Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact
- Thread starter Dr. Reef
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Ok perfect. Glad we didn’t dose until the meter accepted the change, maybe that’s everyone’s eight ppm ammonia alert post not sure. can you test fifteen mins after, see if there’s a delay maybe. If your kit can’t read known +.5 ppm then I’m not sure how valid it will be as a cycle ump.
I say we add some fish.
not because we assume your reef isn’t ready and it would be mean
but because at sixty days that’s fifty past ammonia control on a cycling chart, and the ammonia you added is now gone, and the charts seem to say it’s ready and we don’t have a reasonable test kit.
I say we add some fish.
not because we assume your reef isn’t ready and it would be mean
but because at sixty days that’s fifty past ammonia control on a cycling chart, and the ammonia you added is now gone, and the charts seem to say it’s ready and we don’t have a reasonable test kit.
No let’s leave it, this system wasn’t built up strongly like the rest, so the test needs to be low level nothing like bottle bac stress.
That your surface area is over done like normal (rocks and sand) and the setup spans out the thin veneer of bacteria right in the line of flow, it will carry fish life and fish feed and waste in the tank to some degree.
testing that without fish, non digitally, can be tricky.
no matter how far we dig, there’s no info on unassisted marine cycles so this is neat to see. That test looks nice for sure.
lets see if in 48 hours it can move or not. We aren’t out of the woods no matter what at that point, about half a million reef owners actively state api shows some green at all sample times.
its the over reporting of actual nitrification that seems to be at work, your specific color shown above is found in many running reefs on api it’s a very tricky ref sometimes. 48 hours is a good start.
At any time those kits showing light green in api posts can test ro water and get yellow, it’s the active nitrification that seems to be a recurring issue in reporting correctly. the blank runs are always yellow.
That your surface area is over done like normal (rocks and sand) and the setup spans out the thin veneer of bacteria right in the line of flow, it will carry fish life and fish feed and waste in the tank to some degree.
testing that without fish, non digitally, can be tricky.
no matter how far we dig, there’s no info on unassisted marine cycles so this is neat to see. That test looks nice for sure.
lets see if in 48 hours it can move or not. We aren’t out of the woods no matter what at that point, about half a million reef owners actively state api shows some green at all sample times.
its the over reporting of actual nitrification that seems to be at work, your specific color shown above is found in many running reefs on api it’s a very tricky ref sometimes. 48 hours is a good start.
At any time those kits showing light green in api posts can test ro water and get yellow, it’s the active nitrification that seems to be a recurring issue in reporting correctly. the blank runs are always yellow.
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100% Water Change
So in my previous thread, I had an ammonia issue that was out of hand. As suggested, I did a 100% WC and now i’m wondering when I should start adding fish back. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!
www.reef2reef.com
that thread shows api working well though as a reference, as Dr Reef too was able to show. That’s a reasonable color above you showed to expect some movement down in 48 hours not 24, these don’t have to meet the same specs as bottle bac to carry a couple starter fish like normal. In this case here api was very accurate.
I’ll check tomorrow and Monday.
One interesting piece of info is the amount of phosphate. Does it prove leeching from rock, no, but it does indicate the need for removal prior to lights on.
GFO? 100% water changes? I’m not in a hurry this time.
I wish not to go through the strip cleaning and peroxide treatments of my past tank. Yes Brandon, I’m familiar with your strip clean threads lol.
The fun in reefing is trying to avoid them heh
i havent ever given any thought to phosphate all I know is the caveman mode, and to build aquascapes that are able to be lifted out.
once we figure out the balance between dinos and whatever else without deep cleaning as a backup that’ll be an awesome time.
i havent ever given any thought to phosphate all I know is the caveman mode, and to build aquascapes that are able to be lifted out.
once we figure out the balance between dinos and whatever else without deep cleaning as a backup that’ll be an awesome time.
Turkey head
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On my nano I did it the old fashioned way, just live rock and some live sand from the LFS. It worked well but it took a long time.
The tank I set up last year I used Fritz Zyme 9. I do think it helped but it was in a delicate balance for a while. I think it helped speed things up but I don’t think it was a magic cycle. I would use it or something similar again though.
The tank I set up last year I used Fritz Zyme 9. I do think it helped but it was in a delicate balance for a while. I think it helped speed things up but I don’t think it was a magic cycle. I would use it or something similar again though.
My fault it was a bad flag event 
thank you for checking though. He posted a reading I thought was after a dosing of ammonia and showed none. But his post-dose pic made the api respond exactly right, calibrated against known zero condition. Very precise so far
*do api kits require TAN conversion like Red Sea does or are they different types / total ammonia readers
thank you for checking though. He posted a reading I thought was after a dosing of ammonia and showed none. But his post-dose pic made the api respond exactly right, calibrated against known zero condition. Very precise so far*do api kits require TAN conversion like Red Sea does or are they different types / total ammonia readers
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Unless a kit like Seachem or instrument like Seneye specifically states that it measures free ammonia, i.e., NH3, the kit measures total ammonia, NH3+NH4, and the result must be converted to NH3 by consulting a table.My fault it was a bad flag event
*do api kits require TAN conversion like Red Sea does or are they different types / total ammonia readers
I have never seen that documented in twenty years of daily online reefing. Unassisted cycling happens sooner than your time frame, tbd, but I'd have bet the farm it'd take ninety days. I'm so happy to see that
Cycling charts were written for freshwater
You're providing data for a saltwater one the hobby doesn't have yet
Cycling charts were written for freshwater
You're providing data for a saltwater one the hobby doesn't have yet
Just for more information. I waited 5 min per instructions for the 24 hour picture.
here is color after waiting 20 minutes
Is there a a maximum time limit to API tests? Definite change in color, but still shows movement compared to yesterday.
here is color after waiting 20 minutes
Is there a a maximum time limit to API tests? Definite change in color, but still shows movement compared to yesterday.
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