Am I done cycling?

[Harry g]

Hello everyone,

I’ve been cycling my tank for about 5 weeks I had .5 ppm of ammonia on the 4th week with 0 nitrite and 20 ppm of nitrate I dosed 2.0 ppm of ammonia and turbo start 900 to start the cycle. On the start of the 5th week I dosed 1.0 ppm of ammonia, salifert test kit which I bought recently is showing 0 ammonia after 3 days/ (I didn’t have the salifert kit until today api was reading crazy numbers.) api is showing .5 ammonia I’m assuming that the salifert one is more accurate, api is showing 1.0 ppm of nitrite but I have 40 ppm of nitrate according to api which I read could skew with nitrite test am I good to add in livestock slowly?

 

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

If you have ammonia, you should wait longer. Ammonia should be zero, same with nitrites.

 

[Harry g]

If you have ammonia, you should wait longer. Ammonia should be zero, same with nitrites.

I am reading 0 ammonia with salifert test kit but I am reading .5 nitrite to 1.0 with api test kit, I read that high nitrates could mess up my nitrite test so that’s why I asked if was done.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'd say after 5 weeks, you're cycled

The API kit is known to show a very low level of ammonia, like 0.25 ppm to sometimes 0.50 ppm, when other indicators (such as how long the system has been running) would indicate that the ammonia concentration is much lower. Trust the Salifert kit here.

Ammonia isn't as toxic as many would think, so ~0.25 ppm ammonia is nothing to worry about. Here's one of Randy Holmes Farley's articles on ammonia toxicity and benefits:

Ammonia is Our Friend!

Ammonia is Our Friend By Randy Holmes-Farley Yes, I know the title is provocative, and likely goes against much of what you read and hear in the reef aquarium hobby. I believe, however, that the hobby may have been harmed by the continual...

www.reef2reef.com

Nitrate doesn't skew nitrite testing - nitrite skews nitrate testing

The TurboStart product is very fast acting, faster than pretty much all the other bacteria-in-a-bottle products, and likely why your nitrite is zero (assuming that's accurate) and your ammonia is (in my opinion) effectively zero.

Nitrite isn't a concern (other than possibly skewing your nitrate testing), it's non toxic unlike how it is in freshwater, and many here at R2R don't even bother testing for it when cycling a new tank. Another article from RHF on nitrite toxicity:

Nitrite Toxicity

Hey guys I have an aquarium system that has about 45gallons of water cycling so I Let it cycle for about week and I added seeded marine pure ceramic balls and the bacteria in a bottle. I had no choice but to add my 2 clownfish from my quarantine into the tank.. because I needed to put a sick...

www.reef2reef.com

I would begin to start slowly stocking some hardy livestock at this point

Good luck!

 

[Harry g]

I'd say after 5 weeks, you're cycled

The API kit is known to show a very low level of ammonia, like 0.25 ppm to sometimes 0.50 ppm, when other indicators (such as how long the system has been running) would indicate that the ammonia concentration is much lower. Trust the Salifert kit here.

Ammonia isn't as toxic as many would think, so ~0.25 ppm ammonia is nothing to worry about. Here's one of Randy Holmes Farley's articles on ammonia toxicity and benefits:

Ammonia is Our Friend!

Ammonia is Our Friend By Randy Holmes-Farley Yes, I know the title is provocative, and likely goes against much of what you read and hear in the reef aquarium hobby. I believe, however, that the hobby may have been harmed by the continual...

www.reef2reef.com

Nitrate doesn't skew nitrite testing - nitrite skews nitrate testing

The TurboStart product is very fast acting, faster than pretty much all the other bacteria-in-a-bottle products, and likely why your nitrite is zero (assuming that's accurate) and your ammonia is (in my opinion) effectively zero.

Nitrite isn't a concern (other than possibly skewing your nitrate testing), it's non toxic unlike how it is in freshwater, and many here at R2R don't even bother testing for it when cycling a new tank. Another article from RHF on nitrite toxicity:

Nitrite Toxicity

Hey guys I have an aquarium system that has about 45gallons of water cycling so I Let it cycle for about week and I added seeded marine pure ceramic balls and the bacteria in a bottle. I had no choice but to add my 2 clownfish from my quarantine into the tank.. because I needed to put a sick...

www.reef2reef.com

I would begin to start slowly stocking some hardy livestock at this point

Good luck!

So here’s another question for you my Lfs has been testing my water and when my cycle was originally done with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate they denied selling me fish because their api test kit was showing .5 ppm ammonia while my salifert was testing 0, they said that I must’ve been doing something and something was getting in the tank to produce ammonia because I had .5 ammonia and no nitrite and 20 nitrate and that their api test kit is accurate. Should I just move on to another LFS or just not have them test it and tell them it’s done.

 

[Fish Fan]

So here’s another question for you my Lfs has been testing my water and when my cycle was originally done with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate they denied selling me fish because their api test kit was showing .5 ppm ammonia while my salifert was testing 0, they said that I must’ve been doing something and something was getting in the tank to produce ammonia because I had .5 ammonia and no nitrite and 20 nitrate and that their api test kit is accurate. Should I just move on to another LFS or just not have them test it and tell them it’s done.

That's hard for me to say based just this experience. On one hand, I respect that they won't sell you fish if they think you still have ammonia. Most shops would gladly sell you fish, and then they will sell you replacement fish when the first fish die But, I would expect a top fish store to be using something other than API test kits, even if they have to charge you a bit to run some those non-API tests.

 

[Harry g]

So here’s another question for you my Lfs has been testing my water and when my cycle was originally done with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate they denied selling me fish because their api test kit was showing .5 ppm ammonia while my salifert was testing 0, they said that I must’ve been doing something and something was getting in the tank to produce ammonia because I had .5 ammonia and no nitrite and 20 nitrate and that their api test kit is accurate. Should I just move on to another LFS or just not have them test it and tell them it’s done.

That's hard for me to say based just this experience. On one hand, I respect that they won't sell you fish if they think you still have ammonia. Most shops would gladly sell you fish, and then they will sell you replacement fish when the first fish die But, I would expect a top fish store to be using something other than API test kits, even if they have to charge you a bit to run some those non-API tests.

Alright well I guess I’m just going to buy a clown tomorrow, do I need to do a water change api is reading 40 ppm?

 

[Fish Fan]

Alright well I guess I’m just going to buy a clown tomorrow, do I need to do a water change api is reading 40 ppm?

40 ppm nitrate? No Clownfish would care about that

 

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

If you have ammonia, you should wait longer. Ammonia should be zero, same with nitrites.

I am reading 0 ammonia with salifert test kit but I am reading .5 nitrite to 1.0 with api test kit, I read that high nitrates could mess up my nitrite test so that’s why I asked if was done.

Do a water change to bring down the nitrates and retest it. You may be good. I started mine the same way but it was done after a week or so

 

[Harry g]

Alright well I guess I’m just going to buy a clown tomorrow, do I need to do a water change api is reading 40 ppm?

40 ppm nitrate? No Clownfish would care about that

Yeah nitrate is reading 40 but I’m assuming it’s more around 30, would that be good enough to add in gsp and zoas and maybe some kryptonite candy cane and how much coral and fish can I add in at the start

 

[Fish Fan]

The traditional advice is to do a large water change at the end of a fish-less cycle to reduce high nitrate, but "high nitrate" is not always "high", and we've mentioned that if nitrites are present, nitrate may be artificially high.

Yeah nitrate is reading 40 but I’m assuming it’s more around 30, would that be good enough to add in gsp and zoas and maybe some kryptonite candy cane and how much coral and fish can I add in at the start

I think you're fine. The corals you've mentioned are easy to keep, and don't mind what some would think of as elevated nutrient levels. Personally, I follow the advice from Randy Holmes-Farley on levels found here:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

Short summary: nitrate between 5.0 ppm to 50 ppm, phosphate between 0.06 ppm to 0.30 ppm