Advice on tank cycling

[epinephrine]

Hello folks,

New reefer here. So my 15 gal Nuvo Fusion nano is currently undergoing a fishless cycle with Fritz TurboStart 900 and Dr. Tims ammonia, but I am running into a little bit of a curveball. Initial dose was 2ppm and that took about 15 days for ammonia and nitrite to go down to zero. At wich point, I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia and continued testing. The second time, it took around 6 days for everything to drop to zero, third time was 4 days, but my fourth time went back up to 6 days. I was under the impression that it should be faster after each subsequent dose and that with TurboStart that the cycle should be overall quicker? It has now been 35 days since cycling began, and I am wondering if I should continue dosing ammonia until the tank processes ammonia and nitrate to zero in 24 hours or if I can do a water change and add my first fish. Thank you all kindly for the feedback, greatly appreciate it!

 

[exnisstech]

If you have nitrate slowly move forward is what I would do. Nitrite can skew nitrate test results but I've yet to have an issue testing only nitrate when cycling. Nothing wrong with dosing ammonia and waiting for it to return to zero and is normally what is recommended and probably not a bad idea for people who are new but I don't find it necessary and I don't own an ammonia or nitrite test kit.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Why keep dosing ammonia? It has proven 4 times that it will drop to zero, for me thats good enough

 

[Fish Fan]

Hello folks,

New reefer here. So my 15 gal Nuvo Fusion nano is currently undergoing a fishless cycle with Fritz TurboStart 900 and Dr. Tims ammonia, but I am running into a little bit of a curveball. Initial dose was 2ppm and that took about 15 days for ammonia and nitrite to go down to zero. At wich point, I dosed another 2ppm of ammonia and continued testing. The second time, it took around 6 days for everything to drop to zero, third time was 4 days, but my fourth time went back up to 6 days. I was under the impression that it should be faster after each subsequent dose and that with TurboStart that the cycle should be overall quicker? It has now been 35 days since cycling began, and I am wondering if I should continue dosing ammonia until the tank processes ammonia and nitrate to zero in 24 hours or if I can do a water change and add my first fish. Thank you all kindly for the feedback, greatly appreciate it!

Stop dosing ammonia, and stop measuring nitrite. NItrite is non toxic in saltwater. It sounds to me like you're cycled

 

[epinephrine]

Stop dosing ammonia, and stop measuring nitrite. NItrite is non toxic in saltwater. It sounds to me like you're cycled

Thank you for the feedback!!I just kept seeing stuff online about the tank needing to process a dose of ammonia in 24hr and that wasn’t happening. Was curious how long I would have to wait for that or of I could start adding fish :)

 

[Fish Fan]

Thank you for the feedback!!I just kept seeing stuff online about the tank needing to process a dose of ammonia in 24hr and that wasn’t happening. Was curious how long I would have to wait for that or of I could start adding fish :)

I think you're fine after over a month cycling, but you can test your system by adding enough ammonia to raise the concentration to about 2.00 ppm and then checking again in 24 hours. If after 24 hours the ammonia is under about 0.25 ppm to 0.50 ppm, you're cycled. It may not hit zero exactly, but anything under about 0.50 ppm and you should be fine to start slowly stocking.