Cycling dry rock with ghostfeeding

[reefnoob9]

To cycle my dry rocks (prior to getting fish), I've set up a few dry rocks and a garbage bin at 26 Celsius with some flow and an aerator and used seachem stability bacteria as per the instructions on the bottle and have been feeding two to three tiny pellets off the Hikari clownfish feed per day. I've tested the ammonia since the day I started feeding and don't see anything more than zero (API test shows between 0 and 0.25 ppm) for the first 3 days. is that normal? How do I know that the food has already broken down into ammonia how long does that typically take for dry small pellets ?

 

[lapin]

Add some ammonia. It’s cheap. Or if you are having shrimp for dinner, toss one in. The bacteria are starving if you are seeing “0” ammonia.

 

[reefnoob9]

Where I live, the pet store has no actual ammonia. I tossed in a small piece of cat food tuna - less than 1 cm long, left it for 3 days or so, and saw no ammonia on my API kit. Then took out that piece, added 40 pellets of Hikari Marine S pellets, and after 1.5 days‌, i still see no ammonia register.

Should I take this as evidence that the bacteria in there have done their job too well?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Welcome to R2R !!! Also, do a test for Nitrites and Nitrates so you can have a better idea of how the rocks are cycling. Im also cycling some rocks for a rebuild of my tank but I use a rock and a Polyplab block from my exixting tank and also throw a little piece of raw shrimp and a gorilla crab that i had on my sump. He still survive. You can see a video on my tiktok.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Where I live, the pet store has no actual ammonia. I tossed in a small piece of cat food tuna - less than 1 cm long, left it for 3 days or so, and saw no ammonia on my API kit. Then took out that piece, added 40 pellets of Hikari Marine S pellets, and after 1.5 days‌, i still see no ammonia register.

Should I take this as evidence that the bacteria in there have done their job too well?

What is the nitrate level? A tank is cycled when ammonia is zero and your test shows nitrate, so its as important to measure nitrate as it is ammonia.

What size is the tank? That would affect how fast you see results. It takes a few days for solid food like pellets to break down and show ammonia, 1.5 days might not be enough time.

You can buy a small bottle of ammonia at the pharmacy, its actually cheaper.

 

[Fish Fan]

Using fish food and other proteins is problematic because you don't really know what you're adding, and some things can literally stink. Order some Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride or Fritz's Fishless Fuel, or look for food grade ammonia bicarbonate at many grocery stores, or where they sell things for baking:

Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride on Chewy

Fishless Fuel from SA.com

Food grade ammonia bicarbonate from Michael's craft stores

 

[reefnoob9]

15 gallons in a brute bin. Nitrates currently read 0 on API test (whose min detectable reading is 5 ppm).

Added recommended dosing of Seachem Stability for 3 days, then stopped. First few days was just adding a pinch of Hikari Marine S pellets. Next few days was the small piece of tuna, then removed that, and added 40 pellets 2 days ago. All the while I havent got a non zero reading on ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

Will just wait now. Total time since I started has been 7 days.

 

[Fish Fan]

15 gallons in a brute bin. Nitrates currently read 0 on API test (whose min detectable reading is 5 ppm).

Added recommended dosing of Seachem Stability for 3 days, then stopped. First few days was just adding a pinch of Hikari Marine S pellets. Next few days was the small piece of tuna, then removed that, and added 40 pellets 2 days ago. All the while I havent got a non zero reading on ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

Will just wait now. Total time since I started has been 7 days.

The 40 pellets may have some effect, but in general you have to add A LOT of fish food to get the ammonia bump you need. I would suggest trying an ammonia product, it's much cleaner and easier to use.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

15 gallons in a brute bin. Nitrates currently read 0 on API test (whose min detectable reading is 5 ppm).

Added recommended dosing of Seachem Stability for 3 days, then stopped. First few days was just adding a pinch of Hikari Marine S pellets. Next few days was the small piece of tuna, then removed that, and added 40 pellets 2 days ago. All the while I havent got a non zero reading on ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

Will just wait now. Total time since I started has been 7 days.

you were adding bacteria for the first 3 days, then only added an ammonia source (tuna) on the 4rth day, but solid foods needs a few days to break down. With your reading of 0-0-0 I would say the tank has not even started to cycle yet. But don't worry, those pellets will do the trick, 40 pellets in a 15 gallon is a lot lol. It just takes a little longer, your looking at a 3-4 week cycle. Personally I just always wait 4 weeks anyway. Good luck

 

[Freenow54]

Where I live, the pet store has no actual ammonia. I tossed in a small piece of cat food tuna - less than 1 cm long, left it for 3 days or so, and saw no ammonia on my API kit. Then took out that piece, added 40 pellets of Hikari Marine S pellets, and after 1.5 days‌, i still see no ammonia register.

Should I take this as evidence that the bacteria in there have done their job too well?

Go to a grocery store and you need it Pure . Hardware store as well.