Cycle Questions

[Jib]

Hello,

I started my tank a week and a half ago. At the advice of the LFS, I added a clownfish right away with a bottle of Bio Spira. The Clown did not survive the night, thread here.

Have been checking my water parameters and ghost feeding daily, results are below. Wanted to get thoughts regarding the status of my cycle. To me, it appears like the bottled bacteria did the trick, but I don't to kill another fish either.

Any thoughts on the PH? I know it's lower than generally recommended, but can fish and corals do OK in this PH?

Number are in part per million.

Thanks,
Jib

Date	PH	Ammonia	Nitrite	Nitrate	Feeding
08/16/20	7.8	0	0	5	Food added
08/17/20	7.8	0	0	10	Food added
08/18/20	7.8	0	0	10	Food added
08/19/20	7.8	0	.25	10	Food added
08/20/20	7.8	0	0	20	Big Pinch
08/21/20	7.8	0	0	20	Food added
08/22/20	?	?	?	?	No Food
08/23/20	7.8	0	0	20	Food added
08/24/20	7.8	0	0	20	Big Pinch

 

[glb]

I think your lfs gave you some bad advice. Sorry about your clownfish. Looking at your numbers, I would say that your nitrogen cycle is complete since you have zero ammonia and nitrites. I think it would be ok to add a fish at this point. My ph was low during my cycle. I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If it doesn’t go up, I’d check on your alk to see if that’s part of the reason. Alkalinity helps maintain a more stable ph. I keep mine at 8.5, but the range is 8-12dkh. Another thing that could cause low ph is excess Co2 in the room where the tank is. This is more common in houses that are well sealed. To see if this is a factor, take some of the tank water outside for a bit and check its ph. If it’s higher, then Co2 is a factor. I run a Co2 scrubber into my skimmer to strip excess Co2 from the air before it goes into the skimmer. I use Co2 media from BRS in an old gfo reactor I wasn’t using. Just keep an eye on everything and keep us posted!

 

[Jib]

I think it would be ok to add a fish at this point.

Even though ammonia is 0, I'm assuming it would be wise to do a water change before adding a fish? I haven't done any yet while cycling.

 

[Lasse]

What do you use for doing your analysis?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Jib]

What do you use for doing your analysis?

I have an API Marine Test Kit.

 

[Philly Reefer]

This might be too late but if you can get a liquid ammonia, you can verify that your cycle is done in 24 hours.



The suggestion is drop 2ppm of ammonia and test your water 24 hours later. If there is no ammonia and nitrite. You are good to go. Of course, you want to do a big water change before adding anything

 

[glb]

Even though ammonia is 0, I'm assuming it would be wise to do a water change before adding a fish? I haven't done any yet while cycling.

Yes you can do a water change since the cycle is done. Your nitrates aren’t that bad at 20ppm. If you’re just starting with fish that amount isn’t a problem. If you want to add corals in the future (I wouldn’t yet), you’d want the nitrates between about 5-10ppm for a softie/LPS tank, and much lower for SPS. I only have softies and LPS, and I know they like some nitrates and phosphates in the water. Good luck!

 

[Jib]

Yes you can do a water change since the cycle is done. Your nitrates aren’t that bad at 20ppm. If you’re just starting with fish that amount isn’t a problem. If you want to add corals in the future (I wouldn’t yet), you’d want the nitrates between about 5-10ppm for a softie/LPS tank, and much lower for SPS. I only have softies and LPS, and I know they like some nitrates and phosphates in the water. Good luck!

Appreciate the info. I accidentally dumped much more food in today then I normally did. I'll continue to check out the numbers this week, and do a big water change on Friday. Try and get another fish this weekend.

Was planning to wait a while with the fish and observe the tank and get used to maintaining befiore adding any corals. Wanted to get though the "ugly" phase of the tank before putting a light on it to try and avoid algea growth. Will try some softies on a few months.

 

[Lasse]

I´m not familiar with API test kits - I use salifert, red sea pro, tropic marine and fauna marine´s tests.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Jib]

I´m not familiar with API test kits - I use salifert, red sea pro, tropic marine and fauna marine´s tests.

I've seen folks on this forum not have great things to say about the kit. I didn't realize it wasn't a very good one until after I bought it. I saw the Salifert recommended a few times and was going to look into them.

 

[glb]

Appreciate the info. I accidentally dumped much more food in today then I normally did. I'll continue to check out the numbers this week, and do a big water change on Friday. Try and get another fish this weekend.

Was planning to wait a while with the fish and observe the tank and get used to maintaining befiore adding any corals. Wanted to get though the "ugly" phase of the tank before putting a light on it to try and avoid algea growth. Will try some softies on a few months.

Oh there’s not much of a change to avoid the ugly stage. When you turn on your lights, you’ll get a new ugly phase with algae. No worries, though, it’s all a normal process of a tank stabilizing. Keep your nitrates and phosphates under control and it won’t be too bad. Here’s the test kits I use and highly recommend: Hanna Checkers: Alkalinity and phosphates; Salifert: Mg, Red Sea: Ca, and Nyos for nitrates. Good luck!