Cycling Question.

[Magic031707]

Hello All,

I've read numerous threads about cycling but I know all situations/tanks are different. My issue is back on Dec 3rd I dosed whole bottle of nitrocycle and Fritz turbo900. The nitrocycle instructions were 1ml per gallon, so i dose the whole bottle as i have a 250 gallon. Dry rock and sand in the bag and my ammonia skyrocketed off the charts, like 8ppm. Now my parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: 0 (using API)
Nitrite: off the charts high (using API)
Nitrate: 75 (using Hanna)
Phosphate: 2.0 (using Hanna)

I know API is not that accurate, but is the cycle done or do I wait it out some more? Diatoms has reared its ugly face. I do have the skimmer running, but did not the first week.

Thanks my fellow reefers

 

[blaxsun]

You need to wait until nitrites drop significantly and then nitrates as well.

 

[csturgis1989]

Waiting is hard especially with a new tank but that is truly the only answer. Company’s may advertise instant cycling products in a bottle but unless you are scooping rock and sand directly from the ocean there is no such thing as instant cycling IMO. Also I would recommend ditching the api test kit and get salifert, or hanna. That being said once your tank becomes established typically you will not regularly test ammonia of nitrite.

 

[Magic031707]

Waiting is hard especially with a new tank but that is truly the only answer. Company’s may advertise instant cycling products in a bottle but unless you are scooping rock and sand directly from the ocean there is no such thing as instant cycling IMO. Also I would recommend ditching the api test kit and get salifert, or hanna. That being said once your tank becomes established typically you will not regularly test ammonia of nitrite.

Pretty much why I brought the API, to throw away after the cycle. I am patient but I have saw some threads that said nitrites does not effect the fish.

 

[csturgis1989]

Pretty much why I brought the API, to throw away after the cycle. I am patient but I have saw some threads that said nitrites does not effect the fish.

Nitrites don’t effect fish as much as ammonia does but from what I have seen stabilized tanks run 0 ammonia and close to 0 nitrite. Your tank will eventually stabilize it just takes time for the bacteria to populate accordingly.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Any reason you dosed the entire bottle of Nitrocycle?

I dosed the recommended amount and it took a while for it to lower from dark, dark green on API test kit. API works just fine for what you're doing so keep using it.

You will want to pick up another bottle of Fritz 900 turbostart or Instant Ocean Biospira, etc. Nitrites have not converted yet as they still showing.

I have a real hard time believing Nitrate is 75 unless you have been overfeeding and have a ton of livestock. Phosphates are through the roof too.

Do you have any ceramic media in your sump or bio bricks?

 

[Rmckoy]

You need to wait until nitrites drop significantly and then nitrates as well.

Nitrates will not drop unless a water change is done to export them .
nitrites will drop to zero though . Which will show as an excessively high nitrate result .
a large water change at that time and you’re ready to start stocking

 

[bushdoc]

One think to ponder-some Nitrate tests will show Falsely elevated Nitrates in presence of Nitrites, Salifert can do that, I am not sure about Hana.

 

[brandon429]

anyone who reads Dr. Reefs cycle thread knows this cycle was done on day one


all you did waiting past day three, the implantation time of the bacteria per the thread, was add unneeded wait time.

you are done cycling and need to study disease forum preps. Any hint that waiting longer makes your tank safer is false info and out of date and doesn’t align with any seneye posts on cycling, using lesser quality bacteria than you used. You could have added fritz and one lump of fish food and accomplished the same thing given this many wait days.


old cycling science: always says wait longer no matter what, doesn’t factor Dr. Reefs bottle bac thread nor updates known speeds for cycle completion. Old cycling science never aims towards disease prep, it aims for arbitrary wait times as directed by test kits that read wildly all over the place for most.

new cycling science says your tank is as safe on day one with bottle bac as it is day twenty and that disease preps are your only concern. New cycling science would never disavow clear findings from a 100+ page work thread with Dr. Tim in it.

 

[Magic031707]

Any reason you dosed the entire bottle of Nitrocycle?







I dosed the recommended amount and it took a while for it to lower from dark, dark green on API test kit. API works just fine for what you're doing so keep using it.







You will want to pick up another bottle of Fritz 900 turbostart or Instant Ocean Biospira, etc. Nitrites have not converted yet as they still showing.







I have a real hard time believing Nitrate is 75 unless you have been overfeeding and have a ton of livestock. Phosphates are through the roof too.







Do you have any ceramic media in your sump or bIf io bricks?



Any reason you dosed the entire bottle of Nitrocycle?



I dosed the recommended amount and it took a while for it to lower from dark, dark green on API test kit. API works just fine for what you're doing so keep using it.



You will want to pick up another bottle of Fritz 900 turbostart or Instant Ocean Biospira, etc. Nitrites have not converted yet as they still showing.



I have a real hard time believing Nitrate is 75 unless you have been overfeeding and have a ton of livestock. Phosphates are through the roof too.



Do you have any ceramic media in your sump or bio bricks?

Any reason you dosed the entire bottle of Nitrocycle?

I dosed the recommended amount and it took a while for it to lower from dark, dark green on API test kit. API works just fine for what you're doing so keep using it.

You will want to pick up another bottle of Fritz 900 turbostart or Instant Ocean Biospira, etc. Nitrites have not converted yet as they still showing.

I have a real hard time believing Nitrate is 75 unless you have been overfeeding and have a ton of livestock. Phosphates are through the roof too.

Do you have any ceramic media in your sump or bio bricks?

Yes, according to the instructions it said 1ml per gallon. I have 250 gallons of water and the bottle even said 1 bottle doses 250 gallon.

I have nothing in the tank but rock and sand.

I do have ceramic media, plates and balls along with 140lbs of rock and 120lbs of sand

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Glad to hear about the media. I would add more bacteria, it will convert, just give a about a week after you dose bacteria and do a large water change.

 

[brandon429]

No, the cycle is done and thats a waste of time and money

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Call me old school, back in the day we placed a deli shrimp in a tank to kick start the cycle. When tank reached 1.5-2 ppm ammonia we pulled it out and waited sometimes weeks to months for bacteria to colonize and drop ammonia and nitrites down to 0 to make tank safe for livestock. With recent...

www.reef2reef.com

find anything in there saying this cycle isn’t ready. Most strains of bottle bac are ready by day eight.

 

[Magic031707]

No, the cycle is done and thats a waste of time and money

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Call me old school, back in the day we placed a deli shrimp in a tank to kick start the cycle. When tank reached 1.5-2 ppm ammonia we pulled it out and waited sometimes weeks to months for bacteria to colonize and drop ammonia and nitrites down to 0 to make tank safe for livestock. With recent...

www.reef2reef.com

find anything in there saying this cycle isn’t ready. Most strains of bottle bac are ready by day eight.

So, big water change and slowly stock are the next steps?

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Yes, but first, add another bottle of bacteria. A fish or two would help speed it up. It seems like you're a little stuck on the cycle and that will help.

 

[brandon429]

Hurricane, you sell bottle bac is what I’m thinking each time you disagree in a cycling thread where someone is done


is that true, do you make revenue by constantly over selling bac, like the guys we rib for forty pages here?

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

If you aren’t a store and are a web poster then disagreeing is ok, that’s my daily fare. But if you make revenue selling bottle bac then = issues

I like writing long articles about how bottle bac sellers just love love fear-based cycling so the purchase clicks go up

That’s what we study above, one bottle bac purchase cycling. For three straight years… any cycle there can be tracked, sent a message for updates, to hone what you tell people.

notice any patterns from the above work thread

nobody needs a second bottle, and no reef cycle ever stalls / pattern is clear and on file above.

you aren’t changing water due to ammonia issues Magic. There are now two threads, 150 pages worth, showing you don’t have an ammonia issue. If you choose to change water it’s because you’ll have less algae fuel. If you don’t change water, nothing happens, your fish are fine when added, like the thread above shows.



nobody who sells bottle bac should be allowed on the board of cycle umps because you will never, ever ever be allowed to be done without another purchase. any hint that you aren’t done cycling Magic, after buying the most costly cycling kit available in reefing, is linkless old cycling science.

linked new cycling science has you assured and ready. The first non quarantined fish you add is a disease issue, it’s not any cycling risk.

 

[Magic031707]

Thanks, brandon429. I have read alot of your post on here and just wanted to make sure I was good to go. Been out the hobby for about 4 years and things have changed.

 

[brandon429]

The big change is disease Magic

consider reading just a few of the new threads in Jays disease forum
Today alone, ten new help posts for disease will be made..everyday, ten new. What’s the pattern they’re sharing? It’s not failed cycling that’s for sure

go select their avatar then click find all threads

notice how old their tank is from their first thread

you can likely find their cycling approach too in the digging, tie all that together as to why they’re posting for disease loss within eight months of startup


cycling in 2022= all these bottle bac companies figured out cycling for us. There’s nothing to coax. It’s dump and go, no thought required. All thought is aimed at preventing you from entering Jays disease forum by June. You can see that no matter how you cycle, even if you add four more bottles of doubt bacteria lol, specific disease preps are simply required nowadays and it didn’t used to be like that. In 2006 everyone’s live rocks system balanced things / dry rock starts require a change and it’s not in cycling it’s in disease preps and anticipation

 

[Garf]

Hello All,

I've read numerous threads about cycling but I know all situations/tanks are different. My issue is back on Dec 3rd I dosed whole bottle of nitrocycle and Fritz turbo900. The nitrocycle instructions were 1ml per gallon, so i dose the whole bottle as i have a 250 gallon. Dry rock and sand in the bag and my ammonia skyrocketed off the charts, like 8ppm. Now my parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: 0 (using API)
Nitrite: off the charts high (using API)
Nitrate: 75 (using Hanna)
Phosphate: 2.0 (using Hanna)

I know API is not that accurate, but is the cycle done or do I wait it out some more? Diatoms has reared its ugly face. I do have the skimmer running, but did not the first week.

Thanks my fellow reefers

Did you use tapwater? A pic of the tank would be nice.

 

[Magic031707]

No tap water, and my TDS was zero coming out.

 

[brandon429]

What would have made the thread really fun and energetic lol was if Magic reported movement of 8ppm to 1 or 2 ppm, and not zero. The cycle would still be done because it wasn’t really stalled at 1/4th power, which is how 100% of readers would interpret such a report. We got merely lucky zero was relayed here


the tell is not anything reported about test kits / that’s subjective and luck based. The objective tell that he’s done is twenty days wait when a cycling chart says ammonia control takes ten, and that no article on the planet exists to denounce a cycling charts ammonia control date as inaccurate. In fact, the inside stuff Dan and T are testing….


good call on clean ro di water, no tds, that’s an uglies nightmare setting. A water change for a clean start is good, less nitrogen in solution but isnt required for safety.

this sauce added is simply the strongest cycling mix avail, and it costs that way too.


cycling is now about disease prevention preps having nothing to do with ammonia oxidation steps, we ignore that part it’s always fine when dealing with bottle bac + ten days or more wait.