Cycleing Help please.

[AmIStupid]

Hi all, new here. I need some help from people that know what they are doing.
Im on day 7 of the cycle for my tank ( Fluval evo 62L ) Im doing a fishless cycle ( Fritz ammonia and turbo start 9 ) on day 2 the ammonia went up 6ppm + and Nitrite was 2.0ppm and Nirrate was 2.0ppm. On day 5 Nitrite spiked to 8.0ppm and Nitrate spiked all the way to 80ppm.
Im on day 7 now and the ammonia still has not gone down in the slightest.
I am using 2 different test kits from different companies and both are reading pretty much identical. Is this Normal for a cycle and I need just wait longer to see the ammonia start dropping? I know patience is key to this but i fear ive done somthing wrong. As people claim with this method they cycle in 7 to 10 days.
Thanks

 

[reefsaver]

Your tank is doing fantastic, and you sir, are an inspiring young reefer. You're not stupid, you're clearly very bright and are doing everything the right way. Everything your tank is doing is normal and the fluctuatins are aprat of the nitrogen cycle. High ammonia means the Nitrosomona bacteria are still colonizing and establishing which is your current objective as cycling. Your ammonia should go down and pretty much dissapear with patience and time. The nitrites if they get too high, I would do some partial water changes to bring them down but so far, absolutely fantastic and if anything I envy how well you are doing so far even being here and asking these important questions.

 

[AmIStupid]

Your tank is doing fantastic, and you sir, are an inspiring young reefer. You're not stupid, you're clearly very bright and are doing everything the right way. Everything your tank is doing is normal and the fluctuatins are aprat of the nitrogen cycle. High ammonia means the Nitrosomona bacteria are still colonizing and establishing which is your current objective as cycling. Your ammonia should go down and pretty much dissapear with patience and time. The nitrites if they get too high, I would do some partial water changes to bring them down but so far, absolutely fantastic and if anything I envy how well you are doing so far even being here and asking these important questions.

Thank you, I was a little worried that I had done something wrong or forgot something. Its reassuring that i have not.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Let it ride. Your doing great

 

[AmIStupid]

Update i now have a new problem. both my test kits now do not work. they both are showing no colour for ammonia. Is that due to the ammonia being too high so it cant take a reading? both these kits where working fine. I skipped a couple days of testing just letting the tank be but now this has happened. I will be taking a water sample to my LFS in the moring to get them to test it if they can.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi all, new here. I need some help from people that know what they are doing.
Im on day 7 of the cycle for my tank ( Fluval evo 62L ) Im doing a fishless cycle ( Fritz ammonia and turbo start 9 ) on day 2 the ammonia went up 6ppm + and Nitrite was 2.0ppm and Nirrate was 2.0ppm. On day 5 Nitrite spiked to 8.0ppm and Nitrate spiked all the way to 80ppm.
Im on day 7 now and the ammonia still has not gone down in the slightest.
I am using 2 different test kits from different companies and both are reading pretty much identical. Is this Normal for a cycle and I need just wait longer to see the ammonia start dropping? I know patience is key to this but i fear ive done somthing wrong. As people claim with this method they cycle in 7 to 10 days.
Thanks

I think you are done with the cycle.
Test Nitrite one more time, then throw the kit away. You won't be needing it anymore.
0 ammonia and some Nitrite means you are good to go.
If you have zero Nitrite, test nitrate. Don't test it otherwise.

 

[FUNGI]

I think you are done with the cycle.
Test Nitrite one more time, then throw the kit away. You won't be needing it anymore.
0 ammonia and some Nitrite means you are good to go.
If you have zero Nitrite, test nitrate. Don't test it otherwise.

or keep it in the closet......not gone be long before the upgrade to bigger tank bug kicks in.......

 

[AmIStupid]

Thanks guys, I went to my LFS Yesterday with a sample just to double check. Yup 0 Ammonia now just waiting to the Nitrite to go down then im all good.

 

[Dburr1014]

Thanks guys, I went to my LFS Yesterday with a sample just to double check. Yup 0 Ammonia now just waiting to the Nitrite to go down then im all good.

Nice.
Nitrite don't matter.
If you want, you can start adding fish now. Just go slow.

Happy reefing.

 

[NanoNana]

Yay! Congrats on your cycle being completed! Do you know what tank inhabitants you will add yet?

Nitrite is not important in a reef tank. Test NitrATES regularly. You want to keep them between 5 & 10 if you can. If they start to get way high just do a water change.

Things you’ll want to test when you start adding corals and other inhabitants would be ammonia, nitrates, salinity and PO4 (I do these daily to every other day) alkalinity and PH and calcium ( I test weekly some people do it more, some less often). Magnesium ( I check every couple of weeks to monthly some people don’t check it at all).

With a 60L tank weekly water changes will fix most any nutrient issues for you.

PS: research any fish suggestions made by your LFS BEFORE you buy them. LFS’s have a bad habit of recommending fish that are too large or to many fish for nanos.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Nice.
Nitrite don't matter.
If you want, you can start adding fish now. Just go slow.

Happy reefing.

Absolutely go slow. Every time you add a fish, the biome needs to catch up a bit. I'm pretty conservative myself and wouldn't add more than one fish ever 2 weeks. Also, have you turned on your lights yet? Algae is a problem with new tanks. If you don't have corals you don't need lights. I'd keep them off for a few months and let the bacteria coat about every surface they can. That should minimize the ugly phase. Meanwhile study up as much as you can. Concentrate on new tank info for now and branch out from there.

 

[AmIStupid]

Yay! Congrats on your cycle being completed! Do you know what tank inhabitants you will add yet?

Nitrite is not important in a reef tank. Test NitrATES regularly. You want to keep them between 5 & 10 if you can. If they start to get way high just do a water change.

Things you’ll want to test when you start adding corals and other inhabitants would be ammonia, nitrates, salinity and PO4 (I do these daily to every other day) alkalinity and PH and calcium ( I test weekly some people do it more, some less often). Magnesium ( I check every couple of weeks to monthly some people don’t check it at all).

With a 60L tank weekly water changes will fix most any nutrient issues for you.

PS: research any fish suggestions made by your LFS BEFORE you buy them. LFS’s have a bad habit of recommending fish that are too large or to many fish for nanos.

Ill be starting with a pair of clowns to start with. then ill add every other -3 weeks. I have had no lights on this whole time and wont for a while. make sure that ugly stage isnt too big.

 

[Dburr1014]

Ill be starting with a pair of clowns to start with. then ill add every other -3 weeks. I have had no lights on this whole time and wont for a while. make sure that ugly stage isnt too big.

Don't worry about ammonia.

 

[NanoNana]

Ill be starting with a pair of clowns to start with. then ill add every other -3 weeks. I have had no lights on this whole time and wont for a while. make sure that ugly stage isnt too big.

You have a fluval 15 right? A pair of clowns going in first is going to possibly lock your tank down from adding other fish. The pair of clowns is about all that 15g can hold depending on what your 3 rd fish will be. Definitely research this forum about how aggressive clown fish are and stocking ideas for the 15 gallon.
You might be okay with 3 fish if one of them is a small goby.

 

[AmIStupid]

Update: So 5 days ago i got a pair of small clowns. they where doing great. but this morning i woke up to them both unfortunately dead on the bottom of the tank. Now i have checked through all the parameters and every thing is fine, apart from the very slight ammonia spike that was due to feeding said fish.
Ammonia 0.01ppm / Nitrite / 2ppm and nitrate 20ppm.
Water temp is 25.5c
Any one have any ideas why they suddenly over night died?

 

[GARRIGA]

Info likely doesn't get better than this.

 

[NanoNana]

What test kits are you using? 0.01 ppm of ammonia did not kill the clown fish.
Can you post pics of the tank set up with white lights.
Were the fish doing anything odd prior to death like rapid breathing, not eating scratching their bodies on the rock or glass?
Did you happen to take pics of the fish when you put them in the tank? Those would be helpful if you did.
Are you making your own saltwater? Using RODI water or something else (tap, distilled etc)
What are your other water parameters?
Specifically what is your temp and salinity? How did you acclimate the fish to your tank water?

 

[Dburr1014]

Update: So 5 days ago i got a pair of small clowns. they where doing great. but this morning i woke up to them both unfortunately dead on the bottom of the tank. Now i have checked through all the parameters and every thing is fine, apart from the very slight ammonia spike that was due to feeding said fish.
Ammonia 0.01ppm / Nitrite / 2ppm and nitrate 20ppm.
Water temp is 25.5c
Any one have any ideas why they suddenly over night died?

Did you take any pictures of the clowns?
Do you know what to look for in a healthy clown or any fish before buying?
Is there any heavy breathing or scratching or anything abnormal the body of the fish?

Your tank is cycled so either this was a fish disease or something really abnormal in your parameters. And I mean really abnormal.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update: So 5 days ago i got a pair of small clowns. they where doing great. but this morning i woke up to them both unfortunately dead on the bottom of the tank. Now i have checked through all the parameters and every thing is fine, apart from the very slight ammonia spike that was due to feeding said fish.
Ammonia 0.01ppm / Nitrite / 2ppm and nitrate 20ppm.
Water temp is 25.5c
Any one have any ideas why they suddenly over night died?

What about salinity?

 

[AmIStupid]

Hi all sorry i was running about all day with work etc. No i didnt take any pictures befrore or after, but ive narrowed it down to a mistake by me. I did not test Salinity for a WHILE and after topping up the tank which resulted in my salinity being 1.035-7 which is what me and my LFS think was the issue. I like an idiot was topping the tank off with salt water not RO water. Topping up due to evaporation.
As for any heavy breathing etc they seem to be normal (?) no scratching on the rocks but they did swim up and down the glass a fair bit BUT they did how ever like to sit in one corner or at the surface.
when i aclimated them i let the bag float for around 35-40 mins then dripped in some of the tank water for another 15-20 mins.
As for eating the first 2 days where fine then they just become uninterested in food. So im guess that was down to the high salinity count stressing them.

One of the guys from my LFS came and checked all the parameters earlier and every thing was spot on so he actually gave me a Adult clown for free, So i have a clown currently in the tank and she seems MUCH better.
Shes actively swiming around the tank not just sitting in one spot.