most things in reefing we can just make a suggestion and whether or not its followed really doesnt matter. Raise someone's nitrate, lower someone's phosphate, add more blue lights, lower whites...nothing really happens quickly with these variations in reefing they're just different ways to reef.
but cycling is different, its the one phase where a mistake will kill your whole tank lol so its not easy to just make up stuff regarding a cycle completion, especially when tests dont line up. there is no half answer in cycling, free ammonia will kill live animals when its really there (just the same, they'll never ever open up with any degree of free ammonia its akin to a real chemical burn, respiring animals must excrete it to live)
Thats why this is all so fun, we are messing with other people's money here
cycling or being at the start of a new setup is a very consequential moment for a reef tank. The final referee on whether or not your tank is cycled is when you add something for a starting reef and it either lives or dies, an uncycled tank will not last 48 hours with a living bioload in it, the water will get progressively cloudy until all is lost. when you add your first animals and the water is still clean next morning, you'll know by rule of biology they'll be just as ok the next morning.
but cycling is different, its the one phase where a mistake will kill your whole tank lol so its not easy to just make up stuff regarding a cycle completion, especially when tests dont line up. there is no half answer in cycling, free ammonia will kill live animals when its really there (just the same, they'll never ever open up with any degree of free ammonia its akin to a real chemical burn, respiring animals must excrete it to live)
Thats why this is all so fun, we are messing with other people's money here
cycling or being at the start of a new setup is a very consequential moment for a reef tank. The final referee on whether or not your tank is cycled is when you add something for a starting reef and it either lives or dies, an uncycled tank will not last 48 hours with a living bioload in it, the water will get progressively cloudy until all is lost. when you add your first animals and the water is still clean next morning, you'll know by rule of biology they'll be just as ok the next morning.