at a loss here

slayerhellfire

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Ok so I have been cycling my tank coming up 3 weeks now and I am at a loss here's what Ive done so far. My tank is a 40 long, I used about 35 pounds of dry STAX rocks with few pounds of live rock, I started adding aquavirto SEED from the start, then I added dr Tims ammonia chloride, then added dr Tims one and only couple days later ( I did notice that the bottle was expired by few months not sure if that really matters ) so after that I been testing ammonia every day and noticed my ammonia was initially 1ppm. That was yesterday I tested, today I tested and my ammonia is at 2ppm which I noticed right away the API test was a lot darker from perivious test. My ammonia has not gotten over 1ppm besides today, which this dose not make any sense to me why would it be going up and not down?? Ph is fine, I did notice a slight film on the glass, and the lights have not been on since the start. I was all for letting it run its course but now I think something is up if the ammonia is rising and not falling, any help or insight even from randy would be great!
 

Timfish

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I would worry you're killing off your live rock. Is the live rock you got maricultured live rock that was grown in the ocean? Or one of the kinds that just have bacteria added to it?
 

collins.jason.k

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21 days with rock in water, two sources of added bacteria 1 bottled bacteria you know to be good, 1 bottle expired, plus you also added live rock to to the tank if I understand correctly.

Water change and you should be good to go.
 
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I would worry you're killing off your live rock. Is the live rock you got maricultured live rock that was grown in the ocean? Or one of the kinds that just have bacteria added to it?
just rock from the fish store that's sits in the tank has a feather duster on it
 

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Ok, there may or may not have been enough stuff on it to die and cause a spike in ammonia. Like @collins.jason.k said just start doing water changes. FWIW I use API's pH, Alaklinity and Calcium test kits all the time but one of the other test kits that are more sensitive would be better for ammonia.
 

vetteguy53081

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Ok so I have been cycling my tank coming up 3 weeks now and I am at a loss here's what Ive done so far. My tank is a 40 long, I used about 35 pounds of dry STAX rocks with few pounds of live rock, I started adding aquavirto SEED from the start, then I added dr Tims ammonia chloride, then added dr Tims one and only couple days later ( I did notice that the bottle was expired by few months not sure if that really matters ) so after that I been testing ammonia every day and noticed my ammonia was initially 1ppm. That was yesterday I tested, today I tested and my ammonia is at 2ppm which I noticed right away the API test was a lot darker from perivious test. My ammonia has not gotten over 1ppm besides today, which this dose not make any sense to me why would it be going up and not down?? Ph is fine, I did notice a slight film on the glass, and the lights have not been on since the start. I was all for letting it run its course but now I think something is up if the ammonia is rising and not falling, any help or insight even from randy would be great!
Take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api and have them test for you and see what results they come up with. I trust a politician more than I trust an Api kit.
Typically, you want to add your bacteria and then ammonia chloride . Then you want to monitor ammonia , When your ammonia is steady at zero for 5 days and Nitrate is steady at 20 or below- You are cycled. Ignore nitrIte Unless sky high
The tank will go through two phases in which ammonia will rise then fall and nitrate will rise and fall which is normal. When fish are added, the bacteria population will increase with the new bio load, converting waste to nitrate.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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I posted how to fix your cycle in the other thread
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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restated: you used live rock. that changes your cycle ability

you're on non digital kits, which you can see in google searches report back as .25-multiple ppm in error report for fully running reef tanks. you can see even some api posts of 8 ppm help, in a five year old tank with nothing wrong with it

the kits you use are subject to vary, you're taking them as exact.

once your surpass ten days there's no more doubt. you'd simply add one ground up small pinch of fish food and wait the ten days, then do a water change, and begin.

you're actually done sooner than ten days due to your live rock inclusion, but you're in no rush. I gave your tank's start date as 3/27/23 in the other thread. that's pretty exact. the start date assignment came from a 43 page thread of start date assignments. your test kits aren't being referenced correctly. your cycle is not a peak and a trough cycle, you added shock absorbers into the system (live rock)

your levels stated are nh4 which reefing doesn't use = we use nh3
using the kit instructions, guess what the nh3 levels would be/ very low/ below toxicity. your tank is ready now, you're waiting for some contact time for bacteria on the new rocks.

your cycle is one of contact time precalculated, your test kits don't factor. we're not trying to raise to 2 ppm then watch it come down, this isn't that type of cycle. you don't have the test kits for that type of cycle, you'd need a seneye.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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post a full tank picture. those give unstated details we use in cycle troubleshoots.


per that thread you have a clear start date for the reef. for over a hundred cycles we only calculated a ten day wait and it handles all variation in reefing. any digital nh3 meter hooked up to a test system to verify a ten day wait ready time is going to see that it works all the time, and that non digital test kits + old cycling rules have robbed the community of trust in water bacteria.
 
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slayerhellfire

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post a full tank picture. those give unstated details we use in cycle troubleshoots.


per that thread you have a clear start date for the reef. for over a hundred cycles we only calculated a ten day wait and it handles all variation in reefing. any digital nh3 meter hooked up to a test system to verify a ten day wait ready time is going to see that it works all the time, and that non digital test kits + old cycling rules have robbed the community of trust in water bacteria.
ok what you said is confusing me lol so do I do anything or just wait, should I do a small water change ?
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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lets see a tank pic.

add a small pinch of ground up fish food, half a pinch ground into powder.

wait until the 27th, change your water and you're done cycling and can reef. it's that easy :)

your test kits don't matter, because they're the kind that give misreadings we can see in hundreds of searchable posts. we go off the number of days your tank has water in it to know when your cycle is ready. we don't use your test kit levels stated.

lets see a pic of your tank so we can see the layout
 
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slayerhellfire

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I did add some fish food about a week ago little longer
 

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brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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hey very nice. that fits a *lot* of surface area in the tank. the bare bottom creates nice current rebounds and upflows, contacts just about every side of the rocks on the bottom for surface area + waste water interaction

that's a high efficiency system design and we directly see live rock in the middle.

In a ten gallon nano reef, for example, that degree of live rock could carry $500 dollars in corals and a few fish, for years, I have the thread examples. the fact you have that degree of live rock put into far more dilution, and stacked among rocks already hit with feed and bacteria, means your ready date is moved up to right now.

change some water, 50%-80%, whichever, and begin reefing. you can't make the tank safer for fish by waiting any longer. only specific disease preps from the fish forum, fallow and quarantine and exceptional vs average feeding habits will protect your fish now.

we did a testless cycle for your reef tank based on it's arrangement details, # of days with feed and water in the tank and pics. it doesn't matter what your test kits read once you convert them to nh3 (which is the form of ammonia reefing uses, your current readings are nh4, which freshwater uses, see the instructions for the test kit)

we used details other than your test kit levels to know you're done. seven days on feed + live rock association will carry whatever starter fish you're ready to add. change some water, begin reefing, everything will act normal. whatever your ammonia test kit reads doesn't matter.

there isn't a time any reef tank using your arrangment + number of days wouldn't be cycled for basic ammonia control.
 

Dan_P

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Ok so I have been cycling my tank coming up 3 weeks now and I am at a loss here's what Ive done so far. My tank is a 40 long, I used about 35 pounds of dry STAX rocks with few pounds of live rock, I started adding aquavirto SEED from the start, then I added dr Tims ammonia chloride, then added dr Tims one and only couple days later ( I did notice that the bottle was expired by few months not sure if that really matters ) so after that I been testing ammonia every day and noticed my ammonia was initially 1ppm. That was yesterday I tested, today I tested and my ammonia is at 2ppm which I noticed right away the API test was a lot darker from perivious test. My ammonia has not gotten over 1ppm besides today, which this dose not make any sense to me why would it be going up and not down?? Ph is fine, I did notice a slight film on the glass, and the lights have not been on since the start. I was all for letting it run its course but now I think something is up if the ammonia is rising and not falling, any help or insight even from randy would be great!
Ammonia going up could be a testing error. Forget about it. Dr. Tim’s mind be a dud. Buy a new bottle or try BioSpra or Fritz Turbo Start. Ammonia should be gone in under a week.
 

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