Fluval Evo 13.5 Cycle

[Adam_1992]

Hi All,

I’ve been cycling my Fluval Evo 13.5 for close to 3 weeks now.

I used CaribSea Life Rock (that’s supposed to be infused with bacteria), Arag alive sand too. I’m using sea water too.

On starting the cycle I put Fritzyme9 as my starter, along with Fritz Fishless Fuel.

My ammonia instantly went up and a few days later Nitrite.. but I noticed that after about a week and a half (almost 2 weeks) - nothing moved. I was worried the cycle had stalled, since most say that using Fritz - your tank cycles faster, especially with using the rock and sand I went with.

Anyway, noticing that it looked like I stalled - I then added in Nutrafin Cycle. To my horror I noticed that it was cloudy and had tiny particles like clouds in it which went in my tank. I freaked out - but this did seem to kick start the cycle again. (I didn’t add this again - as I’m worried it was a bad batch)…
I was worried so I did a 30% water change - which brought my nitrite down a bit.

On Sunday I noticed that again no change in my tests… so I went to my LFS and got Seachem Stability. I dosed it on Sunday night (and adding 2 mls every night) and by Tuesday night my ammonia was at 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate was about 20-40.

So I did my first test - I dosed ammonia to 1ppm to see if it would cycle it in 24 hrs… it didn’t. My ammonia last night was 0.25 and my nitrite is between 0.25-0.5.
I then tested this morning and it’s at a similar result.

I’m hoping by tonight both will be at 0 -

But I need advice - do I do the 2ppm test next or just keep testing with 1ppm ammonia?

I really want to get 2 clowns over the weekend and they will produce far less ammonia than 1ppm. Will it be safe to finish cycling with clowns or not?

I’ll obviously do a big water change before adding them in - and I’ll keep dosing Stability for a week.

Thanks!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What test kits are you using? Certain test kits (like API for example) always show .25.

The tank is cycled when ammonia is zero (or .25) and you have some nitrates. So since you have nitrate of 40, I consider your tank as cycled. Don't worry about nitrite it has no bearing in salt water.

 

[Fish Fan]

I would discontinue the use of the Stability and other bottled bacteria products. You should already have the bacteria you need, and adding dose after dose of the bottled products can lead to some problems, such as what you saw when you added the Nutrafin product.

As mentioned above, you're likely cycled. If you're using API brand test kits, they will often read 0.25 ppm for ammonia when it's likely much lower or zero.

Again, nitrite isn't toxic at all and is of no concern during your cycle or after

Good luck!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The drop in ammonia suggests it is sufficiently cycled to move forward. Zero is not a goal with most kits. A significant drop is the goal.