Cycling an Aquarium

[User1]

For whatever reason had time on my hands this evening so went back to page one and re-read. If I didn't say so before, thanks @Brew12

Learn something new every day I guess, or at least bring something from long term memory back to the short term, since I seem to have forgot how testing for Nitrates isn't really accurate if one still has high Nitrites. Has I noted the other day I was at 0 Ammonia, then dosed back to 2 and saw it go back to 0 within 24 hours. That is good. I have been testing for all three all along because, well, I really didn't have much else to do with the tank so it gave me something to write down Then I hit post number 193 when you said "Your nitrate reading wont be accurate. The nitrate test works by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and then measuring them. So, it won't be accurate without zero nitrites"...

Anyway - probably another couple days before my Nitrites drop back to 0. Back on the 11th they measured 0 - 0.05. I added the Ammonia, tank processed it, and Nitrites shot back up. Still reporting 1 today but this time I didn't test for Nitrates. Interesting enough life is starting to form on the bare rocks. The side of the tank that is getting natural light has a burgundy thing starting to grow - almost looks like a sponge but I doubt that is it. Also started a channel of lights running at 20% - we'll see. Cool never the less the process from dry to live. Isn't mother nature epic?

View attachment 20180314_203807.jpg

 

[Brew12]

For whatever reason had time on my hands this evening so went back to page one and re-read.

that is a lot of ;Bookworm

Interesting enough life is starting to form on the bare rocks. The side of the tank that is getting natural light has a burgundy thing starting to grow

It is amazing just how resilient some life can be. I have no idea what that is, but it will be something interesting to keep an eye on!

 

[Annie Diaz]

I just want to say thank you so much for making this. You're my absolute lifesaver. I've been looking for a good explanation for cycling that I can actually understand and this brought everything into light for me. bless ur soul. ;Happy

 

[Brew12]

I just want to say thank you so much for making this. You're my absolute lifesaver. I've been looking for a good explanation for cycling that I can actually understand and this brought everything into light for me. bless ur soul. ;Happy

I'm glad you found it useful!

And Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[hoppy]

When Do I add light to my tanks- I am 3 weeks into cycle with dead rock and sand, used dr Tim’s and am converting ammonia appropriately. I still have hi nitrites and am reluctant to add any thing alive until I can process that as well. I have kept the tank dark this entire time. Should I add some light at this point or is that counter productive?

 

[Brew12]

When Do I add light to my tanks- I am 3 weeks into cycle with dead rock and sand, used dr Tim’s and am converting ammonia appropriately. I still have hi nitrites and am reluctant to add any thing alive until I can process that as well. I have kept the tank dark this entire time. Should I add some light at this point or is that counter productive?

I add light whenever it is convenient. I like growing algae in a new tank though. It helps process ammonia even faster than bacteria can. Its an insurance policy for fish.

 

[stubbz08]

Thank you for your post! Good read!
I am concerned with reading other threads about "soft cycling"
I have a 55 added half live half base. After two weeks I had minimal readings. Never any NH3. Then I had a brown out. On the second week. I decided to add a shrimp to make sure and now my NH3 is at 2.0 ppm.
How high should I let it get before I either water change or remove the shrimp. Or just let nature run its course?
I am just worried about killing the existing bacteria in the LR.
The more I read because I had the algae bloom I may have already had a cycled tank and didn't need to add the shrimp ?

 

[stubbz08]

Thank you for your post! Good read!
I am concerned with reading other threads about "soft cycling"
I have a 55 added half live half base. After two weeks I had minimal readings. Never any NH3. Then I had a brown out. On the second week. I decided to add a shrimp to make sure and now my NH3 is at 2.0 ppm.
How high should I let it get before I either water change or remove the shrimp. Or just let nature run its course?
I am just worried about killing the existing bacteria in the LR.
The more I read because I had the algae bloom I may have already had a cycled tank and didn't need to add the shrimp ?

No real light set up yet and just a hydor 350 external filter for now. I am Al son adding a few drop of "bio S" every other day

 

[Brew12]

Thank you for your post! Good read!
I am concerned with reading other threads about "soft cycling"
I have a 55 added half live half base. After two weeks I had minimal readings. Never any NH3. Then I had a brown out. On the second week. I decided to add a shrimp to make sure and now my NH3 is at 2.0 ppm.
How high should I let it get before I either water change or remove the shrimp. Or just let nature run its course?
I am just worried about killing the existing bacteria in the LR.
The more I read because I had the algae bloom I may have already had a cycled tank and didn't need to add the shrimp ?

Just let it runs its course at this point. You won't harm the bacteria unless ammonia gets well over 10ppm.

 

[stubbz08]

The brown diatom is generally a sign of completed cycle tho? I will let it run its course like you said. As it will help with future spikes when I start adding new fish ?

 

[Brew12]

The brown diatom is generally a sign of completed cycle tho? I will let it run its course like you said. As it will help with future spikes when I start adding new fish ?

If your tank was well cycled you wouldn't be seeing 2ppm ammonia. The diatoms are a good sign, but you likely haven't had enough of an ammonia source to get much more than a slight amount of bacterial growth.

 

[stubbz08]

OK. Thanks for the response! Slow and steady wins the race!

 

[sloanhaus]

So I have a 300 gallon DT total water volume with refuge is 400. How much ammonium chloride do I need to dose to get to 2pp? Just trying to figure out how much I need to buy.

 

[Brew12]

So I have a 300 gallon DT total water volume with refuge is 400. How much ammonium chloride do I need to dose to get to 2pp? Just trying to figure out how much I need to buy.

That depends on the concentration of the ammonium chloride you intend to purchase.

 

[Jeremy Hull]

I can use some advice!
Long story short in January I swapped my 150 gallon for a 250 gallon. I assumed using the sand/rock/water would make the cycle a quick thing. I was very wrong! Sadly I lost all my corals and some of the fish. For the longest time (months) I dealt with ammonia levels >4ppm. Sometimes it appears to be above 8ppm. Everytime it seems to stabilize a week later its back to being off the charts. The past two weeks it's been at 0ppm but nitrates were off the charts I did water changes using rodi water and red sea coral pro salt (90 gallons total) added a media reactor with pellets suggested by the lfs, and dosed red sea algea management to try to get the nitrate level down. On Saturday I saw what looked like dozens of small bristle worms floating around the tank which I think could be a concern, but water tested find.
This week the ammonia levels are off the charts again as if the tank is just starting a cycle.

I use rodi water for my changes and I change a lot per week (60-90gallons)
Two times a week I clean the sock filters (I remove them bleach them put them in the washer with no soap, dip them in rodi water let them dry for 2-3days then rinse again in rodi water. I have numerous socks that are constantly cycled.
If I had to guess I'd say I have in excess off 200lbs of live rock, and I added 2lbs of bioballs in the sump about 4 weeks ago.
Tank has a dsb
I run a protein skimmer 24/7
Water temp is 79 degrees
Salinity is 1.025-1.026
Ph is normally around 8.2 but lately it's been jumping from 7.8-8.2
Nitrite is always around 0ppm
Nitrate is currently around 40ppm
I've dosed ammolock most of the past 5 months to try to keep the fish from being stressed.
I've also been using bio spira and recently tried fluval biological enhancer to try to help the process.
Livestock include 3 damsels, 2 cardinal fish, 2 clown fish, a blue tang, a yellow tang, 4 blue chromo, a dwarf loinfish, and a foxface.

I'm 5 month into this cycle with what appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brew12]

I can use some advice!
Long story short in January I swapped my 150 gallon for a 250 gallon. I assumed using the sand/rock/water would make the cycle a quick thing. I was very wrong! Sadly I lost all my corals and some of the fish. For the longest time (months) I dealt with ammonia levels >4ppm. Sometimes it appears to be above 8ppm. Everytime it seems to stabilize a week later its back to being off the charts. The past two weeks it's been at 0ppm but nitrates were off the charts I did water changes using rodi water and red sea coral pro salt (90 gallons total) added a media reactor with pellets suggested by the lfs, and dosed red sea algea management to try to get the nitrate level down. On Saturday I saw what looked like dozens of small bristle worms floating around the tank which I think could be a concern, but water tested find.
This week the ammonia levels are off the charts again as if the tank is just starting a cycle.

I use rodi water for my changes and I change a lot per week (60-90gallons)
Two times a week I clean the sock filters (I remove them bleach them put them in the washer with no soap, dip them in rodi water let them dry for 2-3days then rinse again in rodi water. I have numerous socks that are constantly cycled.
If I had to guess I'd say I have in excess off 200lbs of live rock, and I added 2lbs of bioballs in the sump about 4 weeks ago.
Tank has a dsb
I run a protein skimmer 24/7
Water temp is 79 degrees
Salinity is 1.025-1.026
Ph is normally around 8.2 but lately it's been jumping from 7.8-8.2
Nitrite is always around 0ppm
Nitrate is currently around 40ppm
I've dosed ammolock most of the past 5 months to try to keep the fish from being stressed.
I've also been using bio spira and recently tried fluval biological enhancer to try to help the process.
Livestock include 3 damsels, 2 cardinal fish, 2 clown fish, a blue tang, a yellow tang, 4 blue chromo, a dwarf loinfish, and a foxface.

I'm 5 month into this cycle with what appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, that is rough!

How well did you clean the sand and rocks while moving it between systems? I normally recommend not moving sand over because it is very difficult to clean. I like to use a small powerhead (cobalt 1200) to blast the rocks at least once a month. It sounds like you had a ton of organics that got freed when you moved everything around and it is decaying at a high rate.

I would vacuum the sand often. Save yourself some water and let the vacuum tube drain into a filter sock into the sump. You should get most of what matters. I know you are trying to maintain a dsb which I find a little dangerous so if you don't want to do this, I understand. I do think this is where you problems are from, especially if you also ran your old system as a dsb.

I would also advice getting a pump similar in design to this one.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cobalt-mj1200-powerhead.html

Let the pump discharge blast right into the holes in the rocks. You might be surprised at the crud that come out from the rest of the rock.

 

[Jeremy Hull]

When I moved the rocks I simply took them out of them one tank and placed them into the new tank. As far as the sand I rinsed it in conditioned tap water till the god awful smell went away then put it in the new tank.
That pump seems like a good idea I have been trying to blow out the rocks with a turkey baster which starts to cramp the forearm .
What keeps concerning me is how it seems the bacteria has developed the ammonia drops to zero water starts to stabilize then out of nowhere it spikes and I'm scrambling to come up with 100 gallons of water to get levels low enough to try to save the livestock. I feel like I'm doing something wrong that keeps pitting me in this predicament. Could it be possible im changing the filter socks to much?

 

[Brew12]

When I moved the rocks I simply took them out of them one tank and placed them into the new tank. As far as the sand I rinsed it in conditioned tap water till the god awful smell went away then put it in the new tank.
That pump seems like a good idea I have been trying to blow out the rocks with a turkey baster which starts to cramp the forearm .
What keeps concerning me is how it seems the bacteria has developed the ammonia drops to zero water starts to stabilize then out of nowhere it spikes and I'm scrambling to come up with 100 gallons of water to get levels low enough to try to save the livestock. I feel like I'm doing something wrong that keeps pitting me in this predicament. Could it be possible im changing the filter socks to much?

No, its not going to be a filter sock issue.

I've never had a dsb, but I'd guess that is still where your problems are. A dsb requires stratification to get it to work correctly. When you mixed up your sand to get it out of the tank you no longer had the correct bacteria at the correct depth. The original bacteria won't rinse off and needs to die off before the new correct bacteria can grow in the right depth. These issues are one reason I would never run a sand bed deeper than 2 1/2" and why I clean mine regularly.

 

[Jeremy Hull]

Thank you brew12
Is this something that may resolve itself overtime or should I plan on removing all the sand and replacing it?

 

[Brew12]

Thank you brew12
Is this something that may resolve itself overtime or should I plan on removing all the sand and replacing it?

Almost everything in a system will resolve over time. I don't know how long that process takes with a dsb. I just don't know enough about them. I started to research them and what I found worried me enough that I decided I wouldn't use one.

I still would consider the trick about blasting the rock with a powerhead or small return pump. That may help.