7 days into cycle. finally got some numbers

[swanny06]

Sorry about all the posts guys. Y'all have been a lot of help with this!

Anyway, I'm 7 days into my cycle. I have 30LBS of BRS reef saver, and 30LBS of live sand in a 40Gal breeder. I'm also using Reef Mature Pro to help speed up the process some. I tested my water earlier today and this is what I got.

Ammonia: .25PPM
Nitrite: .10PPM
Nitrate: 40PPM

How are these looking so far?

[RobZilla04]

Cycling yes, don't rush.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by RobZilla04

Cycling yes, don't rush.

Okay great thanks. Is there a general rule of thumb of how long it'll take my numbers to drop back down to 0? Or when the algae bloom usually comes into play?

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[ryan_ferguson25]

It goes as it goes...

I was at 0 ammonia and nitrite and nitrate off the chart for what seemed like forever...then suddenly... bingo it zero'd out... keep testing every 2-3 days and chart it.

[RobZilla04]

Originally Posted by ryan_ferguson25

It goes as it goes...

I was at 0 ammonia and nitrite and nitrate off the chart for what seemed like forever...then suddenly... bingo it zero'd out... keep testing every 2-3 days and chart it.

Well said, this ^

[nereefpat]

Don't be confused. Nitrates won't go back to zero. It's over when ammonia and nitrites drop to zero.

[swanny06]

Okay so I tested the water again today. My ammonia is down to 0 but my nitrites have spiked up to 2.0. So hopefully they start to slack back soon as well


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[thegrun]

A spike of only 0.25 in ammonia is very low, I would recommend adding either pure ammonia without surfactants or a dead raw shrimp to get a bigger ammonia spike. Ideally I would shoot for 2ppm. With such a small ammonia spike you will not have a large bacteria population and your tank could go through another cycle when you add fish, which would kill the fish.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by thegrun

A spike of only 0.25 in ammonia is very low, I would recommend adding either pure ammonia without surfactants or a dead raw shrimp to get a bigger ammonia spike. Ideally I would shoot for 2ppm. With such a small ammonia spike you will not have a large bacteria population and your tank could go through another cycle when you add fish, which would kill the fish.

Okay thanks for the heads up. I just dosed the tank with some ammonia so hopefully that'll get me where I need to be. I'll check it out tomorrow. When it does get to 2.0 should I quit the reef mature kit and just let the tank do its thing after that?

[scooter31707]

Originally Posted by swanny06

Sorry about all the posts guys. Y'all have been a lot of help with this!

Anyway, I'm 7 days into my cycle. I have 30LBS of BRS reef saver, and 30LBS of live sand in a 40Gal breeder. I'm also using Reef Mature Pro to help speed up the process some. I tested my water earlier today and this is what I got.

Ammonia: .25PPM
Nitrite: .10PPM
Nitrate: 40PPM

How are these looking so far?

Are you using a API test kit? If so, they are known to give a false reading of 0.25ppm for ammonia. So you actually may be zeroed out on the ammonia end.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by scooter31707

Are you using a API test kit? If so, they are known to give a false reading of 0.25ppm for ammonia. So you actually may be zeroed out on the ammonia end.

It is the API kit. Is just a false reading between 0-.25?


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[scooter31707]

I think you are almost there. Once the nirites are at zero, I think you will be ok. I would test with pure ammonia, getting it up to 2ppm and if it converts to nirates in 24 hours, then you are cycled.

[swanny06]

Okay so I tested my water today after dropping a shrimp in there. Look like the nitrite could be between 1-2? And the ammonia could be around .50? Any thoughts? With my nitrites that high is it possible I missed my ammonia spike?

[swanny06]

Any thoughts?


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[nereefpat]

Yes it's possible that the grab sample you took was after some of the ammonia was processed.

I would not add any more nitrogen in any form until nitrites are at zero. Then you can test the system by adding some ammonia as suggested.

It's been less than two weeks, so it's no surprise that the cycle isn't done yet. No reason to rush. I would wait the full month regardless of the test results anyway.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by nereefpat

Yes it's possible that the grab sample you took was after some of the ammonia was processed.

I would not add any more nitrogen in any form until nitrites are at zero. Then you can test the system by adding some ammonia as suggested.

It's been less than two weeks, so it's no surprise that the cycle isn't done yet. No reason to rush. I would wait the full month regardless of the test results anyway.

Okay great I'll keep that in mind. I'll pull the shrimp out and let the nitrites work their way down to 0 then pick up some pure ammonia and dose the tank. Thank you!


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[swanny06]

Okay so the shrimp is rotting away in the tank so I tested my water this morning to see where it's at. To my surprise the ammonia is at dead 0 and the nitrites are dropping. They're down to 1.0. Any ideas as to why that is? I was expecting my ammonia to be pretty high from the shrimp


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[nereefpat]

That is the goal of the cycle, bacteria processing waste. I thought you were taking the shrimp out? It's probably time

[swanny06]

I just pulled it out. I was on a 24/hr shift so that screwed me up a little. Is it safe to say my cycle is almost complete? It appears there's is a small amount of growth starting on my rocks as well.


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[WWIII]

If you've already done the shrimp thing I wouldn't use pure ammonia to "test" the cycle. It will just end up as nitrates in the end that are a pain to get back down. I would maybe use a little Flake food (very sparingly) and wait another couple weeks. Then introduce inhabitants slowly. The cycle is always occurring and adjusting to the amount of waste being produced. Just take it slow and don't overstock the tank.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by WWIII

If you've already done the shrimp thing I wouldn't use pure ammonia to "test" the cycle. It will just end up as nitrates in the end that are a pain to get back down. I would maybe use a little Flake food (very sparingly) and wait another couple weeks. Then introduce inhabitants slowly. The cycle is always occurring and adjusting to the amount of waste being produced. Just take it slow and don't overstock the tank.

That sounds great, I'll work it that way. Would you recommend I introduce the clean up crew first? There's barely any growth at all in the tank as of now.


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[domb54]

At this point I always feed like I would if my tank were fully stocked for about 2 weeks and get my water change ready to change out all the water. Some say you will jave die off which is probably true but I always leave it alone for another week after and test for all parameters. Trites ammonia and trates always have been zero then slowly add clean up crew.

[swanny06]

Originally Posted by domb54

At this point I always feed like I would if my tank were fully stocked for about 2 weeks and get my water change ready to change out all the water. Some say you will jave die off which is probably true but I always leave it alone for another week after and test for all parameters. Trites ammonia and trates always have been zero then slowly add clean up crew.

Awesome, I'll go about adding things in this way. I have a bunch of RO water made up so i'll just have to mix in some salt with some of it. I'm noticing more and more orange dots showing up on my rock so I'm getting excited theres finally some signs of life in my tank.

[swanny06]

Okay so a small little update. Tested my water this morning to find ammonia and nitrites at 0, and my nitrates at 40. I also noticed more algae growing on my rocks(a bunch of orange dots, not too sure what it is) . I'm pretty excited with this progress.