hours, but it takes the nitrites 1 1/2- 2 days to be gone. Would anyone know why that’s the case? Will it just take...

Hi Guys, I bought 4 feet by 2 feet tank from waterbox and at this point ready. I need some help in deciding "to start or to wait". Since I am starting with dry rock (carib sea liferock) and bare bottom I wanted to start the cycling process. I know it will take some time to stabilitize as I am...

Fishless Cycling a New Aquarium A Recipe for Success from DrTim's Aquatics!

A brand new video, in the brand new DansReef #fastfacts series explaining Ammonia in under 3 minutes! Check it out and look out for the next videos in the series!

Its amazing how many of us still dont fully understand the varying types of filtration available .. I created this video to hopefully explain it in a level of detail everybody can understand :) I hope you enjoy it!

So, I bought pukani rock from BRS and put it in a large brute trashcan in saltwater for 1 month with a power head and heater. i did 100% water change on the trash can with my "old" water change water from my frag system once per week after the first month of just circulating the water & i did...

hello to anybody reading this, I recently bought a Nuvo fusion 20 gallon tank and wanted to try out this amazing hobby. I know that beginners are recommended to get at least a 50 gallon tank, but I have no room in my small apartment. Anyways, it’s been about two weeks since I’ve added my sand...

I've been doing my cycle for a week or 2, a had a diatom bloom while back. I used LR etc. and live bacteria added to water. However, I noticed my Nitrite AND nitrate levels are rising at the same time. Is that normal? my LR ratio is 80% Live 20% dead I have some green algae growing few days...

I've been doing my nitrogen cycle and I notice quite a lot of algae in my rocks... what does it mean? do I have to do anything?