Cycling Tank

[HossAquatics]

Hey everybody, Im cycling my 15g using the Dr Tims one and only and ammonium chloride method. Im using fiji pink sand, caribsea life rock (5ish pounds), and a bottle of precycled seachem matrix in the return chamber. Waters been at 78 degrees and raising to 82ish today to promote bacterial growth as recommended in the instructions. Theres 10g of water so i added 4 capfuls one and only (i know i cant overdose) and 40 drops ammonium chloride. Im on day 2 and im getting 0.25 on both ammonia and nitrite. Reading the ammonium chloride directions, it says on day 3 if theyre below 1ppm add 2ppm ammonium chloride, but on day 7&8 it says if its below 0.5 ppm the tank is close to being cycled and to measure every day. Theres no way i skipped days 3-6 right? If so, im assuming i would just measure every day until they both get to 0.2 and then add 2ppm and see if its 0.2 the next day? If not, i should would continue to day 3 and test both and add 2ppm if below 1ppm. Heres the link to the instructions https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/library/quick-guide-to-fishless-cycling-with-one-and-only/

Any advice is very much appreciated

 

[Tahoe61]

Curve ball!

On a 15 gallon system once you add your initial doses you need do nothing more.
I have cycled 2 tanks using the products, both tanks were completely cycled in 3 weeks. One tank 14 gallon the other 6.

Once you get to 0 ammonia you can challenge the tank and see how quickly it converts the ammonia to nitrate then to nitrates.

Bacteria populate at their own rate.

 

[HossAquatics]

Curve ball!

On a 15 gallon system once you add your initial doses you need do nothing more.
I have cycled 2 tanks using the products, both tanks were completely cycled in 3 weeks. One tank 14 gallon the other 6.

Once you get to 0 ammonia you can challenge the tank and see how quickly it converts the ammonia to nitrate then to nitrates.

Bacteria populate at their own rate.

Oh dude nice! Thank you for your help. So I’ll just keep testing every day until i get below 0.2 and then add 2ppm to see if it can convert over 24hrs. Another question is, if i add the 2ppm and it doesnt go back down under 0.2 the next day, would I add another 2ppm?

 

[Tahoe61]

No. You would just be adding more ammonia to a system that doesn't have the biological filter to convert it yet.
You can consider adding more bacteria though.
Long story short it takes roughly 3 weeks unless you use cured live rock and live sand.
How big is the tank?

 

[HossAquatics]

No. You would just be adding more ammonia to a system that doesn't have the biological filter to convert it yet.
You can consider adding more bacteria though.
Long story short it takes roughly 3 weeks unless you use cured live rock and live sand.
How big is the tank?

I used caribsea life rock and live fiji pink sand. So would that make it go faster? Im not in a rush im just trying to get a feel for what i should be looking for in these tests. And its a 15g

 

[brandon429]

Trick of the century

Add one pinch of ground up fish food, a small amount

Wait ten days, you’re cycled and can’t not be cycled and nothing the test kits say can alter or change that fact. This frees you from having to test, and you now have an exact cycling date ready vs an open ended one which is the old way

All additives you could possibly need for cycling, accounted for in one paragraph based on your description.

This saves you ever adding prime, or more bottle bac, or having to worry about a stall, nothing was listed that could make the rule of day 10 not hold in your tank.


You need to study fish disease preps now that the cycle is done. If you skip them, expect to have the same outcome at the same # of months after startup as the majority posters on page one in the disease help forum.

How you cycle your reef has 0% impact on disease rates. Taking nine straight months to cycle, and skipping preps, just gets you ich at the same rate you can already see in thread patterns today.

You’re now done with cycling. At that date, what you add will be carried and won’t fail. Disease import will get ya, though.

 

[brandon429]

On the 27th you’ll be ready to reef. The reason why is calculated wait time, you’ve provided the necessary feed

And water


And heat

Now is the time variable. Old cycling science didn’t know it was as finite and predictable as it is

It’s already been charted for time, the completed reef tank cycle — it wasn’t my idea.


Anyone reading: by what date does the ammonia line drop on a cycling chart? The ones from books, not the charts made by peers with api

How many days do all published cycling charts ever made show for the ammonia drop

Do any charts ever range on that date?


Not for fifty straight years?

Why is that


= means the crucial drop (ammonia line) in reef cycling is an agreed upon time variable, not a test kit reading and we were never taught that option. Bottle bac sellers choose to teach from the testing angle, and thats madness for owners of api and Red Sea kits. Seeking zero ammonia w drive reefers cra

Nitrite does not factor in updated cycling science and it specifically will not stall a reef tank cycle. Being told it does causes us to buy repeat bacteria for perceived stall, it’s a sales trick. But it’s not truth.

By not testing any further you remove the designed traps for taking your $ and you seize time to study disease preps, the ones you’re destined to skip after reading how hard they are :)

But your cycle will surely not be an issue that’s for sure.