Will Amquel or prime through off nitrogen cycle?

[Rhinoky]

Hello all;

I have my soon to be 75g reef tank up and cycling with 50lbs of reef saver dry rock and 40 lbs of aragonite sand. I'm using a trickle filter because I already had it and i wanted to get started up as cheap as possible, I will probably change to a sump as funds permit. I have the bio balls fully submerged under the egg create with a two filter pads, one pad for the incoming water that drips through the tray and one pad lying on top of the egg create holding down the bio balls so that i don't get air bubbles hitting the bio balls. I added API quick start and cycled the tank for 2 days with the rock and quick start only. I added two blue damsels 2 days and been feeding regularly 3x a day very lightly. the tank has been running for 8 days now and the ammonia never has gotten over .025. I"m starting to get the brown film on my sand now and the last two days my nitrite has finally became detectable at .025 and still no nitrates yet. so that's the run down on what I have going. my questions is: if I use Amquel or prime to lock up the ammonia will that throw my nitrogen cycle off completely? from what I've read, these products don't remove the ammonia or nitrite they just detoxify it and it actually stays in the tank, is that true? So, I'm curious if these products will effect my cycle. I would like to get the ammonia gone to remove any undue stress on the damsels. Or, do you guys think it would be wise to add even more bacteria to the tank or just let it run the coarse? I really don't see a .025 ammonia level calling for water changes, I've did two 10% changes anyways and it hasn't affected the level. thoughts?

[Sk8r]

The damsels should by NO means be in that tank. Just feed the tank fish food as if one damsel was in there. That's the modern procedure. Feed once daily. The damsels should be in a safe non-cycling quarantine, and you really should not put any fish into that tank for 72 days, because if they brought in the ich parasite it takes that long to let it die out. If you get your damsels safely through quarantine without a breakout, you can presume pretty well that they were safe. But there are some problems in this startup. Read the sticky with the red arrow: that will answer a lot for you.

Now to your question: the makers of Prime say that their product locks up nitrate and ammonia but does not preclude bacteria using it. I can say there is an effect on nitrate tests. I've been unable to get a good reading from testing after using it during a power-outage emergency. I'm in the process of replacing the water in my tank (bit at a time) so that I can get rid of that effect and hopefully get a true reading.

[Rhinoky]

Hi Sk8r:

First off, I didn't ask the question to be criticized on how I cycle a tank, just to ask a question about two products :sad2:. According to API quick start, fish can be added instantly, but I gave them at least 4-6 days of the product in the water before putting them in it and I watch the ammonia like a hawk and its never spiked at all. The ammonia has already started converting to nitrite so i doubt there will be a much of a spike at this point if any. 2nd, I think it's a little far fetch to quarantine damsels while a tank cycles for 72 days before adding them to a tank? who even wants damsels in their DT anyways other than possibly chromis? I don't really care what the "modern" procedure is, I've always used damsels and never lost one and kept an ammonia detoxifier on hand just in case. IMHO feeding the tank fish food with nothing to consume it is only adding phosphates to the water especially if you use flakes, so why not be feeding an actual animal in the tank as long as it's not being tortured by high ammonia, I don't really consider .025 torture. 3rd, as far as my setup, if you are referring to the bio balls as the problem with my setup, I've always used them on my previous reef tanks and never ever had a problem with them causing nitrates with them being fully submerged, I simply added them again to make up for the lack of live rock I will be using this time around. As far as ick goes, as soon as the tank is cycled the damsels will be pulled out and I'll be adding corals and inverts slowly over the course of 3-6 months so no ick (if any) will survive, the tank will be host-less during that time. I will have a quarantine when the time come but it is not necessary at this point.

But thank you for answering the question :)

[thegrun]

Well if you are not open to constructive criticism why ask the question? It seems like you are set on subjecting fish to completely unnecessary ammonia poisoning, so cycle your tank any way you see fit but please don't waste our time asking for advice that you are not open to.