Help cycling tank

[Oso687]

Hello I have a 13.5 gal saltwater tank with Live rock and live sand I used 2 oz of dr Tim’s one and only and I put 4 drops per gal 54 drops of dr Tim’s ammonium chloride my ammonia is reading 8.0 ppm and my nitrite is reading 0.5 I think I might have messed up by adding 4 drops per gal of tank and not the water in the tank is there anything I can do to fix this or do I leave it alone

 

[Specific Ocean]

I found this calculator helpful when calculating my total water volume in my aquarium.

I like near precise measurements and this put me in the ballpark

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[Specific Ocean]

A ha lol nice one, at least we got to that before page ten.

specific ocean is deep belly laughing at me now, me too a bit.

 

[Oso687]

A ha lol nice one, at least we got to that before page ten.

specific ocean is deep belly laughing at me now, me too a bit.

Lol my bad for some reason I though you were asking someone else for a picture I’m new to forums and obviously saltwater aquariums

 

[Mrj7]

Hello I have a 13.5 gal saltwater tank with Live rock and live sand I used 2 oz of dr Tim’s one and only and I put 4 drops per gal 54 drops of dr Tim’s ammonium chloride my ammonia is reading 8.0 ppm and my nitrite is reading 0.5 I think I might have messed up by adding 4 drops per gal of tank and not the water in the tank is there anything I can do to fix this or do I leave it alone

When I started my 13.5 I used Dr Tim’s ammonia. I used 4 drops per gallon which was 40 drops. The sand and rock displaces a lot of water so there’s only about 10g of water in my tank. I used dr Tim’s bacteria and it seemed to be going slow. I added Microbactor start xlm and then it really took off. The whole process was done in a couple weeks.

 

[Garf]

Your nitrate test is picking up your nitrite.
This is giving false confidence of cycle completion. This is why we test both nitrite and nitrate.

 

[Oso687]

Your nitrate test is picking up your nitrite.
This is giving false confidence of cycle completion. This is why we test both nitrite and nitrate.

So are you saying it’s not cycled?

 

[Garf]

So are you saying it’s not cycled?

If your nitrite reading is accurate, I am, yes.

 

[Oso687]

If your nitrite reading is accurate, I am, yes.

OK so just saying to just keep doing what I’m doing you think I should add more ammonia

 

[Garf]

OK so just saying to just keep doing what I’m doing you think I should add more ammonia

I wouldn’t add anymore ammonia. Your two clowns aren’t gonna give off a lot, and really you’ve just gotta match that. You should notice both nitrite and nitrate readings come down over the next few days, then nitrate will reach a level and not move any further. The current trend is then to add a bit of ammonia, so you can get a reading and retest it 24 hrs later. If the reading is then zero, you’re done.

 

[Oso687]

I wouldn’t add anymore ammonia. Your two clowns aren’t gonna give off a lot, and really you’ve just gotta match that. You should notice both nitrite and nitrate readings come down over the next few days, then nitrate will reach a level and not move any further. The current trend is then to add a bit of ammonia, so you can get a reading and retest it 24 hrs later. If the reading is then zero, you’re done.

Ok so now I have 0 ammonia nitrite is at 5.0 and nitrate is at 160 is this normal lol there was no ammonia yesterday either

 

[Oso687]

Ok so now I have 0 ammonia nitrite is at 5.0 and nitrate is at 160 is this normal lol there was no ammonia yesterday either

But yesterday the nitrate was at 40 ppm and nitrite was still 5.0

 

[Oso687]

But yesterday the nitrate was at 40 ppm and nitrite was

But yesterday the nitrate was at 40 ppm and nitrite was still 5.0

 

[Garf]

It’s nice to see an API ammonia test that reads zero . Bit more waiting around required to fully cycle the tank. The nitrite needs to start coming down and you can retire your ammonia test.

 

[Oso687]

It’s nice to see an API ammonia test that reads zero . Bit more waiting around required to fully cycle the tank. The nitrite needs to start coming down and you can retire your ammonia test.

Ok and still don’t add anymore ammonia? I really appreciate the help thank you all for the advise

 

[Garf]

Ok and still don’t add anymore ammonia? I really appreciate the help thank you all for the advise

I wouldn’t, not until nitrite is going down anyway.

 

[Oso687]

I wouldn’t, not until nitrite is going down anyway.

Just a quick update my nitrite and nitrates are still 5.0 and 80 ppm I’m not in a rush just worried it’s not gonna go down lol

 

[Oso687]

Just a quick update my nitrite and nitrates are still 5.0 and 80 ppm I’m not in a rush just worried it’s not gonna go down lol

Should I do a water change

 

[Garf]

Should I do a water change

Will be ok to change some water, you don’t need that much nitrite in the water anyway.

 

[Oso687]

Will be ok to change some water, you don’t need that much nitrite in the water anyway.

I did a 5 gal water change brought my nitrite Down to 1 ppm and nitrate down to 20 ppm should I (A) add ammonia and wait 24 hours (B) just put my clowns in and consider it cycled or (C) wait until the levels drop and then put ammonia in and wait 24 hours I’m fine with waiting and I’m sorry for being annoying just want to do it right thank you for all the help so far

 

[Garf]

I did a 5 gal water change brought my nitrite Down to 1 ppm and nitrate down to 20 ppm should I (A) add ammonia and wait 24 hours (B) just put my clowns in and consider it cycled or (C) wait until the levels drop and then put ammonia in and wait 24 hours I’m fine with waiting and I’m sorry for being annoying just want to do it right thank you for all the help so far

If it’s cycling properly, that 1ppm nitrite should be gone in no time at all. Would be nice to see it come down further but probably not critical.