Cycle stalled - processed first dose of ammonia, won't process second

[780blaster]

So i am performing a fishless cycle in my first reef tank. Prior to getting the tank itself setup, i "pre-cycled" my rock just in a container in hopes of accelerating the process once everything was up and running. I ended up with a nitrite spike but ended up transferring everything over to the tank prior to those nitrites coming down (ie didn't complete the cycle).

Once the actual tank was setup, i used new water, and redosed ammonia to ~ 1.5 ppm. It came down probably within a day or two, nitrates ended up between 2-4ppm (salifert test) which was expected. Wait a little over 5 weeks, nitrites started to come down - got to <0.25 ppm (i'm told this can be the case sometimes and is okay to add livestock as long as the ammonia is getting processed and nitrite levels are not spiking). Anyways, prior to adding fish, i dose ammonia one more time (calculated to be about 1.5ppm, salifert ammonia test sucks but 8mL of 6% ammonia solution in an ~80 gal tank should yield about 1.5ppm cconcentration).

Now my ammonia isn't coming down! It's been about 5 days and nothing is happening to the ammonia levels. I even had LFS test it to confirm and they said right about 1.5ppm. Any idea's whats going on? It's been 6+ weeks at this point and ammonia isn't even being processed..

 

[exnisstech]

I don't test ammonia or nitrite when cycling. I don't even own test kits. Once I see nitrate I proceed to slowly stock the tank. May not be be the recommended method but it's worked for me.

 

[780blaster]

I don't test ammonia or nitrite when cycling. I don't even own test kits. Once I see nitrate I proceed to slowly stock the tank. May not be be the recommended method but it's worked for me.

That may work for some but in this case it definitely would have lead to some casualties since I have nitrates but now my ammonia is stalled out

 

[CHSUB]

Agree with above. I don’t add anything besides a small piece of live rock and away we go. I figure the “cycle” started about 4.5 billion years ago and I’m just continuing it in my glass box.

 

[exnisstech]

That may work for some but in this case it definitely would have lead to some casualties since I have nitrates but now my ammonia is stalled out

Cycles do not stall but nothing wrong with being cautious. I leave the stalled cycle discussion for the experts

 

[Uncle99]

I don't test ammonia or nitrite when cycling. I don't even own test kits. Once I see nitrate I proceed to slowly stock the tank. May not be be the recommended method but it's worked for me.

Exactly same for me!
Rock, sand, saltwater, heat and flow, I wait a week, check nitrates, water change and in go my first fish.
With some tests, you’d never be cycled according to them.

 

[klc]

I don't even own an ammonia test kit. According to some, I may be a fool

 

[Reefer911]

I’m assuming you got it figured out by now but I would have added more bacteria.

 

[780blaster]

I’m assuming you got it figured out by now but I would have added more bacteria.

Yep, this is what I did, had it going the next day

 

[swerveious]

Cycles do not stall but nothing wrong with being cautious. I leave the stalled cycle discussion for the experts

So no amount of nitrites will stall a cycle? Everyone says differently, info on here is so all over the place regarding that. I thought I was at that stage right now, ammonia .5ish nitrites and nitrates off the charts but it won't process that small amount of ammonia. Been that way for days. Someone told me to do a bug water change to bring nitrites down, but then ammonia would be nothing. So I'd have to dose again? Ultimately bringing nitrites back up. So what the heck do I do lol

 

[swerveious]

Cycles do not stall but nothing wrong with being cautious. I leave the stalled cycle discussion for the experts

I'm new to this site, how do I find your stalled cycle discussion?

 

[Tahoe61]

Fishless cycle: stalled? done?

Brand new to the hobby here. This is my first attempt at a nitrogen cycle. I used the Dr. Tim's method and followed the instructions exactly. I'm getting a bit concerned because nitrite processing seem to be stalled. Here's my setup and parameters so far: 75 gal tank + 20 gal sump live sand...

www.reef2reef.com

Is my cycle stalled?

I raised my ammonia too high to 4 ppm before adding fritz turbostart 900. After 3 days, my ammonia has gone down to 0.25 ppm (I'm using an API test kit, so I know that I won't get a 0 ppm reading, but this is the lowest on the chart). My nitrite has spiked a lot (+5 ppm, the highest reading)...

www.reef2reef.com

Cycle stalled - processed first dose of ammonia, won't process second

So i am performing a fishless cycle in my first reef tank. Prior to getting the tank itself setup, i "pre-cycled" my rock just in a container in hopes of accelerating the process once everything was up and running. I ended up with a nitrite spike but ended up transferring everything over to the...

www.reef2reef.com

Just use the search function.

 

[exnisstech]

So no amount of nitrites will stall a cycle? Everyone says differently, info on here is so all over the place regarding that. I thought I was at that stage right now, ammonia .5ish nitrites and nitrates off the charts but it won't process that small amount of ammonia. Been that way for days. Someone told me to do a bug water change to bring nitrites down, but then ammonia would be nothing. So I'd have to dose again? Ultimately bringing nitrites back up. So what the heck do I do lol

I agree info does differ and makes it very difficult for new people to know who to listen to. I wish I had the answer to that problem. All I can say is it takes some extra effort to try and vette the people offerings advice. I like to look at build threads and their other posts to see if it's someone I feel I can trust. There are many very knowledgeable people here but also a lot of folks that just repeat something they read online that may or may not be true.
I'll leave the technical explanation of cycling to the technical folks. I'm a simpleton and do not test ammonia or nitrite when cycling.

I'm new to this site, how do I find your stalled cycle discussion?

I see @Tahoe61 has already answered.

 

[swerveious]

I agree info does differ and makes it very difficult for new people to know who to listen to. I wish I had the answer to that problem. All I can say is it takes some extra effort to try and vette the people offerings advice. I like to look at build threads and their other posts to see if it's someone I feel I can trust. There are many very knowledgeable people here but also a lot of folks that just repeat something they read online that may or may not be true.
I'll leave the technical explanation of cycling to the technical folks. I'm a simpleton and do not test ammonia or nitrite when cycling.

I see @Tahoe61 has already answered.

Whats your reasoning for not testing ammonia?

 

[exnisstech]

Whats your reasoning for not testing ammonia?

No actually reasoning behind it. I just don't feel the need. If I'm seeing nitrate I'm confident I'm processing ammonia. I don't feel the need to make sure it will process 0.2 ammonia over 24hrs then then repeat like many do. Testing ammonia when cycling is the recommended method and I will not argue against that because I'm definitely not smart enough to do that. But I run multiple tanks and my fish don't die when I add them to a new tank so I skip the ammonia and nitrate testing. It's just how choose to do it and not a recommendation.

 

[swerveious]

No actually reasoning behind it. I just don't feel the need. If I'm seeing nitrate I'm confident I'm processing ammonia. I don't feel the need to make sure it will process 0.2 ammonia over 24hrs then then repeat like many do. Testing ammonia when cycling is the recommended method and I will not argue against that because I'm definitely not smart enough to do that. But I run multiple tanks and my fish don't die when I add them to a new tank so I skip the ammonia and nitrate testing. It's just how choose to do it and not a recommendation.

Interesting take, How long do you let a tank run before your adding live stock?

 

[exnisstech]

Interesting take, How long do you let a tank run before your adding live stock?

I don't have an actual set time and I probably should mention I always add some live rock when I start a tank and that speeds things up. I just started an IM 20 nuvo on 2/14 . On 2/20 I tested 1.1ppm NO3. On 2/21 I added my first invert and so far so good. IMO there is no better way to start a tank than some live rock. I usually add inverts and some coral before adding fish but I have the luxury of being able to pull them from other tanks.