Cycling my tank

[AJnanoreef]

So I’m new and on day 14 of my dr. Tims fishless cycle

PH is 8
ammonia is 0
Nitrite is 5
Nitrate is 160+
Temp is 78.1
Salinity 1.026


I’m doing a 25% water change first one yet
But should I add ammonia did my cycle stall or is it still working?
Need some serious help I would like to get fish some day but with these numbers I can’t here’s a photo of my tank I have sand and rock.

used Fiji pink live sand from carbisea and Marco rock

 

[Dburr1014]

Cycle is done.
Do a larger wc, 50% then do another wc few days later.
Add stock slowly.

 

[AJnanoreef]

Cycle is done.
Do a larger wc, 50% then do another wc few days later.
Add stock slowly.

Okay thanks

 

[wculver]

So I’m new and on day 14 of my dr. Tims fishless cycle

PH is 8
ammonia is 0
Nitrite is 5
Nitrate is 160+
Temp is 78.1
Salinity 1.026


I’m doing a 25% water change first one yet
But should I add ammonia did my cycle stall or is it still working?
Need some serious help I would like to get fish some day but with these numbers I can’t here’s a photo of my tank I have sand and rock.

used Fiji pink live sand from carbisea and Marco rock

They key is the ammonia is zero, if it were stalled the ammonia wouldn't be getting processed. So with some large WC's you'll get the numbers aligned so you can introduce fish. Just start small though, like a clown pair or a Goby pair, something like that.

 

[AJnanoreef]

Did a 50% water change and actually just finished so will do another test tomorrow and see how it looks thanks for the help.

and it wasn’t that bad I had all the correct tools.

 

[MaxTremors]

There is really no such thing as a ‘stalled’ cycle. If your tank has processed the ammonia you added, its cycled. To verify you, can add another 2ppm of ammonia and see that its processed into nitrates within 24 hours. Your nitrates likely aren’t 160+, if you still have detectable nitrites, it’s giving you an inaccurate nitrate reading. I would also recommend getting higher quality test kits, API isn’t very useful for reefing (it’s okay for fish only).

 

[AJnanoreef]

Cycle is done.
Do a larger wc, 50% then do another wc few days later.
Add stock slowly.

So I did my 50% water change and now came up with this

ph 8.2
Ammonia 0 on api and Hanna checker
Nitrate is between 40 and 65 so maybe 50
Nitrite is still high looks like 2 maybe 5 or higher

I’ll add a photo of the test results

do I just wait or another water change? What can I do about the nitrites ?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Not an emergency

 

[AJnanoreef]

Not an emergency

Oh my bad I’m new I thought my tank could be stalling and wasting a month of my life… thanks to some helpful people they gave me some advice and I’m following it. I’m trying to get the tank to cycle properly maybe it is maybe it’s not I’m new I don’t no… extremely sorry my time to me especially this long seemed important. I get fish or corals are not dying because I have not put them in yet but at some point I would like to. So if you have anything helpful to say that might be nice. If not I’m sorry the emergency tag triggered you.

 

[131696]

Leave alone no hurry wasting money just testing no need wait it out for a month or 2.

 

[AJnanoreef]

Leave alone no hurry wasting money just testing no need wait it out for a month or 2.

So just wait until my nitrites turn to nitrates do I need to keep feeding it the ammonia Dr tim’s comes with or stop with that part?

 

[AJnanoreef]

There is really no such thing as a ‘stalled’ cycle. If your tank has processed the ammonia you added, its cycled. To verify you, can add another 2ppm of ammonia and see that its processed into nitrates within 24 hours. Your nitrates likely aren’t 160+, if you still have detectable nitrites, it’s giving you an inaccurate nitrate reading. I would also recommend getting higher quality test kits, API isn’t very useful for reefing (it’s okay for fish only).

I went out and got the nyos nitrate test kits that’s all I could find that was better. And much easier to read. Do you have some must have test kits I should look at and types I keep seeing Hanna is good but not sure what ones I need exactly I do want to keep corals at some point.

 

[MaxTremors]

I went out and got the nyos nitrate test kits that’s all I could find that was better. And much easier to read. Do you have some must have test kits I should look at and types I keep seeing Hanna is good but not sure what ones I need exactly I do want to keep corals at some point.

Personally I use Hanna for Nitrate (HR) and Phosphate (ULR), and for everything else (Alk, Cal, Mag, and PH) I use Salifert. I can’t stand color match tests, so for me the Hanna checkers for NO3 and PO4 are well worth it, all the other tests are titration tests (except PH), where you just count or measure drops until the vial changes colors, so they’re much easier to read/get a definite number. After using the Hanna checkers for nitrate and phosphate, I’ll never go back to color matching tests.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Oh my bad I’m new I thought my tank could be stalling and wasting a month of my life… thanks to some helpful people they gave me some advice and I’m following it. I’m trying to get the tank to cycle properly maybe it is maybe it’s not I’m new I don’t no… extremely sorry my time to me especially this long seemed important. I get fish or corals are not dying because I have not put them in yet but at some point I would like to. So if you have anything helpful to say that might be nice. If not I’m sorry the emergency tag triggered you.

Nothing "triggered" me. I was educating you that this is not what the emergency tag is used for.
Yes, you're new; feel free to take the advice of others who are not...

 

[jabberwock]

Take a deep breath. Don't get clownfish first. Never get crabs. Don't worry to much about testing (everyone will tell you that you are doing it wrong.) Study and go slow.

 

[AJnanoreef]

Take a deep breath. Don't get clownfish first. Never get crabs. Don't worry to much about testing (everyone will tell you that you are doing it wrong.) Study and go slow.

Haha I have to ask why no crabs I thought they could be part of the clean up crew… think my LFS said Emerald crabs are cool… but again they have told me a few things that I have seen on here to be wrong. So they might just be trying to sell me stuff

 

[jabberwock]

Emergency is usually used when your fish are puking and dying, or water is splashing on your floor.

 

[jabberwock]

Haha I have to ask why no crabs I thought they could be part of the clean up crew… think my LFS said e-mails crabs are cool… but again they have told me a few things that I have seen on here to be wrong. So they might just be trying to sell me stuff

In my opinion, crabs are thugs, and killers... and they taste pretty good...

 

[AJnanoreef]

Emergency is usually used when your fish are puking and dying, or water is splashing on your floor.

Is there a way to take the tag off it’s the second time I’ve been told that

 

[jabberwock]

Is there a way to take the tag off it’s the second time I’ve been told that

I don't know. Don't worry about it. This is a friendly forum.