Cycling Question

Jayski

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Hi All!

I recently setup a Waterbox Marine X 110.4 and its the first fresh cycle I'm doing in 10 years. I started cycling the tank with about 1 to 2 ppm of Ammonia on December 20th or 14 days ago and have been taking measurements daily. Ammonia has not gone down at all, its still reading 1 to 2 ppm, and I haven't had a Nitrite or Nitrate reading yet. My question is simply - is it normal for Ammonia to take 14+ days to begin to be consumed by bacteria and produce Nitrites?

Additional information: I'm using the Brightwell Aquatics cycling kit that supplies ammonia and bacteria and have followed the directions correctly so far.

Thanks!
 

certain_code

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That feels like a long time. I am going through the process now with Brightwell XLM in a bin and using Fritz Ammonia for a fishless cycle. I have been testing every day and for about 17 gallons of water and 40lbs of live rock, following the dosing recommendations of Brightwell, I was registering Nitrite in about 4 days.

If you are still reading ammonia levels either the XLM did not get dosed enough (or something is wrong with the dose) for the population to increase. A few questions to answer:

1. Triple check that you dosed the right amount and followed the Brightwell instructions
2. Are you using RO/DI water (or did you treat to remove potential Chlorine from your tap water)?
3. Are your test kits within their expiration date? (confirming you are not using 10 year old kits)
 

MnFish1

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Which test are you using?
I would concentrate on the ammonia - if it is not dropping (though it seems to be - since its about half -3/4 what it was) - It could be that the bacteria you used was not alive, etc. Whether there is nitrite or nitrate at this point isn't important IMHO - unless the ammonia is dropping.

With most bacteria 'no' it is not normal. In fact - with many bacterial products you will see zero ammonia in 1-2 days. I don't think that many people use Brightwell - but to me its a problem 'somewhere' - either the testing or the kit.

You might want to take your water in for an ammonia re-check at an LFS
 

MnFish1

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Ps how many times have you added more bacteria - and did you shake it well?
 
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Jayski

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Thanks for the responses :)

Yeah I find it strange that the Ammonia isn't dropping by now.

1.) I dosed the whole bottle of bacteria which came out to a little more than I needed but didn't want to leave a few drops in the bottle.
2.) I'm using RO/DI water.
3.) I'm using an API test kit I just purchased that isn't expired.

The ammonia hasn't dropped at all from the first dose 14 days ago, it read 1-2ppm then and it still reads 1-2ppm tonight.
 

MnFish1

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Thanks for the responses :)

Yeah I find it strange that the Ammonia isn't dropping by now.

1.) I dosed the whole bottle of bacteria which came out to a little more than I needed but didn't want to leave a few drops in the bottle.
2.) I'm using RO/DI water.
3.) I'm using an API test kit I just purchased that isn't expired.

The ammonia hasn't dropped at all from the first dose 14 days ago, it read 1-2ppm then and it still reads 1-2ppm tonight.
It should have dropped if there was bacteria in the bottle. I might get another bottle of baster (after double checking tests) - of another brand
 

tanked4u

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+1 to check your test kit

I was getting erratic results with my API ammonia tests. I have had much better luck with Salifert.
 

Jon_Fa

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Hi! Since this is a cycle question. I recently set up our 150 tank and introduce Dr. Tim’s and ammonia to about four ppm after two weeks nitrate and nitrates were down to zero so I introduced ammonia again to see if my cycle was done 24 hours later nitrates and nitrates were through the roof doesn’t mean that my cycle is not done yet?
 

brandon429

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Jon

all cycles are done by two weeks after using bottle bac and feed, your non digital test kits may not show that is key. they're wrong, not the cycle. we only base cycles nowadays on ammonia control only, both nitrate and nitrite are chemically neutral/harmless in marine display cycles and measuring those ends up adding weeks to wait times where as bottle bac cycles are ready in a few days (when tested digitally, on seneye)
 

brandon429

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in every single case of a cycle concern, consider the cycle done and ready and the need for fish disease controls as the actual concern. people will hyperfocus on 3 part param compliance, from test kits that don't read correctly for the masses, and this takes away focus on disease preps which is where all the disease loss on the forum manifests.

I have personally never seen a bad cycle cause fish death, not once among a million logged cycles online where they didnt even wait to add fish. 95% of losses manifest weeks / months after cycling completed whether or not nitrite was factored or not.

people are told to input five times too much ammonia at the start, so if there are any concerns on week 2 at the end just do a large water change/the filter bacteria are left attached to surfaces always, then you can begin.
 
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Jayski

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Got my first Nitrite reading today at .25ppm. Making progress. I don't know why I had to wait 17 days but its getting there. Just gonna keep being patient.

Thanks all for your replies! Happy Reefing :)
 

ffmurray

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Dr. Tim has mentioned raising the temp and lowering the salinity as a way to make bacteria grow faster. I’m starting a RSR250 and on the 2nd dosed ammonia and measured 2ppm. Today my measurements were ammonia 0.5, Nitrite 5.0, Nitrate 20. I’ve got the tank at 82F. Salinity 25ppt
 

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Ammo wont go any lower.. means u dont have enough bac to handle the job
Add more bac
 

brandon429

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Interesting challenge: for 29 pages in our unstick cycles thread we see these concerns and 100% of them were test read errors, on non digital kits, which this post has. There’s no way you’re stuck, you are getting tricked into buying more bac, which is the focus of our thread. Using old cycling rules is causing your headache, doubting cycling charts is causing your headache. Your cycle isn’t stuck you don’t have the first stuck system Ive seen in ten years, you’re just following what a non digital test kit says using old and dated evaluation rules that no seller at a reef tank convention would ever use, you’re using the trained buyer rules.


if you ever want to test your assigned start date which has passed already, I guarantee you’ll pass. If you don’t, waiting till March is also ok.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Proof




your tank will do what that one did. That is a carbon copy of this post, but this group of umpires has fixated on the wastewater vs the timing. Do your water change and begin so we can proof out your ready tank. Use pre quarantined fish in the proof.





if you want to be unstuck, directly above is how.
 
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brandon429

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There’s a vote thread in the main forum where the majority claim api isn’t accurate, that outcome running is being withheld from you here by peers. Good thing we have a fix linked above for that problem, and, the ammonia isn’t stuck on seneye these are just the moves we make to uncloud the terrible api kits so you can see the motion, on seneye you’re done:



two readable and relevant links just explained your entire problem. Notice how api said dark green while a *benchmarked* seneye said safe zone? It always is that way.

so you can be given fair info relay, here’s the vote breakdown for api

00E39EC1-84C8-4DB8-A9AC-3BDE600A427C.png

that poll generally says you’ve got a 50% chance of having a correct reading. My threads say you have a 1% chance.
 
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