100% Water Change

[brandon429]

Just perfect! Ok we watch for number three pic in 24-48 hours, really great. This is a clear documentation can’t wait
Even if it takes till Sunday to get motion down that means cycled.

but If no change in color by Sunday nite, a stuck cycle, my worst fear lol

this is like when you bet your last fifty bucks at a horse race odds against ya. It’s all on the line for ‘oxidation station‘ lined up at the gate

 

[brandon429]

if you posted a reading of a fresh test taken tonite at 9 pm nobody would cry foul




this thread is really going to get put to good use for cycling help. if it stalls at least we'll know to wait a little longer.

 

[jackalexander]

Just perfect! Ok we watch for number three pic in 24-48 hours, really great. This is a clear documentation can’t wait
Even if it takes till Sunday to get motion down that means cycled.

but If no change in color by Sunday nite, a stuck cycle, my worst fear lol

this is like when you bet your last fifty bucks at a horse race odds against ya. It’s all on the line for ‘oxidation station‘ lined up at the gate

Hopefully that’s not the case!

 

[jackalexander]

if you posted a reading of a fresh test taken tonite at 9 pm nobody would cry foul




this thread is really going to get put to good use for cycling help. if it stalls at least we'll know to wait a little longer.

Very true.

 

[jackalexander]

Just perfect! Ok we watch for number three pic in 24-48 hours, really great. This is a clear documentation can’t wait
Even if it takes till Sunday to get motion down that means cycled.

but If no change in color by Sunday nite, a stuck cycle, my worst fear lol

this is like when you bet your last fifty bucks at a horse race odds against ya. It’s all on the line for ‘oxidation station‘ lined up at the gate

I thought I might as well just test after I woke up just to see if anything had changed and as you can see, in just over 12 hours it looks exactly like the original picture.

 

[brandon429]

Jackalexander that is truly helpful documentation you can’t believe how many people who use api want to see the adjusted calibrated run as clearly as you’ve shown


this is a cycle confirmation even the staunchest skeptic has to accept, well done. I’ll get to linking this in my threads

youve literally tested bacteria stuck to surfaces only, not from the water, and shown that ammonia overdoses aren’t lethal and that bacteria are tough and that your fish was never in harm and that forum advice (that your fish was in harm) isn't always correct

 

[brandon429]

@jackalexander

Beginning to make use of this thread as we speak.

I wanted to frame the nature of your tests with a few questions below if you would let me know what you think

1. Did API as a one-run test make you think your cycle had stalled? In your first thread I saw the mention of api showing 8 ppm / a very dark reading, can you post pics of that pls if you have them, the very first fish-in reading from API before water change



2. A fish was in the tank at the same time, and it wasnt dead or darting around the tank sideways or hovering at the top, it was acting normal in your first post is that correct? While API read 8 ppm/dark green on the single test reading?

even if you add fish back, and API goes up, it means nothing just like it never meant anything the first time. there is something about the natural conversion rate of free nh3 in the water that really trips up API into overreporting

if your fish was burned by free ammonia, it would be acting that way and deceased. it lived because it never was burned

if that reef tank was mine Id never test it for ammonia or nitrite ever again, that will prevent all hesitation.

nitrate can be handy for invasion tuning and coral color tuning, this cycle is complete.

 

[jackalexander]

@jackalexander

Beginning to make use of this thread as we speak.

I wanted to frame the nature of your tests with a few questions below if you would let me know what you think

1. Did API as a one-run test make you think your cycle had stalled? In your first thread I saw the mention of api showing 8 ppm / a very dark reading, can you post pics of that pls if you have them, the very first fish-in reading from API before water change



2. A fish was in the tank at the same time, and it wasnt dead or darting around the tank sideways or hovering at the top, it was acting normal in your first post is that correct? While API read 8 ppm/dark green on the single test reading?

even if you add fish back, and API goes up, it means nothing just like it never meant anything the first time. there is something about the natural conversion rate of free nh3 in the water that really trips up API into overreporting

if your fish was burned by free ammonia, it would be acting that way and deceased. it lived because it never was burned

if that reef tank was mine Id never test it for ammonia or nitrite ever again, that will prevent all hesitation.

nitrate can be handy for invasion tuning and coral color tuning, this cycle is complete.

The first API test reading of 8ppm ammonia made me believe that my tank had stalled but it definitely did not. My beneficial bacteria was able to remove 0.5-1ppm of ammonia overnight. Even in 8ppm of ammonia for just a day, my damsel was acting fairly normal. He swam to the top when it was feeding time & swam right back to his territory which is under my large rock structure, he continued to show me that he was okay. Thank you for your help through this process! I can finally add my little damsel back in!

 

[brandon429]

update us w those final pics n cell phone video, I will really be able to do a lot with this thread. nice job

 

[brandon429]

post #21 shows my caveat of fear

I only trusted the cycle 99.9999999% but left a tiny out heh

 

[sam2110]

I was given the advice not to bother testing nitrates until ammonia and nitrites are reading zero. Apparently the presence of nitrites throw off nitrate readings. Again, parroting what someone else told me.

Api test kit is 100% unreliable at 0 - 0.25 and 0.5 ammonia. Get a better ammonia test kit. I started out with a api test kit and I thought mine was 0.5 for like 4 weeks and it was driving me mad. My friend tested my water on a hanna and i was at 0 ammonia even though the app said 0.5.

I read a bit into the api and its smothing to do with the cloudy test that can distort artificial light and make it look green.

 

[jackalexander]

Api test kit is 100% unreliable at 0 - 0.25 and 0.5 ammonia. Get a better ammonia test kit. I started out with a api test kit and I thought mine was 0.5 for like 4 weeks and it was driving me mad. My friend tested my water on a hanna and i was at 0 ammonia even though the app said 0.5.

I read a bit into the api and its smothing to do with the cloudy test that can distort artificial light and make it look green.

It definitely overestimates values

 

[jackalexander]

update us w those final pics n cell phone video, I will really be able to do a lot with this thread. nice job

He’s doing great!

 

[brandon429]

Feed lightly so there’s no leftovers and youll have less algae, also best to do another partial water change just a bit in about five days and youll see the system moving along nicely with clean water / happy fish


just while the tank is under a month you don’t want to be late on water changes like when it’s eight weeks old, we want to do them before problems we start with more than usual water changes and slowly back off, not the opposite way of let sit. That’s for eight + week old tanks, another reason you are doing early partial water changes is to be siphoning out diatom growths etc and keeping clear water


clear water is the number one water change marker if water clouds don’t dose something, water change till clear

 

[jackalexander]

Feed lightly so there’s no leftovers and youll have less algae, also best to do another partial water change just a bit in about five days and youll see the system moving along nicely with clean water / happy fish


just while the tank is under a month you don’t want to be late on water changes like when it’s eight weeks old, we want to do them before problems we start with more than usual water changes and slowly back off, not the opposite way of let sit. That’s for eight + week old tanks, another reason you are doing early partial water changes is to be siphoning out diatom growths etc and keeping clear water


clear water is the number one water change marker if water clouds don’t dose something, water change till clear

Good to know, so from my understanding my fish should be fine in the tank now? & how often should I be doing my changes? every week?

 

[jackalexander]

Feed lightly so there’s no leftovers and youll have less algae, also best to do another partial water change just a bit in about five days and youll see the system moving along nicely with clean water / happy fish


just while the tank is under a month you don’t want to be late on water changes like when it’s eight weeks old, we want to do them before problems we start with more than usual water changes and slowly back off, not the opposite way of let sit. That’s for eight + week old tanks, another reason you are doing early partial water changes is to be siphoning out diatom growths etc and keeping clear water


clear water is the number one water change marker if water clouds don’t dose something, water change till clear

Also one more question, I have a bag of activated carbon and my filter pad for my tank. Do you suggest any other type of filtration? I plan on making a refugium once I have some extra money.

 

[brandon429]

That carbon will be great to run, the rest is handled by rocks and sand surface area they’re the big filters in the tank

 

[jackalexander]

That carbon will be great to run, the rest is handled by rocks and sand surface area they’re the big filters in the tank

awesome, thank you so much for taking the time to help me!

 

[brandon429]

Thank you as well for the nice pics and flow progressions nice work

 

[jackalexander]

Thank you as well for the nice pics and flow progressions nice work

I thought I might as well show you this as well, just 24 hours later & all of the ammonia has been successfully removed.