Cycle question on ammonia

[jtlmnop]

I just started my cycle, and I’m on day three. Dr Tim’s One and Only and Dr Tim’s ammonia solution. I have a 50g IM AIO with live sand(Caribsea Special Grade) and dry rock(Marco, about 45 lbs).

My water volume is around 42g with the sand and rock, based on the amount I used to do the initial fill. I started with a dose of ammonia for 30g of water(about 125 drops of ammonia), and tested to see where I was at on day one.

I’m using the Red Sea kit, and I seem to be getting a bluish color when I test. It almost matches the 2.0 color on the chart, but definitely more aqua blue than green. It’s basically the same color three days in. Maybe a shade lighter. I would have expected to se

I know patience is the key in all of this, but wondering why I’m getting the bluish tone. Could there have been ammonia in the live sand that I wasn’t accounting for? Does the blue tone mean I am way over 2.0?

Picture below is day three.


Any thoughts would be appreciated.

thanks!

 

[Reef.]

Live sand is only sand with some bottle bacteria added, as you say you need to be patient lol

 

[brandon429]

Agreed this cycle won’t fail no matter the reading. Simply toss in a pinch of flake food per Dr Reefs trick and wait till day fifteen


change water for new, as much as possible so you have less algae water. Nothing is left to add after the food, then just wait till day fifteen and change it out, done.

 

[newfly]

Over 2ppm ammonia is fine. It’s not a big deal to get slightly over 2pm. Anything over 4 or 5ppm is bad for the cycle but you should be fine. I have the same kit and going started cycling the rock in a Rubbermaid tub. It’s only been 5 days. I did even bother to test after confirming initial 2ppm ammonia dose. Give it more or less 2 weeks. Maybe using live bacteria will speed up a bit. Regardless Be patient. Testing everyday will not speed up the process.

 

[jtlmnop]

Over 2ppm ammonia is fine. It’s not a big deal to get slightly over 2pm. Anything over 4 or 5ppm is bad for the cycle but you should be fine. I have the same kit and going started cycling the rock in a Rubbermaid tub. It’s only been 5 days. I did even bother to test after confirming initial 2ppm ammonia dose. Give it more or less 2 weeks. Maybe using live bacteria will speed up a bit. Regardless Be patient. Testing everyday will not speed up the process.

I know. Part of me testing every day is getting into the habit of doing some form of testing, using the test kit, tracking parameters, etc. I have been researching and planning this tank for over a year. Now that it’s up and running(sort of), I want to make sure I’m doing everything right(impossible, I know)...

 

[taricha]

That the kit is more blue than green says it's higher than 2ppm ammonia.
I know some bottle bacteria can't handle 5+ppm ammonia. So frankly, I'd do a gradual small water change daily until ammonia got closer to the chart, then just wait for the bacteria to do their part.