HELP! - Suggestions needed for Aquarium Cycle.

Mkkari

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Ok here we go,

I started a 180g tank with dead sand and rock.
I started my cycle with fritz turbo start 900, added 2 4 year old clowns (3") from my old tank, I know I am guilty here but after 5 days I added 3 other fishies :( (My blue tang - 4", rabbit fox face - 6" and Royal gamma - 3")
I also had 8oz of sea lettuce in the refugium with bad light (again has issues with my darn AI refuge delivery) so they have been dying.

Now regarding the cycle,

Week 1 - Ammonia was high, Nitrites low & No Nitrates
Week 2 - Ammonia disappeared, Nitrites SPIKED & very little Nitrates (at least I know there is nitrifying bacteria). - Also Added a small bottle of fritz turbo start 900
Week 3 - >1 ppm Ammonia, Nitrites still super high

I did a 50% water change, then looked at the nitrites & It was still freaking HIGH. (I am pulling my hair now)

I looked at the sea lettuce and those guys where decaying with around 60% still alive. so I was like I guess this is it, I am stupid. I gave the 60% to my buddy and he is super happy about it.

I was convinced to do another 50% water change, but it has been only 3 days since the first 50% change. So I though of doing a little test before i change 50% water again, I use API nitrite checker. They use 5ml tank water to perform a test, So i took 2.5ml tank water and mixed it with 2.5 ml RODI and tested it and guess what ?? the nitrites was still really high.

So I researched and used Seachem Prime. That thing works like magic and that is not always a good thing tbh lol.

I treated the tank for just a day and then did the same half tank water and half rodi water test and this time my NITRITES was 0. (LIKE WHAAATTT?? )

So now I know if i do a 50% water change, it will actually help. However, here is where i need expert opinions.

Should I treat the tank with Seachem Prime for next 5 days (Since I have the whole bottle left) and on the 6th day do a 50% water change? The reason being that I think the bacteria just did not get enough time to populate and I will give it another 5 days. What I am worried about the alternative is that, I do a change and next day the nitrite spikes up again :/

If you read all this, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.

p.s - Sorry I did not proof read lol.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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You are cycled post pics. Add nothing buy nothing


with pics this is how we proof: if your water is cloudy, fish panting at the top leaning halfway over, darting about the tank, never feeding, with inflamed reddened gills, you aren’t cycled. In an uncycled tank the fish never swim down low, they pant up top in a lethal condition called oxygen aerotaxis since their gills are burnt they must be at the highest oxygen area of the tank, which isn’t at the bottom.


i missed all that in your description

:)
of course you skipped the allotted wait times.



thankfully, fritz was designed just for that exact use, nice job. If they charged you that much for bacteria and it didn’t work, it’d be a ripoff lol

Nitrite doesn’t factor in updated cycle science although old rules said it does.


do nothing, but nothing, add no dosers your cycle is done fully

the tests you are using can’t read params for cycling very well at all, let’s proof the cycle using most reliable measure: what the picture looks like with the distribution of animals. Now thats trustworthy!

every additional purchase and doser given so far was unneeded, the ammonia test is wrong if it indicates free ammonia while fish are happy. Nitrite doesn’t factor, we don’t need to know it, it can’t harm anything in your reef.
 
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brandon429

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Week 3 + fritz which is ready in 24-48 hours + non dead fish. Take me to Vegas with these odds, we own the casino. Your cycle is done, meaning if you do nothing new your reef just works as it always has. Cease testing for nitrite here, and only test for ammonia again if there’s a missing fish you haven’t seen in a week. Matter closed, all set. Isn’t it neat we don’t have to go on for pages anymore, you’ve already started reefing, time to enjoy.


be changing water out not for ammonia or nitrite reasons, but because that act allows you to be siphoning out ‘uglies’ that will begin soon. Be active and clean with the new reef, not passive. And never, ever allow anything ugly to take over, keep things sharp, maintain reef pride for how it looks to others, expect busy at the start and then can back off months or years later, welcome to large reefing :)

you did nothing wrong here, this is how cycling is changing for the hobby, speed is where we are heading and it’s not scary to me we see this commonly. hobby tends to delay accepting new changes.

we do need some pics
 
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Mkkari

Mkkari

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You are cycled post pics. Add nothing buy nothing


with pics this is how we proof: if your water is cloudy, fish panting at the top leaning halfway over, darting about the tank, never feeding, with inflamed reddened gills, you aren’t cycled. In an uncycled tank the fish never swim down low, they pant up top in a lethal condition called oxygen aerotaxis since their gills are burnt they must be at the highest oxygen area of the tank, which isn’t at the bottom.


i missed all that in your description

:)
of course you skipped the allotted wait times.



thankfully, fritz was designed just for that exact use, nice job. If they charged you that much for bacteria and it didn’t work, it’d be a ripoff lol

Nitrite doesn’t factor in updated cycle science although old rules said it does.


do nothing, but nothing, add no dosers your cycle is done fully

the tests you are using can’t read params for cycling very well at all, let’s proof the cycle using most reliable measure: what the picture looks like with the distribution of animals. Now thats trustworthy!

every additional purchase and doser given so far was unneeded, the ammonia test is wrong if it indicates free ammonia while fish are happy. Nitrite doesn’t factor, we don’t need to know it, it can’t harm anything in your reef.

Wow, so none of the fishes show the above symptoms. They are super healthy and happy, that is literally the first thing I look at lol.

The Ammonia levels are actually less than 1 ppm, it got the slightest shade of green in it.

I know, their product is pretty good, I was debating between Dr Tim's but went with the ultimate refugium package from Algae Barn, who I love BTW.

I have attached some pics - oh I forgot to mention, I also have a toadstool leather in there as well lol.

Thank you so much for taking the time and explaining it to me.

20200804_192337.jpg 20200804_183926.jpg 20200804_183918.jpg 20200804_192340.jpg
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Excellent reef, fish down swimming low all happy, corals not shriveled up, water clear, this is off and running. The amazing fact at this point is that not only is your cycle complete, but it can’t be undone or made weak or need boosting or need more time. It’s stuck to all surfaces, the bottle bac you added, even a total water change would not undo or set back this cycle.


Fritz bottle bac was tested in Dr Reefs 90 page bottle bac thread to be immune to full water changes in 24 to 48 hours, other people have already extensively tested this kind of cycle, it was never in doubt. Can’t wait for update pics as time goes by. If this was 2006 then you’d be told to await impending doom for the whole system, bacteria weren‘t given thirty days to ramp up. Check one off for updated cycle science

*side detail: 95% of any fish-in cycle threads are using dry rocks, wet pack live sand from caribsea, fish, and bottle bac. In some cases bottle bac might be dead/bad bottle. Wet sand has these cycles covered anyway as backup :) it turns out that selling us wet sand in bags plus bac is the same as selling us bottle bac — this combo presents more than one inoculation source for good bacteria.
 
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Mkkari

Mkkari

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Excellent reef, fish down swimming low all happy, corals not shriveled up, water clear, this is off and running. The amazing fact at this point is that not only is your cycle complete, but it can’t be undone or made weak or need boosting or need more time. It’s stuck to all surfaces, the bottle bac you added, even a total water change would not undo or set back this cycle.


Fritz bottle bac was tested in Dr Reefs 90 page bottle bac thread to be immune to full water changes in 24 to 48 hours, other people have already extensively tested this kind of cycle, it was never in doubt. Can’t wait for update pics as time goes by. If this was 2006 then you’d be told to await impending doom for the whole system, bacteria weren‘t given thirty days to ramp up. Check one off for updated cycle science

*side detail: 95% of any fish-in cycle threads are using dry rocks, wet pack live sand from caribsea, fish, and bottle bac. In some cases bottle bac might be dead/bad bottle. Wet sand has these cycles covered anyway as backup :) it turns out that selling us wet sand in bags plus bac is the same as selling us bottle bac — this combo presents more than one inoculation source for good bacteria.
Thank you Brandon, I remember my first 2 tank was setup using a live rock from my
Friends tank and shrimp or tilapia piece lol...it has evolved so much...

Back then I did not have much knowledge and not enough money for test kits...I knew the cycle was complete when the fish did not die (damsels)...this was 13 years ago...
 

brandon429

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How did this reef turn out

we are tracking nitrite-positive starts for long term issues in another thread
 
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Mkkari

Mkkari

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How did this reef turn out

we are tracking nitrite-positive starts for long term issues in another thread
Hey Brandon, thank you for asking. 2 weeks later we spoke, the nitrites did not go away. So dumped brightwells Microbacter starter XLM, removed the filter sock and turned of the skimmer. I did not test it for 8 days and on the 9th day the nitrites was 0 and nitrates is still under control.
 
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Mkkari

Mkkari

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How did this reef turn out

we are tracking nitrite-positive starts for long term issues in another thread
Also, I turned off the lights for 2 weeks as well, to avoid any algae growth, so they don't compete with the bacteria for surface area....
 

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