Cycle

[TylerJaid]

I am on day 11 of fish less cycle and have not seen ammonia drop at all. On day one I added 1 bottle of dr Tim's and dosed tank with ammonium chloride to 2ppm (what it looks like to me). I also have zero nitrates and zero nitrite as of right now. Is this normal? Should I add more bacteria?? Thanks to anyone in advance.

 

[ScottJ]

API can be very hard to read. If you can, just get a good nitrate kit because that's really what you are looking for. A full tank picture helps everyone see what's going on, also.

Doesn't need to be hanna. Salifert works well, imho.

 

[TylerJaid]

I am on day 11 of fish less cycle and have not seen ammonia drop at all. On day one I added 1 bottle of dr Tim's and dosed tank with ammonium chloride to 2ppm (what it looks like to me). I also have zero nitrates and zero nitrite as of right now. Is this normal? Should I add more bacteria?? Thanks to anyone in advance.

So on day 13 (yesterday) my new bottle bacteria showed up and I dosed it to the correct amount. Today I tested and ammonia is still sitting at 2ppm with nitrites and nitrates still at zero, still a waiting game but will keep everyone posted, when should I expect to see change from the new bacteria! Thanks

 

[TylerJaid]

Just updating in case anyone is following, day 16 today, I tested everything ammonia 2ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 0ppm ph 7.8 no movement at all yet. Any ideas or suggestions??

 

[Uncle99]

Just updating in case anyone is following, day 16 today, I tested everything ammonia 2ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 0ppm ph 7.8 no movement at all yet. Any ideas or suggestions??

If you used rock, saltwater, heat, flow, bacteria, +5 days you were cycled long ago.

Some tests are mostly useless.

 

[TylerJaid]

If you used rock, saltwater, heat, flow, bacteria, +5 days you were cycled long ago.

Some tests are mostly useless.

Thanks for the response in both threads, I accidentally made two as they were my first ones lol, so your thinking I'm cycled even though I haven't seen any movement since dosing day day one? Maybe just a defective test? Recommend a water change? Or ordering a new test? Thanks for the reply anyways!

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks for the response in both threads, I accidentally made two as they were my first ones lol, so your thinking I'm cycled even though I haven't seen any movement since dosing day day one? Maybe just a defective test? Recommend a water change? Or ordering a new test? Thanks for the reply anyways!

Unless you have a bad bottle of bacteria (which I have not seen) whenever you put rock, saltwater, flow, heat and wait a few days, your good to go with first fish.

Gone are the days of weeks and week of cycling.

If you are unsure, add a small bottle of a different bacteria and a water change to keep nitrates, no higher than 50ppm, and add your first fish.

Many ammonia/nitrite tests are just no good enough for us to get an accurate reading. My Seachem ammonia test never ever went to zero.

 

[TylerJaid]

Unless you have a bad bottle of bacteria (which I have not seen) whenever you put rock, saltwater, flow, heat and wait a few days, your good to go with first fish.

Gone are the days of weeks and week of cycling.

If you are unsure, add a small bottle of a different bacteria and a water change to keep nitrates, no higher than 50ppm, and add your first fish.

Many ammonia/nitrite tests are just no good enough for us to get an accurate reading. My Seachem ammonia test never ever went to zero.

I added doctor tims first than after day 13 of no movement that I could see I added another bottle. Never did see ammonia move at all or nitrites move and nitrate never got off zero either, it's very confusing to me, so maybe your right and my kit is 100% faulty. I'm going to test some water tonight that has no ammonia in it and see what the test reads

 

[Uncle99]

I added doctor tims first than after day 13 of no movement that I could see I added another bottle. Never did see ammonia move at all or nitrites move and nitrate never got off zero either, it's very confusing to me, so maybe your right and my kit is 100% faulty. I'm going to test some water tonight that has no ammonia in it and see what the test reads

What movement did you expect to see?
I’ve never had an issue with that product over many starts, provided it had a week to run.

 

[TylerJaid]

What movement did you expect to see?
I’ve never had an issue with that product over many starts, provided it had a week to run.

I added doctor tims and doses ammonia 160 drops in my 55 gallon tank 4 drops/gallon I took some off accounting for rock/sand. I seen ammonia spike straight away but never had and nitrites or nitrates which I was expecting to see, but today it looks like I had a slight shade of purple on my nitrites. Maybe .15-.20 ppm definitely not zero anymore so hopefully I'll start to see a drop in ammonia as that still read about the same! I'm going to keep testing for the next week at least to see what happens and I'll continue to let you and everyone else informed!

 

[TylerJaid]

Not sure if anyone is still following or not but if you are I have finally gotten back with some more results! Today is day 21 of my cycle, I am guessing that my ammonia before was probably closer to 4-5ppm of ammonia but can surely say it is at 2ppm as of today. It's weird because I only dowsed ammonium chloride for 45 gallons of water in a 55 gallon tank, but anyways the ammonia today is exactly 2ppm, nitrite is 5ppm and nitrate is 15-20ppm, so it looks like my cycle is finally getting somewhere! I'm very excited!