Help Me Cycle!

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I did get the bio balls wet, I watched them pull it out of their sump.

I am using an API test kit.

Seems like most people agree my tank is cycled. I will probably add one more hardy fish and keep checking my levels every 2 days just in case we haven’t actually started the cycle.

I am not planning to add more than 1 or 2 fish max at any time.

That’s a fine plan. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I guess that just confuses me on fish in vs fishless… with my ammonia essentially hitting zero from a high dose, why is his cycled but mine is considered not on the premise it hasn’t processed all the nitrite, but with my readings, it’s processed more than his?

It sounds like 2 clowns would never require the tank to process the ammonia mine did, (75 display, about 90 running), so how is the result considered the same?

In other terms, this makes it sound like the term “cycled” is quite variable in my mind. Not trying to hijack - hope this is useful to someone else on understanding cycle methods too.

It is certainly true that cycling can mean many different things.

IMO, for most people it just means when can I add a fish, and declined ammonia, or none detectable after a fish has been present is sufficient.

 

[Reefin' Steve]

I guess that just confuses me on fish in vs fishless… with my ammonia essentially hitting zero from a high dose, why is his cycled but mine is considered not on the premise it hasn’t processed all the nitrite, but with my readings, it’s processed more than his?

It sounds like 2 clowns would never require the tank to process the ammonia mine did, (75 display, about 90 running), so how is the result considered the same?

In other terms, this makes it sound like the term “cycled” is quite variable in my mind. Not trying to hijack - hope this is useful to someone else on understanding cycle methods too.

It is certainly true that cycling can mean many different things.

IMO, for most people it just means when can I add a fish, and declined ammonia, or none detectable after a fish has been present is sufficient.

I’d tend to agree based on danger to livestock, I’m just following fishless “norms” or instructions with mine.

It was a good amount of ammonia I had to add, they have done a lot of work. And some would say to re dose and check movement, which all feels excessive after reading this thread.

Blanket statements? To cover any aquarium setup possibly, volume of course has a lot to do with it, but the more rock and volume, the more ammonia and bacteria we add, rather than trying to process a fixed amount of ammonia. Which should equate to higher bacteria population in my mind by the time the tank works it out, but maybe you’re just setting them up to die off when you add only two clowns and stop dosing.

People much smarter than me have figured all this out, I’m just the type to want to understand on the deepest level I can.

 

[Dan_P]

I guess that just confuses me on fish in vs fishless… with my ammonia essentially hitting zero from a high dose, why is his cycled but mine is considered not on the premise it hasn’t processed all the nitrite, but with my readings, it’s processed more than his?

It sounds like 2 clowns would never require the tank to process the ammonia mine did, (75 display, about 90 running), so how is the result considered the same?

In other terms, this makes it sound like the term “cycled” is quite variable in my mind. Not trying to hijack - hope this is useful to someone else on understanding cycle methods too.

We do not “know” whether the op’s system is cycled or ammonia is just undetectable. We know your system is cycled as far as it is capable of consuming ammonia. Nitrite consumption will develop later (I saw Randy’s thoughts on the presence of nitrite).

 

[Reefin' Steve]

I guess that just confuses me on fish in vs fishless… with my ammonia essentially hitting zero from a high dose, why is his cycled but mine is considered not on the premise it hasn’t processed all the nitrite, but with my readings, it’s processed more than his?

It sounds like 2 clowns would never require the tank to process the ammonia mine did, (75 display, about 90 running), so how is the result considered the same?

In other terms, this makes it sound like the term “cycled” is quite variable in my mind. Not trying to hijack - hope this is useful to someone else on understanding cycle methods too.

We do not “know” whether the op’s system is cycled or ammonia is just undetectable. We know your system is cycled as far as it is capable of consuming ammonia. Nitrite consumption will develop later (I saw Randy’s thoughts on the presence of nitrite).

Understood, I didn’t see the nitrite post until a couple posts later because I was tagged on page 2. Just a guy trying to make sense of it all!