Cycling Question

[hogger555]

So a little background on what I've got going on. I'm on day 10 of my cycle, using Dr. Tim's One and Only, Microbacter7 with BioBlock, Salifert test kits, CaribSea Arag-Alive sand, and CaribSea LifeRock. I dosed 2ppm ammonium chloride as Dr. Tim's instructions say on day 1. Day 2 ammonia was 0.5. Day 3 ammonia 0.25 and nitrate 5. I didn't add anymore ammonium chloride because I came across a thread that stated to not dose ammonium chloride when using live sand and/or LifeRock. Since then ammonia is still 0.25 and nitrates have risen to between 25 and 50 now. I have used the same Salifert test on some fresh salt water and get 0. My question is do you think my tank is cycled even though ammonia is still present?

 

[brandon429]

Yes.

reasons why: you demonstrated movement down by day ten, after dosing bac that says ten days ~ ready time into a system with much surface area, our live sand and rocks


- no zero is required only movement down. Old rules required zero, on api, lol.

-per updated cycling rules we don’t need to know nitrate or nitrite readings anymore, here is proof of that

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

non digital ammonia test kit readings (api, Red Sea, nyos, seachem badges) make you think you aren’t cycled when indeed you are if you owned a $200 expensive seneye meter, you’d never be doubting your cycle status. since .01% of the reefing population owns these, we need a way to help the...

www.reef2reef.com

redundancy: liferock alone self activates in two weeks with water alone, no dosing of feed or bac. Per the site.

mb7 a slower cycler, but still extras.


live sand, instantly activates its live bac just like biospira is live, and not refrigerated. Being in a bag doesn’t matter.

i think there might be seven more indicators you’re cycled per new rules, although no old rules would agree. We apply these rules to cycle tanks above, join if you like.

change out your water, add new. Add life, it lives bc you are well-cycled. We would never need to test for ammonia and nitrite ever again in your reef, testers retired. Gauging nitrate after cycling is handy for color tuning, algae tuning, we don’t need to measure nitrate to deem a cycle closed any longer because by rule it’s produced when ammonia moves down like that, no other biomechanism exists, and our testers might not even pick up legit nitrate-but it’s there in a cycling reef with no other life to uptake and bind it. we simply know it’s there, no need to test. It’s all ammonia now.

-you met the specific number of days underwater a cycling chart shows its takes to trend ammonia down.

 

[hogger555]

Yes.

reasons why: you demonstrated movement down by day ten, after dosing bac that says ten days ~ ready time into a system with much surface area, our live sand and rocks


- no zero is required only movement down. Old rules required zero, on api, lol.

-per updated cycling rules we don’t need to know nitrate or nitrite readings anymore, here is proof of that

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

non digital ammonia test kit readings (api, Red Sea, nyos, seachem badges) make you think you aren’t cycled when indeed you are if you owned a $200 expensive seneye meter, you’d never be doubting your cycle status. since .01% of the reefing population owns these, we need a way to help the...

www.reef2reef.com

redundancy: liferock alone self activates in two weeks with water alone, no dosing of feed or bac. Per the site.

mb7 a slower cycler, but still extras.


live sand, instantly activates its live bac just like biospira is live, and not refrigerated. Being in a bag doesn’t matter.

i think there might be seven more indicators you’re cycled per new rules, although no old rules would agree. We apply these rules to cycle tanks above, join if you like.

change out your water, add new. Add life, it lives bc you are well-cycled.

Thank you for the reassurance! It was actually your Microbiology thread that I read and learned a lot!

 

[brandon429]

nice to meet you thanks for posting! hey can u post a pic of the tank

 

[hogger555]

nice to meet you thanks for posting! hey can u post a pic of the tank

No problem! Here is my build thread too:

Build Thread - Waterbox Frag 105.4, getting back into the hobby

I've been out of the hobby for about 4 years and have finally gotten back into it, and I'm currently on day 9 of my cycle and trying to be patient. I'm planning on doing an SPS dominant tank. What do you guys think?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

Well thats as sharp as can be wow

can have really nice fish there

there is one very fun aspect of new cycle rules compared to old, and that’s accountability and total consistency. How consistent is 1990s cycling ~which is all current cycling...we collect plenty of threads where for 90 days they’re still waiting on the .25 and all cycles range and vary on start dates using three param zero ammonia cycling.

but macna start dates never fail, 500 tanks on Friday lol no stalls. <—new science users.


The reason we collect the before and after pics with fish or starting bioload (some wait on fish, build up corals and cuc and go fallow then fish, have to choose which u want) is because the day we get a reported loss of bioload, from being uncycled, that’s an outlier in a system claimed to be consistent, we want to know. current ratios estimated 10000 cycles 0 loss starts.

cant wait to see however you start it. I call it ready now, after a large wc and any extra time you want to wait is harmless time no pressure.


in every thread I’m in we talk about how cycles don’t stall. You met the known time for every form of inoculation going here, there was no stall.

 

[Cerberusfish]

Thank you for the reassurance! It was actually your Microbiology thread that I read and learned a lot!

If it were me, I would definitely still keep testing, even infrequently, for ammonia, at least until you've gotten more reef experience. I hardly ever test it now because I've learned the signs of an ammonia build up or spike over my time in the hobby and know what to look for daily, but before I learned that instinct I tested at least every couple of weeks. Especially on a new tank. I'd also make sure not to add anything sensitive by any sense until you consistently read 0 ammonia. If it fluctuates, it means you're cycle cant reliably handle the load you're putting on it. Think of it sort of like driving on a spare tire, itll work, but it's best not to test how well or for how long.