Cycling an Aquarium

punkieg0

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Thank you for the information! I do have a question though. I am getting ready to get my JBJ 45AIO set up this weekend I am a little apprehensive about the cycling process. My initial plan was to use ghost feeding. I will be using live sand but dry rock. After reviewing this guide I thought I would use ammonia instead because that seemed to be the more precise way to go.
So I am looking at the Dr. Tim's fishless cycle and it essentially shows with using ammonia the tank will be ready in 14 days? What happened to 4-6 weeks? I am not going to use bacteria in a bottle unless it is truly helpful- so I don't have that on me at this point. So I am confused, I have my test kits and will be monitoring my tank but I am trying to set up my own expectations. I don't want to rush the cycle but 14 days seems a little short to be cycled just by adding some ammonia.

Am I over thinking this? Should I just use the ammonia and test and the testing will show me when it is time?
Thanks!
 
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Brew12

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Thank you for the information! I do have a question though. I am getting ready to get my JBJ 45AIO set up this weekend I am a little apprehensive about the cycling process. My initial plan was to use ghost feeding. I will be using live sand but dry rock. After reviewing this guide I thought I would use ammonia instead because that seemed to be the more precise way to go.
So I am looking at the Dr. Tim's fishless cycle and it essentially shows with using ammonia the tank will be ready in 14 days? What happened to 4-6 weeks? I am not going to use bacteria in a bottle unless it is truly helpful- so I don't have that on me at this point. So I am confused, I have my test kits and will be monitoring my tank but I am trying to set up my own expectations. I don't want to rush the cycle but 14 days seems a little short to be cycled just by adding some ammonia.

Am I over thinking this? Should I just use the ammonia and test and the testing will show me when it is time?
Thanks!
Dr Tims fishless cycle assumes you are using bottled bacteria. Fortunately, that isn't needed and your test kits will tell you when your tank is ready. Even without bottles of bacteria it could take 2 weeks or it could take 6 weeks. The bottled bacteria just speeds the process up.
You can cycle a tank with bottled bacteria in a day if you want so that isn't short. It doesn't mean the tank is stable and ready for whatever you want to put it in, only that it can support a few small and lightly fed fish.
 

punkieg0

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Dr Tims fishless cycle assumes you are using bottled bacteria. Fortunately, that isn't needed and your test kits will tell you when your tank is ready. Even without bottles of bacteria it could take 2 weeks or it could take 6 weeks. The bottled bacteria just speeds the process up.
You can cycle a tank with bottled bacteria in a day if you want so that isn't short. It doesn't mean the tank is stable and ready for whatever you want to put it in, only that it can support a few small and lightly fed fish.
Thank you!
 

warpdrvr

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So I’m on day 2 of Dr Tim’s bacteria and ammonium chloride. I dosed exactly as directed. Today I’m at about 3ppm ammonia, .25ppm nitrites, and 2.5 ppm nitrates. I expected some nitrites... 75 gallon tank. Water about 78.5 degrees when I added. I’ve got about 40lb of dry spored live rock from CaribSea and about 15lb of straight dry rock. 30lb of CaribSea special grade dry sand. Is this somewhat normal?
 

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Here are my parameters from the first two days. Note day 1 was an estimate. Cycling with the bacteria in a bottle, ammonia chloride, ~35 lbs CaribSea Life Rick ~40 live sand in a 45 gallon.


9/29
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 0

9/30
Ph 7.4
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 15

I have the skimmer off currently and no chemipure elite or purigen yet. Should I keep these out of the system still and the skimmer off?
 

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I'll jump in here as well since you and I started almost at the same time. I'm cycling a 29 gallon reef with about 20 pounds of dry rock, 15 pounds of Tropic Eden Reeflakes aragonite sand and a pound of SeaChem Pond Matrix in a Large CPR Aquafuge 2 refuguim.

I'm currently cycling with BIO Spira stuff and dosing Ammonia Chloride. Here's a run down on what's going on so far, I'm using Salifert tests and testing in the morning;

Sat Sept. 28
Added Bio Spira and 80 drops of Ammonia Chloride

Sun Sep. 29
Ammonia= .25 ppm
Nitrite= 1.0 ppm

Mon Sep. 30
Ammonia= <.15 ppm
Nitrite= 1.0ppm
Added 80 drops of Ammonia Chloride

Tue Oct. 1
Ammonia= 0
Nitrite= .75ppm
Added 108 drops of Ammonia Chloride
Two hours later;
Ammonia= 1.0ppm
Nitrate= 100ppm

I'm inclined to just sit on it for now and monitor for a few days but 108 drops for my 27 gallons total of water should be around 2ppm of Ammonia (SHOULD be...). Also, what's going on with the Nitrates???

I'm getting back into the hobby after 20 years, although not a newbie I feel like one! We cycled with Damsels then... Ahhhh The cruel dark ages....

Tim
 

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My update for the day. Planning on another run of the Ammonia chloride tomorrow and I began to run the skimmer today.

10/1
Ph 7.4
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 30
 

Reefermadness89

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So if I’m reading this correct, my ammonia went from 2ppm using ammonia to 0, I had some nitrites and nitrates, I should be able to add Atleast one small fish right?
I just started my tank like 3 days ago, but used live sand and 10lb or so wet live rock from my lfs plus a big bottle of bio spira for a 20L tank.
Just seems odd that it’s done in about 2 days?
 

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My latest numbers after dosing back up to 2ppm last night.

10/3
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 160

For getting close to the week mark and using the bacteria in a bottle, it doesn’t seem like things are moving much. I’d like to do a water change for the nitrates but there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to that yet. Would adding another bottle be beneficial?
 

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I personally wouldn't add any fish while showing any Nitrites, even a hint.

I'd sit on it and make sure everything is stable, dosing ammonia to keep the bacteria well fed and growing... Of course I'm new to this style of cycling!

My Ammonia is eaten up fairly quickly but my Nitrites haven't risen very high and are declining, is that because of the bacteria in a bottle and it actually worked? I don't know so I think I'll sit back and monitor the tank and keep dosing Ammonia. My Nitrates are thru the roof and I haven't seen a Diatom bloom yet or will I???

Tim
 
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Hey Everyone, sorry for the delay. I've been in the Bahama's with my wife for the last week and just now getting back into reality. Let me see if I can give some quick answers.
So I’m on day 2 of Dr Tim’s bacteria and ammonium chloride. I dosed exactly as directed. Today I’m at about 3ppm ammonia, .25ppm nitrites, and 2.5 ppm nitrates. I expected some nitrites... 75 gallon tank. Water about 78.5 degrees when I added. I’ve got about 40lb of dry spored live rock from CaribSea and about 15lb of straight dry rock. 30lb of CaribSea special grade dry sand. Is this somewhat normal?
Yup, looks pretty normal to me.

Here are my parameters from the first two days. Note day 1 was an estimate. Cycling with the bacteria in a bottle, ammonia chloride, ~35 lbs CaribSea Life Rick ~40 live sand in a 45 gallon.


9/29
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 0

9/30
Ph 7.4
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 15

I have the skimmer off currently and no chemipure elite or purigen yet. Should I keep these out of the system still and the skimmer off?
I like running my skimmer during a cycle but no need to. I feel there is benefit to letting it aerate the water as well as breaking it in. I would leave the chemipure and purigen out.

I'm inclined to just sit on it for now and monitor for a few days but 108 drops for my 27 gallons total of water should be around 2ppm of Ammonia (SHOULD be...). Also, what's going on with the Nitrates???
Don't worry about the nitrate number yet. Nitrates will be falsely high with nitrites in your system.

So if I’m reading this correct, my ammonia went from 2ppm using ammonia to 0, I had some nitrites and nitrates, I should be able to add Atleast one small fish right?
I just started my tank like 3 days ago, but used live sand and 10lb or so wet live rock from my lfs plus a big bottle of bio spira for a 20L tank.
Just seems odd that it’s done in about 2 days?
Perfectly normal when using live wet rock. Live wet rock is what we are trying to create when we cycle a tank.
I wouldn't add any more ammonia, let nitrite drop to 0 and then add a small fish or two and feed lightly. You could add them now, but I feel it is best to wait.

My latest numbers after dosing back up to 2ppm last night.

10/3
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 160

For getting close to the week mark and using the bacteria in a bottle, it doesn’t seem like things are moving much. I’d like to do a water change for the nitrates but there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to that yet. Would adding another bottle be beneficial?
I don't see any reason to add another bottle or do a water change. As your nitrites drop your nitrate reading will also drop even though the nitrates are actually increasing. I would stop adding ammonia until it and nitrite drop to 0ppm then dose it up one more time.
My Ammonia is eaten up fairly quickly but my Nitrites haven't risen very high and are declining, is that because of the bacteria in a bottle and it actually worked? I don't know so I think I'll sit back and monitor the tank and keep dosing Ammonia. My Nitrates are thru the roof and I haven't seen a Diatom bloom yet or will I???
Sounds like it is the bottled bacteria working. I wouldn't add any more ammonia if it is being processed from 2ppm to 0ppm in a day. Let everything else stabilize and you should be good to go. Odds are you will get a diatom bloom unless your tank is bare bottom but that can take awhile
 

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I don't see any reason to add another bottle or do a water change. As your nitrites drop your nitrate reading will also drop even though the nitrates are actually increasing. I would stop adding ammonia until it and nitrite drop to 0ppm then dose it up one more time.

Welcome back and thanks for the tips. Did you dive at all while in the Bahamas?

Before this post I ended up adding 8oz of the one and only and dosed up the ammonia to 1ppm. My readings 12 hours later were Ammonia sitting at approx .3 (API test kits for now with this being a bit more green than the .25 mark) and Nitrites at a tad less than 2ppm. Do I not need to worry about feeding the bacteria more ammonia? Just need to wait for it to drop the nitrites down?
 
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Welcome back and thanks for the tips. Did you dive at all while in the Bahamas?

Before this post I ended up adding 8oz of the one and only and dosed up the ammonia to 1ppm. My readings 12 hours later were Ammonia sitting at approx .3 (API test kits for now with this being a bit more green than the .25 mark) and Nitrites at a tad less than 2ppm. Do I not need to worry about feeding the bacteria more ammonia? Just need to wait for it to drop the nitrites down?
I did go on 4 dives while there. Only brought my Gopro on one of them and forgot my orange filters at home so the videos didn't turn out very good.

I would just wait for nitrites to drop and either dose ammonia one more time after that or add a fish or two with light feeding.
 

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I did go on 4 dives while there. Only brought my Gopro on one of them and forgot my orange filters at home so the videos didn't turn out very good.

I would just wait for nitrites to drop and either dose ammonia one more time after that or add a fish or two with light feeding.
Never been to the Bahamas yet but I have approx 500+ dives in Cozumel and a chunk in Belize, the Dominican Republic, and grand cayman.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep checking it. Should I do a water change after the nitrites drop down to 0 to bring down the nitrates before adding a fish?
 
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Never been to the Bahamas yet but I have approx 500+ dives in Cozumel and a chunk in Belize, the Dominican Republic, and grand cayman.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep checking it. Should I do a water change after the nitrites drop down to 0 to bring down the nitrates before adding a fish?
You won't know where your nitrates are at until your nitrites read 0ppm. I would do a water change to get nitrates below 20ppm and maybe 10ppm if it is convenient.
 

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Hey Everyone, sorry for the delay. I've been in the Bahama's with my wife for the last week and just now getting back into reality. Let me see if I can give some quick answers.

Yup, looks pretty normal to me.


I like running my skimmer during a cycle but no need to. I feel there is benefit to letting it aerate the water as well as breaking it in. I would leave the chemipure and purigen out.


Don't worry about the nitrate number yet. Nitrates will be falsely high with nitrites in your system.


Perfectly normal when using live wet rock. Live wet rock is what we are trying to create when we cycle a tank.
I wouldn't add any more ammonia, let nitrite drop to 0 and then add a small fish or two and feed lightly. You could add them now, but I feel it is best to wait.


I don't see any reason to add another bottle or do a water change. As your nitrites drop your nitrate reading will also drop even though the nitrates are actually increasing. I would stop adding ammonia until it and nitrite drop to 0ppm then dose it up one more time.

Sounds like it is the bottled bacteria working. I wouldn't add any more ammonia if it is being processed from 2ppm to 0ppm in a day. Let everything else stabilize and you should be good to go. Odds are you will get a diatom bloom unless your tank is bare bottom but that can take awhile
Nitrite at 0, nitrates showed up, so did a nice water change. Got 2 very unique looking maroon clowns, they are both small, but one humid bigger than the other. They did a bit of chasing, the whole vibrating dance business, and now several hours later they seem pretty happy with each other. The smaller one stays under and near the bigger one, and no more aggressive behavior for now. Will continue to monitor them I do realize that maroons are *****. They will eventually get into a bigger tank than the peninsula 20 but for now they should be fine. I don’t plan on having any other fish,
MAYBE a yasha goby pistol shrimp, plus cuc.
One has a wierd white spot pattern on the tail, the bigger one doesn’t have a line that isn’t broken in the pattern.

6881531B-7E4F-449B-919E-C5E2FF73CC78.jpeg
 

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Looking close to no ammonia still but Nitrites are still looking to be ~2ppm which is where it seems to have been for quite some time. At what point should I be concerned that my cycle has stalled?
 
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Looking close to no ammonia still but Nitrites are still looking to be ~2ppm which is where it seems to have been for quite some time. At what point should I be concerned that my cycle has stalled?
I'd give it at least a few days before I started to worry.
 

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So I changed brands of test. I’ve used Salifert the last couple times. I’m just between 1 and 1.5 ppm ammonia and about 75 ppm nitrates. The ammonia not moving. Not sure what to do from here, other than a water change to lower nitrates. Haven’t measured nitrites as 2 different lfs told me it’s not necessary. Should I re-dose up to 2 or 3 ppm ammonia and see what happens?
 

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