Brand new to the hobby here. This is my first attempt at a nitrogen cycle. I used the Dr. Tim's method and followed the instructions exactly. I'm getting a bit concerned because nitrite processing seem to be stalled. Here's my setup and parameters so far:
75 gal tank + 20 gal sump
live sand, dry rock
temp: 79-80 degrees
PH: avg 8.11
salinity: 34.5 ppt
RODI water
ammonia and nitrite test kits: Red Sea
I'm not seeing any signs of algae or sliminess yet. I've also seen other posts where the advice is to ignore nitrite readings and just look at ammonia. So I'm wondering:
Here is my ammonia (blue) and nitrite (orange). Day 1 was Dec 19 and I'm now on day 16 (Jan 3):
75 gal tank + 20 gal sump
live sand, dry rock
temp: 79-80 degrees
PH: avg 8.11
salinity: 34.5 ppt
RODI water
ammonia and nitrite test kits: Red Sea
- Day 1: Filled tank, added live sand, added bottle of Dr. Tim's One & Only + 4 drops per gal of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride.
- Day 3: same ammonium chloride dose.
- Day 6: same ammonium chloride dose.
- Day 13: my LFS suggested I add some live rock and turn on the lights, which I did. Also added some coral which is doing fine.
- Day 16: (today) Ammonia has been at 0 for two days now. Nitrite seems to be holding steady around 1.2 ppm (the Red Sea maxes out at 1 so I'm estimating).
I'm not seeing any signs of algae or sliminess yet. I've also seen other posts where the advice is to ignore nitrite readings and just look at ammonia. So I'm wondering:
- should I be concerned that nitrite is not dropping?
- should I add more ammonium chloride to see if it processes?
- should I add a pair of clownfish now or just be patient and keep testing?
Here is my ammonia (blue) and nitrite (orange). Day 1 was Dec 19 and I'm now on day 16 (Jan 3):