Back After 30 Years: Cycling Question!

[vinsk]

Hello all! I was crazy into saltwater tanks 30 years ago, built my own skimmers, sumps, all fish and never learned corals. Anyways, I’m back! So much has changed since those days! I’m starting simple and just got the Hello Reef 15g Clownfish/Anemone starter tank kit.

Need a little help with my cycle. Got my pre-made water from WWC , added Dr. Tim’s Nitrifying bacteria, added a good pinch of pellet food provided. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test it until day 5. My tests showed: 0Nitrite/0Nitrate/0.5ppm Ammonia. Am I on the right track or is this not making sense?

 

[DaJMasta]

It will take a bit for the bacteria to colonize and do their thing, but it's also dependent on total system volume. A pinch of food in a large tank will be a tiny ammonia source and won't spike up far, but in a small tank will be plenty.

I'd give it a couple of days, then if the ammonia still seems low and the others are undetectable, you add a bit more food or similar ammonia source. The goal is for nitrate to be present, with minimal nitrite or ammonia, since that's the signal that the bacteria are in place to break down ammonia into nitrate (as far in the nitrogen cycle as our tanks generally get.)

 

[Solo McReefer]

Pics?

What kind of rock do you have?

 

[PharmrJohn]

How many pounds and what kind of rock do you have in your tank?

Edit: Sorry, found it in product description.

 

[twentyleagues]

I never liked using fish food for a cycle, take to long. You have to wait for the food to start decomposing to produce ammonia and then for the bacteria to do its job. fish food is good for an organic carbon source to help the bacteria along. Ammonium chloride is a better ammonia source. Less mess too.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I never liked using fish food for a cycle, take to long. You have to wait for the food to start decomposing to produce ammonia and then for the bacteria to do its job. fish food is good for an organic carbon source to help the bacteria along. Ammonium chloride is a better ammonia source. Less mess too.

+1. Yeah, it's just going to take some time. Your tank, ultimately, should be able to convert about 2ppm ammonia to zero in a 24 hour period. Once you get there, you're pretty much good to go.

 

[vinsk]

Ok..need some help please. Fishless cycle. Hello Reef states the cycle using Dr. Tim’s bacteria and some fish food should’ve taken about 8 days to cycle. Never got an ammonia spike, nitrite nor nitrate. So, I read the Dr. Tim’s step by step method using ammonia drops and again the bottled bacteria. On day 8 of that process my ammonia continued to hold at 4-5ppm. No nites or nates. Did a 25% water change as now the tank is almost a month into this cycle. I’m sorry for the stupidity but I don’t understand why having two bottles of Dr. Tim’s, dosing 2gtts/gallon ( not 4) yet still seeing no change in ammonia nor any nitrite or nitrates. what the heck is going on here?

 

[fishywishy]

Ok..need some help please. Fishless cycle. Hello Reef states the cycle using Dr. Tim’s bacteria and some fish food should’ve taken about 8 days to cycle. Never got an ammonia spike, nitrite nor nitrate. So, I read the Dr. Tim’s step by step method using ammonia drops and again the bottled bacteria. On day 8 of that process my ammonia continued to hold at 4-5ppm. No nites or nates. Did a 25% water change as now the tank is almost a month into this cycle. I’m sorry for the stupidity but I don’t understand why having two bottles of Dr. Tim’s, dosing 2gtts/gallon ( not 4) yet still seeing no change in ammonia nor any nitrite or nitrates. what the heck is going on here?

If I’m understanding you correctly, everything sounds pretty normal, especially since you used fish food to start with, which can take a while. Just give it some time. Don’t do any water changes, add more bacteria, or anything like that. In about a week or two, you should be ready to add fish.

 

[vinsk]

Ok thank you. I guess I just thought using the live bacteria ( Dr. Tim’s) was supposed to speed up this cycle so I expected to see the ammonia level drop and get some nites then nates sooner.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

What are you using to test ammonia have you verified its not a cheap test kit.

 

[vinsk]

What are you using to test ammonia have you verified its not a cheap test kit.

I’m using Salifert.

 

[brandon429]

Hey guess what



You're done already based on time, no testing required

This thread is solely, solely, people adding bottle bac and feed then waiting only ten days for time based cycling to complete. Testing helps when you're rushing

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

www.reef2reef.com

Ten days isn't a rush we show

That's why you can forego all testing and just count, if you have ten days.

Now that your cycle is fixed for sure read the disease forum

One clown in a small nano isn't a huge disease risk if you keep things clean

 

[twentyleagues]

Ok thank you. I guess I just thought using the live bacteria ( Dr. Tim’s) was supposed to speed up this cycle so I expected to see the ammonia level drop and get some nites then nates sooner.

From tests that have been done by knowledgeable people DR tims was one of the slowest to act. I think fritz was found to be the fastest.

 

[Spare time]

I would just get a different bottle of bacteria (biospira or fritz). I am not a fan of Dr. Tims

 

[vinsk]

Something has to be wrong. Salifert ammonia test showing 0.25 but the API showing 4-5ppm. what the heck? I tested nitrites and nitrates as well and both tests showed 0.1 nitrites and 0 nitrates. I’ve read the API isn’t as good as the Salifert…but 4-4ppm/0.25?

 

[brandon429]

Did u see that thread, it has your cycle fixed using about 150 matching examples to yours

Specifically, it's forty pages of your exact issue, all fixed right up. Therefore, nothing is wrong

Per the opening paragraph whatever small range your non digital ammonia kit reads: that doesn't matter at all. The rest of the thread is people offering up the exact same claims over and over, we count to ten instead, then when they add fish things are always fine

Your cycle is easy to decode for sure

What's missing here: your full tank picture, so we can see how much surface area is in the system

 

[vinsk]

 

[brandon429]

Excellent. That'll do well

You are using a type of bacteria that people use to input fish on day one, that's why waiting just shy of two weeks makes it ready. Those kits react sometimes with a slight positive reading even if a sandbed is kicked up, or your light feeding maybe giving a slight register. All good, however it reads because the timing is more important for consistent start date determination.

 

[vinsk]

So being that this tank has been fishless for a month now…can I finally get a pair of clownfish? Haha. My goal is to have 2clownfish, Goby/shrimp pair…one BTA and maybe a couple soft corals..oh…and a cleaner crew.

 

[brandon429]

Yep if you put them in, ammonia control isn't going to be an issue
Acclimation and disease is the challenge

Clowns are kept at low salinity in pet shops to mask the disease they carry routinely

But our reefs are high salinity

So when people rush the Acclimation that's the top cause of death, and disease or bullying. Ammonia w be fine. Watch the feed, don't let it waste pile up