4 months Fishless Cycle
- Thread starter Rpk98
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Has the ammonia level been stable at 0.8 ppm for 4 months?Hey guys was wondering what should I do next my ammonia was at 5ppm dropped to 0.8 and the nitrates is sky high should I wait it out are dose ammonia?
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It would be unusual for bacteria to quit working. So rather than try to figure out what is going on with your system, you might dose Fritz Turbo Start and get the cycling over with. Generally, Turbo Start takes several days.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Also, don’t assume the nitrate is high. It’s probably a false reading from nitrite interference.
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Rpk98
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Yeah because the tank was cycled when it was 0 ammonia but the power outage happened and 0.8 ppm came
Yeahhhh that makes sense
brandon429
what, exactly, are you doing in your avatar
In a power outage
You manage the macro animals you can see
Not the micros you can't
At no time are your bacteria going to die in a power outage. They can be blanketed in various castings during loss events
Dying macro material that is easily removed before rotting can leak ammonia into a stilled tank if it sits long enough, but that's not compromised bacteria. That's rot blanketing: can remove asap
But they aren't going to die if water remains in the tank
So I'll recommend opposite. Test nothing, because removing dead things before they rot doesn't require testing or bacterial remediation
Restore circulation as first order of cpr
Can you get a common bait bubbler that runs on batteries from wal mart
You don't add things to the water (might drop your precious 02 reserves) you remove what you can see dying.
If there's nothing dying, you spend money on a bubbler
When circulation is restored all bacteria proceed onward, and if surfaces are clean any free ammonia is cleared up in about 15 minutes-per every test ammonia load added to a seneye display reef thread.
The reason you get opposing information during cycle interpretations is simply one cause: tester variance (but not real ammonia variance) per event
As long as the public gives us non seneye info, we'll be making guesses on how to fix the approximated info relays.
Also
It takes a long power outage to even begin macro shedding. My bet is nothing is wrong at all, get a bubbler in the next 30 mins
Post a tank pic
That's what fixes cycle challenge threads, not relays of approximate nh4 readings
100% of all ammonia challenges are best fixed using no test rules, results on file show.
with no testing relays there's no guessing, only results for the tank matter in the end. There's less panic when ammonia testing is excluded
less reactive dosing. Less distraction. All this is the price of nobody speaking calibrated seneye.
when we all have reliable nh3 testers: lets test and react all year long.
Ammonia never does anything unpredictable that we need to verify in a reef tank, including brand new dry rock cycles. We have a five year running thread tracking testless dry start cycles (so how did we track them for proofing if not tested? Is it possible to keep fish, corals and coral shrimp every single day with feed in a non cycled tank? Their pics is how we proof)
The very second testless cycling science applies a bad rule for someone's planned build: you can bet I'll have to account for that and they'll post a loss event.
Present, ready to account.
Dose nothing here, just bubble and subtract where warranted. Once you get tank pics we can use your example in the reef tank cpr thread.
You manage the macro animals you can see
Not the micros you can't
At no time are your bacteria going to die in a power outage. They can be blanketed in various castings during loss events
Dying macro material that is easily removed before rotting can leak ammonia into a stilled tank if it sits long enough, but that's not compromised bacteria. That's rot blanketing: can remove asap
But they aren't going to die if water remains in the tank
So I'll recommend opposite. Test nothing, because removing dead things before they rot doesn't require testing or bacterial remediation
Restore circulation as first order of cpr
Can you get a common bait bubbler that runs on batteries from wal mart
You don't add things to the water (might drop your precious 02 reserves) you remove what you can see dying.
If there's nothing dying, you spend money on a bubbler
When circulation is restored all bacteria proceed onward, and if surfaces are clean any free ammonia is cleared up in about 15 minutes-per every test ammonia load added to a seneye display reef thread.
The reason you get opposing information during cycle interpretations is simply one cause: tester variance (but not real ammonia variance) per event
As long as the public gives us non seneye info, we'll be making guesses on how to fix the approximated info relays.
Also
It takes a long power outage to even begin macro shedding. My bet is nothing is wrong at all, get a bubbler in the next 30 mins
Post a tank pic
That's what fixes cycle challenge threads, not relays of approximate nh4 readings
100% of all ammonia challenges are best fixed using no test rules, results on file show.
with no testing relays there's no guessing, only results for the tank matter in the end. There's less panic when ammonia testing is excluded
less reactive dosing. Less distraction. All this is the price of nobody speaking calibrated seneye.
when we all have reliable nh3 testers: lets test and react all year long.
Ammonia never does anything unpredictable that we need to verify in a reef tank, including brand new dry rock cycles. We have a five year running thread tracking testless dry start cycles (so how did we track them for proofing if not tested? Is it possible to keep fish, corals and coral shrimp every single day with feed in a non cycled tank? Their pics is how we proof)
The very second testless cycling science applies a bad rule for someone's planned build: you can bet I'll have to account for that and they'll post a loss event.
Present, ready to account.
Dose nothing here, just bubble and subtract where warranted. Once you get tank pics we can use your example in the reef tank cpr thread.
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brandon429
what, exactly, are you doing in your avatar
One last detail
www.reef2reef.com
Here's nine pages of red sea ammonia straight out misreading, causing reactive dosing and panic. That's why I'd rather not factor your test kit here, we go off the tank pic and the macros we can see
Ammonia testing using red sea is as reliable as red sea aquariums themselves.
Sustained Ammonia spikes are misreads
The reason you think your reef tank can’t control its ammonia is due to false training from old cycling science. That and you don’t own a seneye on the tank in question: if you did, you wouldn’t ever think your ammonia was out of control...
www.reef2reef.com
Here's nine pages of red sea ammonia straight out misreading, causing reactive dosing and panic. That's why I'd rather not factor your test kit here, we go off the tank pic and the macros we can see
Ammonia testing using red sea is as reliable as red sea aquariums themselves.
brandon429
what, exactly, are you doing in your avatar
Not needing test kit pics, those aren't how we fix cycle tanks.
Needing a tank picture from now if possible
Surely you went and bought a bubbler 48 hrs ago correct?
Even if not and it sits still a month: your cycle is not stalled there will just be a lot of shedding to remove.
*for sure i can believe a 48 hour stilled tank can have a free ammonia problem.
Fixing it will be mighty simple once motion, heat and removal of debris is complete.
Don't add anything to the tank. It needs motion. Let's see display pic
Needing a tank picture from now if possible
Surely you went and bought a bubbler 48 hrs ago correct?
Even if not and it sits still a month: your cycle is not stalled there will just be a lot of shedding to remove.
*for sure i can believe a 48 hour stilled tank can have a free ammonia problem.
Fixing it will be mighty simple once motion, heat and removal of debris is complete.
Don't add anything to the tank. It needs motion. Let's see display pic
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OP
Rpk98
Community Member
dang that really makes sense I just got done reading and it's a eye opener I'll keep in mind to get a seneye. Here's the tank 75 gallon.One last detail
Sustained Ammonia spikes are misreads
The reason you think your reef tank can’t control its ammonia is due to false training from old cycling science. That and you don’t own a seneye on the tank in question: if you did, you wouldn’t ever think your ammonia was out of control...
Here's nine pages of red sea ammonia straight out misreading, causing reactive dosing and panic. That's why I'd rather not factor your test kit here, we go off the tank pic and the macros we can see
Ammonia testing using red sea is as reliable as red sea aquariums themselves.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Instead of an expensive Seneye, a Seachem ammonia alert may be plenty. I’m using one on my new tank.
brandon429
what, exactly, are you doing in your avatar
I love that Pic. There's nothing to die.
Excellent. Just ride out the power outage. When it comes back on, everything resumes with no additives due. This is simply not harmful to a cycle. Agreed seneyes cost too much.
Excellent. Just ride out the power outage. When it comes back on, everything resumes with no additives due. This is simply not harmful to a cycle. Agreed seneyes cost too much.
so when is the time to add fish to the tank once everything is back on ?
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Exactly, especially considering that the expensive Seneye is in error if it reads above zero, and must be recalibrated to show always show zero. Wondering if that anmonia badge needs to be calibrated?
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I would suggest a Seneye is a waste of money. Your basic test kit is fine, as is a cheap badge like Randy mentioned above.
Contrary to what you have been told, a photo is useless in this situation.
Contrary to what you have been told, there is plenty of stuff to “die” during a two day power outage and in a newly established tank, things can take some time to regain balance.
Blaming ammonia test error ignores the fact that the same test kit read zero after you finished cycling the first time.
All of that said, chances are you system is ready for fish. If you are in doubt, you can add a bit of ammonia, confirm its rise and then wait a day or so to see it fall.
To be sure, you had 8 ppm at beginning of cycle and it is now reading 0.8 ppm or after the power outage you had 8 ppm and it is down to 0.8 on the test?
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Rpk98
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i started this tank in August it was at 2ppm then October came it was 0 ammonia it was cycled then what happened was hurricane Milton came and caused a power outage my power was out for about 2 days then it suddenly came back on i tested the ammonia and it was at 0.8 because I thought I had to start the fishless cycle over again and I accidentally dosed too much ammonia
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