Tank doesn't want to cycle!

[1Clown]

I started my cycle on the 8th of June which included moving over live stock from my old tank too but not all in one go. So I used Fritz as a kick start for bacteria but with no fish. It wasn't going well and my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels weren't going down.

So I then decided to add ATM Colony along with 2 of my clown fish to see if I can get it to cycle like this, however all my parameters have been frozen as follows forthe last 7 days:

Ammonia 0.8 RedSea test kit
Nitrite 0.4 Salifert test kit
Nitrate 10 Salifert test kit

What shall I do now?

 

[1Clown]

Bump

 

[brandon429]

We need to see if you moved over live rock post a pic

Ammonia will increase, not hold steady if it’s not cycled. The low level nitrite and ammonia could be misreads, post pic we can tell from pics better than we can test kits that are single stated and not compared with a second kit. Only the ammonia factor matters, as nitrite is unimportant to know in sw setups. Look how this cycle went down linked below. Test misreads are well documented and additives like water conditioners can cause false readings, which is why we look for changing vs holding ammonia readings. Your fish will begin breathing problematically if your readings are accurate, are they acting normal?

You may very well have a tank that isn't ready for quick fish transfers but pics will also help show how much surface area to fish you are using and that too is more helpful than param readings, pics make it easy to tell about cycles and test kits mislead about half the time.
If you moved over no live rock then it takes about three weeks of submersion time before adding fish to the setup for all new rocks to take on cycle bac, and that's if you are keeping ammonia and bottle bac measures accurate for the three weeks.

if you can hold off on using fish unless you moved over live rock, that will be ideal.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-question.407768/#post-4838572

 

[mal7887]

If you have nitrates and nitrites the means the cycle is in progress and ammonia is being broken down. Patience, it takes time for a cycle to complete. Continue to monitor the parameters, don't rush it.

 

[1Clown]

The circled live rock is what I moved over as established rock from my old tank as well as a little rubble in the filter. Fish don't seem like they're breathing heavy, seem normal for the most part. Most corals are doing well too but I def need another Kessil as 1 over a 3ft tank isn't cutting it.

 

[brandon429]

Hey that's really sharp I mean ideal. That type of modular scape beats the old wall system we cut teeth on because it's accessible if any type of invader seats in. You can literally lift up the stacks out of the tank and use a knife to rid any invader, set them back in clean it will live uninvaded not because of params, but because you made it accessible.

If your ammonia holds there I'd literally do nothing but feed way lighter than normal for about a week or two, or if feed shouldn't be hedged then increased water changes just as a safety net. If you did literally nothing it would still be fine that is enough active surface area for the bioload shown, the water changes post move are just safer base habits. If I had a large reef I'd want it to look like that.

I learned over time that significance of ammonia readings means just as much as their total accuracy. Ammonia kits are handy for identifying lost fish and medication impacts, large readings that are a -movement- from a previous steady state. But with corals open, opercular motion normal in fish, no rising readings, no water cloud and no room smell and enough live rock to command a base bioload I simply rate the significance of the readings as low enough to not test anymore other than nitrate ceilings for algae control.

When we started seeing low level nitrite readings, seeming cycle stalled issues, in tanks that used prime water conditioner recently those little confounds started to add up that we never based any tank issues on a one off ammonia or trite reading, it had to be part of a greater picture (literally) of the system to ascertain significance. I've never seen any amount of live rock of fair portion, and that circled above is good, fail to skip cycle if the new tank bioloading wasn't extreme (that isn't above)

Reefers tend to use ten times the amount of live rock needed beyond nitrification requirements for a given system, we deal in excesses (and all extra space stores detritus, nitrate factory, as a double edged sword) Though you've reduced scape mass, you're still in excess that's enough to run more fish very soon. you'll be able to keep your system cleaner from now on this redo is ideal.

 

[brandon429]

What you just did in your tank is the basis of this twelve page microbiology thread on sand biology.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

The entire thread is devoted to predicting and following through with skip cycle tank change outs. Nice work man, nice work above.


Pics and known submersion history are more important in cycle assessment than any test reading for a parameter.

 

[1Clown]

Thanks Brandon, All 3 islands just lift right out, even the bridge is just balanced on there really well, no glue or epoxy. Some new results after skipping a day of testing and things are looking better.

Ammonia - 0.2
Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - 10

Shall I just go ahead and do a water change and then bi-weekly water changes as planned and also turn the skimmer on?

 

[brandon429]

Yes for sure it's ok now with any movement down, some wc will export a little ammonia and lighten the load and the system will handle the rest, looks sharp.