Did my new tank just turbo cycle?

[Seanjo]

Hello, I just set up a new lagoon style frag tank. It is two 20G tanks plumbed into a 36G sump. I am attempting a clear bottom build and only have 10lbs of miracle mud for substrate in the sump. I took about 50lbs rock from a tank that's been running for 20 years, cleaned it up and cooked it for about 3 months, no chemicals, just a clean water cook. The first chamber of the sump and one of the tanks is filled with that rock. It is extremely healthy, has beautiful coralline all over everything, large fan worms feeder tentacles are popping out, ect. There is a ton of bio media in the sump from Algae Barn.

The Dilemma:
I ordered the large refugium starter kit from Algae Barn and planned on doing a fishless cycle with Turbo Start and Nitro Cycle. Unfortunately my Nitro Cycle was delayed for another week, but I didn't want my chaeto, pods and phyto (that expires in 3 weeks) to sit in their packaging for too long, so I switched to a fish in cycle and filled the tank with 4 Fiji Damsels. I know the rule of thumb would be to add 7 or 8 for this tank but I have been ghost feeding ground up plankton and flake food so I didn't think I would need 8 fish to supply enough ammonia. I also don't like the idea of a fish in cycle but I didn't want to kill the other live goods waiting to go into the tank.

The Method:
I did not test anything for the first 4 days since I added the Turbo Start. Stupid, I know, but I've been crazy busy! Fish went in 8 hours or so after the Turbo Start. I ghost fed the tank the day before and the same day as adding the good bacteria, as well as every day after for 4 days. 4oz of turbo start the first day and another 2 the second and the last 2 the third. Fish have all been super happy. I did keep the lights on since day 2. I have also been running the fuge lights even though there is no clean algae in the sump yet.

The Test Results:
So since I waited until day 5 to test, I am concerned I may have missed my whole cycle... I also have ****** API test kits for ammonia and nitrite so not sure if the data from those is useful at all. ORP and PH are Neptune, Nitrates are from High Level Reefing.

Day 5 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 2 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Day 6 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 3 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Did I completely miss the cycle in my tank or are the API test kits so bad that they wouldn't detect my ammonia and nitrite swings? Maybe my tank hasn't cycled at all? Maybe my super well established rock, ghost feeding and fish cycled the tank before I could even get around to testing? I would assume I messed up and the cycle hasn't started yet if there wasn't a definite presence of Nitrates. I have green algae growing on the rocks in the tank so I think I might have turbo cycled the tank. I put a shroom, a goni, and a nem in the tank and they look happier than they were in their old tank. I want to think my tank is cycled and would like to move some more livestock and add my pods and chaeto. Would like to know the communities thoughts on this.

(I don't have any filters for photos but I promise the algae in the photo is green lol)

Also huge shout out to @SBB Corals for the pretty frags!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hello, I just set up a new lagoon style frag tank. It is two 20G tanks plumbed into a 36G sump. I am attempting a clear bottom build and only have 10lbs of miracle mud for substrate in the sump. I took about 50lbs rock from a tank that's been running for 20 years, cleaned it up and cooked it for about 3 months, no chemicals, just a clean water cook. The first chamber of the sump and one of the tanks is filled with that rock. It is extremely healthy, has beautiful coralline all over everything, large fan worms feeder tentacles are popping out, ect. There is a ton of bio media in the sump from Algae Barn.

The Dilemma:
I ordered the large refugium starter kit from Algae Barn and planned on doing a fishless cycle with Turbo Start and Nitro Cycle. Unfortunately my Nitro Cycle was delayed for another week, but I didn't want my chaeto, pods and phyto (that expires in 3 weeks) to sit in their packaging for too long, so I switched to a fish in cycle and filled the tank with 4 Fiji Damsels. I know the rule of thumb would be to add 7 or 8 for this tank but I have been ghost feeding ground up plankton and flake food so I didn't think I would need 8 fish to supply enough ammonia. I also don't like the idea of a fish in cycle but I didn't want to kill the other live goods waiting to go into the tank.

The Method:
I did not test anything for the first 4 days since I added the Turbo Start. Stupid, I know, but I've been crazy busy! Fish went in 8 hours or so after the Turbo Start. I ghost fed the tank the day before and the same day as adding the good bacteria, as well as every day after for 4 days. 4oz of turbo start the first day and another 2 the second and the last 2 the third. Fish have all been super happy. I did keep the lights on since day 2. I have also been running the fuge lights even though there is no clean algae in the sump yet.

The Test Results:
So since I waited until day 5 to test, I am concerned I may have missed my whole cycle... I also have ****** API test kits for ammonia and nitrite so not sure if the data from those is useful at all. ORP and PH are Neptune, Nitrates are from High Level Reefing.

Day 5 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 2 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Day 6 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 3 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Did I completely miss the cycle in my tank or are the API test kits so bad that they wouldn't detect my ammonia and nitrite swings? Maybe my tank hasn't cycled at all? Maybe my super well established rock, ghost feeding and fish cycled the tank before I could even get around to testing? I would assume I messed up and the cycle hasn't started yet if there wasn't a definite presence of Nitrates. I have green algae growing on the rocks in the tank so I think I might have turbo cycled the tank. I put a shroom, a goni, and a nem in the tank and they look happier than they were in their old tank. I want to think my tank is cycled and would like to move some more livestock and add my pods and chaeto. Would like to know the communities thoughts on this.

(I don't have any filters for photos but I promise the algae in the photo is green lol)

Also huge shout out to @SBB Corals for the pretty frags!

Agree @SBB Corals is AWESOME!! They've sponsored our hobby club in the past and everyone loves their corals!

watch your nitrate reading... you want to see it start to climb... that is the best indicator of cycle completion (but given above, suspect maybe did since you go from 2 to 3... not big numbers like most of us see, but it shows increase...)

 

[Dburr1014]

Hello, I just set up a new lagoon style frag tank. It is two 20G tanks plumbed into a 36G sump. I am attempting a clear bottom build and only have 10lbs of miracle mud for substrate in the sump. I took about 50lbs rock from a tank that's been running for 20 years, cleaned it up and cooked it for about 3 months, no chemicals, just a clean water cook. The first chamber of the sump and one of the tanks is filled with that rock. It is extremely healthy, has beautiful coralline all over everything, large fan worms feeder tentacles are popping out, ect. There is a ton of bio media in the sump from Algae Barn.

The Dilemma:
I ordered the large refugium starter kit from Algae Barn and planned on doing a fishless cycle with Turbo Start and Nitro Cycle. Unfortunately my Nitro Cycle was delayed for another week, but I didn't want my chaeto, pods and phyto (that expires in 3 weeks) to sit in their packaging for too long, so I switched to a fish in cycle and filled the tank with 4 Fiji Damsels. I know the rule of thumb would be to add 7 or 8 for this tank but I have been ghost feeding ground up plankton and flake food so I didn't think I would need 8 fish to supply enough ammonia. I also don't like the idea of a fish in cycle but I didn't want to kill the other live goods waiting to go into the tank.

The Method:
I did not test anything for the first 4 days since I added the Turbo Start. Stupid, I know, but I've been crazy busy! Fish went in 8 hours or so after the Turbo Start. I ghost fed the tank the day before and the same day as adding the good bacteria, as well as every day after for 4 days. 4oz of turbo start the first day and another 2 the second and the last 2 the third. Fish have all been super happy. I did keep the lights on since day 2. I have also been running the fuge lights even though there is no clean algae in the sump yet.

The Test Results:
So since I waited until day 5 to test, I am concerned I may have missed my whole cycle... I also have ****** API test kits for ammonia and nitrite so not sure if the data from those is useful at all. ORP and PH are Neptune, Nitrates are from High Level Reefing.

Day 5 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 2 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Day 6 test results were as follows:
Ammonia: < .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate API: 5 PPM
Nitrate HLR: 3 PPM
ORP: 220
PH: 8-8.1
Temp: 77.5

Did I completely miss the cycle in my tank or are the API test kits so bad that they wouldn't detect my ammonia and nitrite swings? Maybe my tank hasn't cycled at all? Maybe my super well established rock, ghost feeding and fish cycled the tank before I could even get around to testing? I would assume I messed up and the cycle hasn't started yet if there wasn't a definite presence of Nitrates. I have green algae growing on the rocks in the tank so I think I might have turbo cycled the tank. I put a shroom, a goni, and a nem in the tank and they look happier than they were in their old tank. I want to think my tank is cycled and would like to move some more livestock and add my pods and chaeto. Would like to know the communities thoughts on this.

(I don't have any filters for photos but I promise the algae in the photo is green lol)

Also huge shout out to @SBB Corals for the pretty frags!

No cycle at all.
You used established rock. All you really did was add clean water. You didn't have a cycle.

 

[Cell]

Sufficient live rock = skip cycle

 

[Seanjo]

Agree @SBB Corals is AWESOME!! They've sponsored our hobby club in the past and everyone loves their corals!

watch your nitrate reading... you want to see it start to climb... that is the best indicator of cycle completion (but given above, suspect maybe did since you go from 2 to 3... not big numbers like most of us see, but it shows increase...)

I assumed I would see some Nitrites trailing off if Nitrates are coming in. So I was a little worried I didn't have a cycle at all. But I also don't trust API lol.

Sufficient live rock = skip cycle

That's what I was hoping for.

No cycle at all.
You used established rock. All you really did was add clean water. You didn't have a cycle.

Maybe you missed the part about the 2.5x bacteria add, fish and ghost feedings? I can't imagine this didn't create some sort of mini cycle at least.

 

[Dburr1014]

I assumed I would see some Nitrites trailing off if Nitrates are coming in. So I was a little worried I didn't have a cycle at all. But I also don't trust API lol.


That's what I was hoping for.


Maybe you missed the part about the 2.5x bacteria add, fish and ghost feedings? I can't imagine this didn't create some sort of mini cycle at least.

I didn't miss it. Your rock has been processing it all.

BTW; you have good reason not to trust api test kits. Good for trends, not hard numbers.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Maybe you missed the part about the 2.5x bacteria add, fish and ghost feedings? I can't imagine this didn't create some sort of mini cycle at least.

A mini cycle is when your bioload exceeds the capacity of the existing bacteria... Adding more bacteria does not cause a cycle.

 

[Seanjo]

I didn't miss it. Your rock has been processing it all.

BTW; you have good reason not to trust api test kits. Good for trends, not hard numbers.

Oh I see what you're saying! Yeah, I have hana checkers and a trident for everything else. Was hoping to see some sort of swings for ammonia and nitrate since this is my first build with such established rock.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

. I took about 50lbs rock from a tank that's been running for 20 years, cleaned it up and cooked it for about 3 months, no chemicals, just a clean water cook.

Can you clarify this? I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "cook"...
Established live rock that's still in water would not need to be cured (no die off/extra organics to be removed)...
Unless you mean you broke down one tank and kept the rock in a holding container while your new tank was set up (in which case it would be no different than if it was still in a tank), I am confused why you didn't just transfer the rock directly from one aquarium to the other?

 

[Seanjo]

Can you clarify this? I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "cook"...
Established live rock that's still in water would not need to be cured (no die off/extra organics to be removed)...
Unless you mean you broke down one tank and kept the rock in a holding container while your new tank was set up (in which case it would be no different than if it was still in a tank), I am confused why you didn't just transfer the rock directly from one aquarium to the other?

There was plenty of bubble algae, cyano and some aiptasia that I saw in the tank that I got the rock out of. I cleaned off everything I could see and let is sit in clean water with a pump. I changed the water every few weeks. I kept it in a container without light. I just wanted to kill off the visible nuisance algae and bacteria before using it in my new build. It came out looking amazing.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

There was plenty of bubble algae, cyano and some aiptasia that I saw in the tank that I got the rock out of. I cleaned off everything I could see and let is sit in clean water with a pump. I changed the water every few weeks. I kept it in a container without light. I just wanted to kill off the visible nuisance algae and bacteria before using it in my new build. It came out looking amazing.

Awesome! Thanks for the explanation

 

[Dburr1014]

There was plenty of bubble algae, cyano and some aiptasia that I saw in the tank that I got the rock out of. I cleaned off everything I could see and let is sit in clean water with a pump. I changed the water every few weeks. I kept it in a container without light. I just wanted to kill off the visible nuisance algae and bacteria before using it in my new build. It came out looking amazing.

It will kill anything that NEEDS light but the bacteria was still intact.

 

[brandon429]

It is accurate by post search history to state there are very few folks I never clash with on cycling calls

LRT, DBurr, Ralph/Nano reefer are standouts where we never bicker over any call. years on end I only see 100% agreeable material. as soon as I saw hand cured weekslong controlled curing of already cycled live rock in the description above I went right to this reply/ skip cycle. this doesn't mean my opinion is right, it just means I only get along with 3 people in the realm of reef tank cycling heh


*relating back to the intergalactic struggle between new cycling science and old, bad, cycling science from 1998

this post is another example that our cycling study materials require updating. no fritz purchasing, no form of expenditure is required in skip cycle setups and in fact its the best way of cycling of the 4 main methods. we need material that explains what bacteria do, they stick to wet rocks permanently even if transferred tanks, whereas all the current cycling method says dose ammonia to 2 ppm/ add a paid bottle bac, if not zero ammonia your cycle is stuck. buy more.

 

[brandon429]

Ill add Cell promptly. four folks. to the other two good friends I'm failing to recall there are six total practitioners of updated cycling science and we'll all be badged one day.