Cycling Problems

[bmitc]

Hi, I am on day 19 of cycling my reef tank. I used Dr. Tims one and only and did a fishless cycle.I have added ammonium Chloride per Dr. Tims instructions at a lesser dose to bring the ammonia level to 1.2 ppm. That was day 2. On day 4 I had a reading of .8ppm Ammonia and 1ppm Nitrite. Day 6, 0.4 Ammonia, 0.2 Nitrite. Day 10, 0.3 Ammonia ,0.1 Nitrite, 30ppm Nitrate. After that days 11-19 Ammonia stays around 0.2ppm and Nitrite around 0.1ppm , 30ppm Nitrate. At first I thought that my Red Sea Ammonia test kit was getting false readings so I got a Hanna checker and it is giving the same readings for Ammonia. Should not my Ammonia and Nitrites read zero at this point? I just added more ammonium chloride to see if its level drops after 24hr. I have had saltwater aquariums in the past but that was like 20 yrs ago. I decided to get into the hobby again but seem to be having trouble with the easy part of the hobby. Please help. Thank you.

 

[TX_REEF]

I would add another dose of bottled bacteria to keep things moving. Fritz turbostart is great for this: https://amzn.to/434XYUl

 

[Lavey29]

I agree with the above. Nitrites are irrelevant in reef aquaria and don't need testing. Your goal is 0 ammonia and measurable nitrates and you have that. Water change and add your first fish.

 

[Magic031707]

To be sure dose ammonia to 2.0ppm and test 24hrs later. It should have converted and if it tests at 0ppm, you are good to go. If not, have to wait it out. But I think you are good to go.

 

[Garf]

Should not my Ammonia and Nitrites read zero at this point

Not necessarily. Your nitrite has come down fairly quickly, they can linger for a long time in some tanks. Ammonia has been reliably reduced which is the important bit. Sure you can dose a little ammonia to fortify the cycle, really depends on how much livestock you plan to add initially. Lots of folks get total ammonia readings of greater than zero. The explanation for which @taricha could maybe explain. A pic of the tank would be good.

 

[jda]

.2 or .3 of nh4 is near/at zero on most kits. The decreasing trend is what is important.

Those final numbers all look fine to me. If you last dose at 2.0 ppm nh4 gets back down to .2 or .3, then you should be fine to slowly and smartly add fish.

Biology and chemistry has not changed in 20 years. What worked back then works now. Some morons have tried to invent new terms and create strawmen to take credit for things that were going to happen anyway, but just ignore that noise.

Lastly, know that they cycle is ongoing and never ends. If you are smart and patient, then nearly anything can work. You can add fish and enjoy your tank as it grows and matures. Nothing is done, so you cannot just go crazy and add a bunch of stuff, but you probably knew this. As you add, remove and change over the years, the nitrogen cycle and many other cycles will self-adjust to the changes - everything will be good if you give them time to react.

 

[fushi]

Hi, I am on day 19 of cycling my reef tank....

I would recomend adding some prodibio biodigest to the tank, its been tested by a form user and has a nice mix of bacteria (thought to be cultured from actual seawater) where as most of the bottled bacteria are just a couple of strains of specific bacteria.

I have used Dr. tims, fritz turbostart, fritz 9, all the brightwell microbactors, but found my tanks cycled the quickest in the following order.

Real live sand (not the bagged stuff)
biodigest
turbo start
All the others took so long that I added a mix of live sand and biodigest.

I like real live sand because I find you don't really get all the pests and algae like you do with live rock and you can easily pick out anything you dont want. You can just go to the beach and grab it for free in some areas. But check your county regulations of course.

 

[bmitc]

I would add another dose of bottled bacteria to keep things moving. Fritz turbostart is great for this: https://amzn.to/434XYUl

Added another bottle of Dr Tim’s this past Friday

 

[Cell]

Wasted money on 2nd bottle...

 

[bmitc]

I agree with the above. Nitrites are irrelevant in reef aquaria and don't need testing. Your goal is 0 ammonia and measurable nitrates and you have that. Water change and add your first fish.

Was planning on adding a cleanup crew and quarantining two clown fish for two weeks

 

[bmitc]

To be sure dose ammonia to 2.0ppm and test 24hrs later. It should have converted and if it tests at 0ppm, you are good to go. If not, have to wait it out. But I think you are good to go.

Only increased ammonia to 1 ppm because I added chaeto and copepods to the Refugium thinking the tank was close to being cycled

 

[bmitc]

I agree with the above. Nitrites are irrelevant in reef aquaria and don't need testing. Your goal is 0 ammonia and measurable nitrates and you have that. Water change and add your first fish.

Would you recommend 50% water change ? I want to keep my nitrates low

 

[TX_REEF]

Would you recommend 50% water change ? I want to keep my nitrates low

I wouldn't do any water changes until you hit zero ammonia to ensure the first cycle is complete

 

[Lavey29]

Would you recommend 50% water change ? I want to keep my nitrates low

Sure that's fine