4 days into my cycle.

[flyweed]

Hey all. Ok...I admit, I'm a "test a holic". I'm just one of those people that like seeing what my water is "doing" every day. Anyway....... TODAY is day 7 (yes only one week) into my cycle. I ONLY tested Ammonia this afternoon. With two kits (API and Hanna). my tank was at 2.0ppm Ammonia yesterday. Today, my tank registers < .15ppm on Hanna checker and it reads 0ppm on my API test. So that's cool. adding seeded rock and sand really does seem to help a ton.

Anyway, I wanted to confirm how quickly my Ammonia gets converted over, so I DO have a bottle of Dr. Tim's Ammonia here, and before I add it, I was just wondering if you all think this would be a good idea to do to confirm conversion?? I could add 80 drops to my tank to take Ammonia back up to 2.0ppm and see if it's back down to 0ppm by tomorrow (24 hours later). Should I do this??

Thanks again.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey all. Ok...I admit, I'm a "test a holic". I'm just one of those people that like seeing what my water is "doing" every day. Anyway....... TODAY is day 7 (yes only one week) into my cycle. I ONLY tested Ammonia this afternoon. With two kits (API and Hanna). my tank was at 2.0ppm Ammonia yesterday. Today, my tank registers < .15ppm on Hanna checker and it reads 0ppm on my API test. So that's cool. adding seeded rock and sand really does seem to help a ton.

Anyway, I wanted to confirm how quickly my Ammonia gets converted over, so I DO have a bottle of Dr. Tim's Ammonia here, and before I add it, I was just wondering if you all think this would be a good idea to do to confirm conversion?? I could add 80 drops to my tank to take Ammonia back up to 2.0ppm and see if it's back down to 0ppm by tomorrow (24 hours later). Should I do this??

Thanks again.

I personally see no reason to add it, but as a one time addition, it isn’t likely to hurt.

 

[flyweed]

I personally see no reason to add it, but as a one time addition, it isn’t likely to hurt.

Thanks Randy....I may add it just this once, as I'd like to confirm that I am converting over adequately and that my cycle really is done this early on.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy....I may add it just this once, as I'd like to confirm that I am converting over adequately and that my cycle really is done this early on.

Sounds fine.

 

[flyweed]

Todays testing (02/01/2025)
Temp: 78F
SG: 1.024
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm (non-detectable on two tests, Salifert and Hanna)
Nitrite: 2.0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm

Think I am going to do a bit of a water change today to try and drop nitrite a bit at this point.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Think I am going to do a bit of a water change today to try and drop nitrite a bit at this point.

Why? Nitrite is harmless.

 

[southeastfishaddict]

Why? Nitrite is harmless.

Nitrate is harmless… not nitrite.

 

[Uncle99]

In the first post you said you used 8 year old rock from another system.

So, IMM, there’s no cycle. The old rock is already cycled.

So first fish go in same day for me.

 

[Fish Fan]

Great read!

Nitrate is harmless… not nitrite.

In marine systems, nitrite is largely consider not to be harmful, contrary to freshwater where it is dangerous.

I would definitely take that shrimp out. Stick to fish food or Dr.Tims ammonium chloride, and the bottle bacteria.

I hate to get in the middle of a holy war (or do I lol!), but I am not a fan of the shrimp thing. Does it work, yeah, it does. The bacteria you need are on the shrimp too, so technically that's all you need, no bottles of anything - just time. But why start a tank with a rotting piece of dead seafood when there are other options? At the least, you have no control over how much ammonia is being released (not that that's a problem, necessarily) and at the most, it can stink - literally lol! And besides, you show me a shrimp, and I'm going to show you some garlic and lemon, and that shrimp will never get to my tank lol!

@flyweed you're getting great advice here from reefers I respect very much, keep going, you'll be fine. Good luck!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Nitrate is harmless… not nitrite.

Nitrite is harmless for marine animals.

If this were a freshwater forum you would be correct in that Nitrite is harmful to freshwater animals.