22gal tank cycle

[Emma_fish]

Ok so I have a 22 gal marine tank and my stocking ideas are :
2 occellaris clownfish
1emerald crab
2-5 hermit crabs
I have added 2 doses of seachem stability and half a bottle of colony nitrifying bacteria and I want to add fish today it has been up and running for around 3-4 weeks my test results are
Ammonia :0-0.25 ppm
Nitrite:0.25ppm
Nitrate:5.0ppm
Ph: 8.2
Is there any way I can add fish today by adding like more bacteria from the bottle or anything and what fish do you recommend I add ?

 

[brandon429]

Your cycle is done, change out some water and begin. If you have rocks and or sand, you are done.

heres your test kits explained from updated cycling science. 1998 cycling will disagree, but they’ve been updated and just don’t know it yet.

nitrite- no longer factors in cycling


ammonia- that’s what api usually reads, for everyone.


nitrate- that plus your submersion time equals cycled. Even that reading is an approximation, another kit might show 40

begin reefing

 

[Emma_fish]

Your cycle is done, change out some water and begin. If you have rocks and or sand, you are done.

heres your test kits explained from updated cycling science. 1998 cycling will disagree, but they’ve been updated and just don’t know it yet.

nitrite- no longer factors in cycling


ammonia- that’s what api usually reads, for everyone.


nitrate- that plus your submersion time equals cycled. Even that reading is an approximation, another kit might show 40

begin reefing

Omg yes i can’t wait ok I will do a water change and what fish do you recommend I add today then ? And how much water should I change out ?
This is a pic of my tank by the way and it is at 24 degrees Celsius

 

[brandon429]

If you changed no water it would still be ok, we change as much as willing to export algae fuel. The fish u listed above will work, won’t crash or anything but you must know that if u want anything beyond those clowns you’ll need a fish disease prep system that will block any fish additions right now anyway. But the tank can handle a normal fish load. Clowns are fairly tough in that some still die without disease preps, but most are ok. It’s when you bring in gobies, others they all/ many die in a few mos in most new tanks


whatever your plan is for the reef though, it’s ready now if your temps, water prep, fish acclimation is all ready

 

[brandon429]

Did you ever feed the cycle with either ammonia or fish food


based on nitrate presence Id think so, but even if not it’s still done as bacteria feed without us and nitrate is a handy confirming param

Rain puddles self-cycle, you’ve met the timeframe from cycling charts as well.

 

[Cell]

Nitrate not bad. I'd do a 20% change just to freshen things up and you can stock everything you listed immediately. I'd recommend 2 or 3 hermits, not 4 or 5 though.

 

[Emma_fish]

If you changed no water it would still be ok, we change as much as willing to export algae fuel. The fish u listed above will work, won’t crash or anything but you must know that if u want anything beyond those clowns you’ll need a fish disease prep system that will block any fish additions right now anyway. But the tank can handle a normal fish load. Clowns are fairly tough in that some still die without disease preps, but most are ok. It’s when you bring in gobies, others they all/ many die in a few mos in most new tanks


whatever your plan is for the reef though, it’s ready now if your temps, water prep, fish acclimation is all ready

So I should add the two clown together now ?

 

[Emma_fish]

Nitrate not bad. I'd do a 20% change just to freshen things up and you can stock everything you listed immediately. I'd recommend 2 or 3 hermits, not 4 or 5 though.

All at once ?sent you supposed to add things gradually

 

[Emma_fish]

Did you ever feed the cycle with either ammonia or fish food


based on nitrate presence Id think so, but even if not it’s still done as bacteria feed without us and nitrate is a handy confirming param

Rain puddles self-cycle, you’ve met the timeframe from cycling charts as well.

No I didn’t as when I went to the ammonia was already there

 

[Cell]

"Gradually" is subjective. 2 clownfish and some cuc in a 22 gallon is a very light bioload. I would definitely recommend some snails now too.

 

[brandon429]

This tank will be a good test of updated cycling science with no direct feeding and only natural acquisitions in place, but having met cycle chart guidelines. Those were made before bottle bac dosing started


For sure a large section of poll takers would state the cycle can’t be done, and the initial ammonia was a ghost reading anyway meaning no food this whole time


but I wouldn’t say that. Cycling is neat because it’s totally consequential. There is no middle or half ground

there is cycled, can keep a bioload alive and acting normal

or there is not cycled, bioload dies within 48 hours and tank water goes cloudy smell before then as a warning.


we could use your post in two ways as we refine cycling science

1. do all added animals live or die by the weekend, final decider (acclimate them carefully, cause doubt ripples in cycling lasting years if they die due to non ammonia reasons lol)

2. actually make a poll. After results are in here, we could make a poll in the chemistry thread or main forum and ask for predictions, then bam link this post.


if you add life here and the water starts to go foul, fish dart around then hover at the top then die, all hermits die in en masse then some revisions are needed to new cycling science, we like cycling charts. And what good is any science if it can’t make decent predictions. Outliers are nice tests for reliability of cycling, an unfed cycle is not common. You don’t have to do a water change, I thought you blasted ammonia here.

in fact, to hedge my bet lol, don’t do a water change as it keeps in any bac that might still be in suspension though that’s unlikely given this long

 

[Cell]

In other words, you are now one of Brandon's test subjects whether you like it or not!

 

[Emma_fish]

"Gradually" is subjective. 2 clownfish and some cuc in a 22 gallon is a very light bioload. I would definitely recommend some snails now too.

Ok so now I will go to my LFS and pick up 2 clowns would the snails be ok because there isn’t any algae in the tank and can I get coral ?

 

[Cell]

Some snails are fine. Just because you don't see the algae, doesn't mean it isn't there starting to grow. Do you have a sandbed? If so, I'd recommend some nassarius snails along with some trochus or astraea.

 

[Cell]

Sounds like you aren't planning on QT'ing, you may want to reconsider as you move forward. Nothing is more deflating in this hobby than purchasing a new critter, adding it to your tank, and watching it die, taking your other fish with it.

 

[Emma_fish]

Sounds like you aren't planning on QT'ing, you may want to reconsider as you move forward. Nothing is more deflating in this hobby than purchasing a new critter, adding it to your tank, and watching it die, taking your other fish with it.

I do have a quarantine tank but it is only 17 litres and I think that is wayyy to small for the fish so I haven’t filled it up or cycled it

 

[Emma_fish]

Some snails are fine. Just because you don't see the algae, doesn't mean it isn't there starting to grow. Do you have a sandbed? If so, I'd recommend some nassarius snails along with some trochus or astraea.

Ok can snails escape out of my tank because I’ve heard of peoples snails getting out and that has put me off getting them and yes I have a sand bed I put a picture higher up in the forum

 

[Cell]

I'd use that 5G for observational QT on those clowns for 3-4 weeks, personally.

 

[Emma_fish]

I'd use that 5G for observational QT on those clowns for 3-4 weeks, personally.

Ok but there isn’t anything alive in the tank yet so if the fish have any disease then it won’t kill any fish but I will quarantine any further fish that I add after them I think

 

[Cell]

Ok can snails escape out of my tank because I’ve heard of peoples snails getting out and that has put me off getting them and yes I have a sand bed

I think some species of snails are more likely to crawl out of tanks, like nerite's, but I've never had a trochus or astraea crawl out and nassarius will hang out in your sandbed for the most part.