Is my tank cycled (instantly)?

[Leo.LA]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time setting up a reef tank. I decided to go for nano because of budget and space in my apartment.

I have Fluval evo 13.5g. Planning to have couple fish and some corals on it.

1st day

Used RO/DI water, added regular sand (not live), 10lbs of live rock (real reef) from LFS which is supposedly cured but the guy said "I would still cure it to not blame the store" and Bio-Spira (Instant Ocean Nitrifying Bacteria).

The live rock was transferred in a bucket with water. I also saw one pod floating around.

Since I don't want to add fish or corals yet and I think Bio-Spira recommended to add fish for ammonia source, I added a snail and a hermit crab.

Today is now the 3rd day and after testing using API master kit

0 or 0.25ppm ammonia (It's hard to tell because of the color and also based on my research, API is a little sensitive and it is a common problem to see .25 when it's 0)
0 ppm nitrites
5-10ppm nitrates

 

[Euphyllia97]

My guess is that your tank isn’t producing enough ammonia. As you transported the rocks you might only have little die off. (explaining nitrates) Could be possible that the rocks contain enough bacteria to deal with the minimal die off and inverts. If I were you, I would take out the inverts and add 1 ppm of ammonia to the system. If it drops back to 0 and you see an increase in nitrate (or nitrite remains 0), you are good to go and add your first fish.

I have noticed that parameters in the beginning can be quite weird... So don’t rush it. I have had a tank converting ammonia to nitrite immediately. However it took 2 months to get the cycle prepared to convert to nitrates. (This is why I want you to make sure the tank is really converting a good amount of ammonia to nitrates.

 

[Magellan]

Ghost feed the tank, just put some food in there. Then wait at least 2 weeks before adding fish imo

 

[Cell]

I would add some ammonia to a measurable level and see how long it takes to process. But with 10 lbs of live rock you should be good to go.

 

[Amado]

What’s your goal ?
If you want to add fish fast. You can buy real ocean water. For that size tank it should take like 3 containers. Real ocean water will have all the bacteria that you need and give you an instant cycle you can add fish right away.

 

[Idoc]

I like to dose up the ammonia to 1-2ppm and see if the system can process it to zero in 24hrs...if so, you're cycled.

But, you've added inverts already and that would be cruel to add ammonia now! If you can't remove them for a week or so, then just slowly add a tiny amount of flake food to slowly build the bacterial population. Your live rock should be able to handle that small ammonia spike quickly and build stronger while having minimal impact on the livestock.

 

[FindingPonyo]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time setting up a reef tank. I decided to go for nano because of budget and space in my apartment.

I have Fluval evo 13.5g. Planning to have couple fish and some corals on it.

1st day

Used RO/DI water, added regular sand (not live), 10lbs of live rock (real reef) from LFS which is supposedly cured but the guy said "I would still cure it to not blame the store" and Bio-Spira (Instant Ocean Nitrifying Bacteria).

The live rock was transferred in a bucket with water. I also saw one pod floating around.

Since I don't want to add fish or corals yet and I think Bio-Spira recommended to add fish for ammonia source, I added a snail and a hermit crab.

Today is now the 3rd day and after testing using API master kit

0 or 0.25ppm ammonia (It's hard to tell because of the color and also based on my research, API is a little sensitive and it is a common problem to see .25 when it's 0)
0 ppm nitrites
5-10ppm nitrates

Hi! I ran into a similar problem when I had my first reef tank. First, since you are a beginner I wouldn’t recommend such a small tank. I started out with a 10 and it crashed with fish in it after The first month I had it. I understand the budget though, just know to be extra careful and buy the Reef Master Test Kit. Since u have a small tank be sure to use that.
Now in terms of your tank, I think it would depend. In my 20 gallon I added a bio spira bottle that had 75 gallons worth of bacteria in it, which is more than it needs, but not problematic. In order for the beneficial bacteria to actually work, it needs a source of dirtiness to grow. When I got my reef tank, after I added the bio spira, I added a fish temporarily so I could dirty up the tank a little, but just so the bacteria had something to feed on. For one of my old tanks, I added bio spira and then waited 1 more week just so I could buy some more equipment to be safe. That is probably the best option since it gives the bacteria time to settle and nitrify.
So I would say wait a little more than three days, since you have a smaller tank you don’t have to wait that long but i would say wait until 5 days, and use that extra time to get all of your amazon prime packages in the mail.
Remember, beneficial bacteria is only useful if it has something to feed on.
Good luck!

 

[brandon429]

Yes it’s cycled and done. What killed your fish Eye was disease not lack of cycle bacteria, or they couldn’t have made the first night in the tank. (Only fallow, transfer, quarantine will keep our fish going well and I’m aware some people skip that, it doesn’t work well to skip it though)

Our hobby is still adjusting to being able to skip a cycle, it feels wierd, but they’ve got this bottle bac thing figured out

Bio-spira works great

I just started a new tank a little over a week ago. I started with all dry rock and new sand. I added a bottle of Bio-Spira and put fish and coral the same day. Never saw any ammonia and fish and coral seem healthy.

www.reef2reef.com

check that out, lemme know if anyone doubts this tank skip cycled.

 

[brandon429]

.25 ammonia on api means zero, we proof that here

We should use the collective power of the chem forum to prove or deny the possibility of sustained .25 ammonia in reefing

Why does it matter if reef tanks can have stuck cycles? Because when you move homes you don't want to lose animals, cycling science needs precision and predictability in order to protect our tanks. perhaps an emergency setup is needed, no wait time permitted or If you are invited to show...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

All tanks that are built for MACNA cycle instantly, or they could not all be set up on start day, this gives us permission to repeat legitimately. The new frontier is preventing mass fish wipeout by adhering to rules for fallow tank prep.

 

[Cell]

.25 ammonia on api means zero, we proof that here

We should use the collective power of the chem forum to prove or deny the possibility of sustained .25 ammonia in reefing

Why does it matter if reef tanks can have stuck cycles? Because when you move homes you don't want to lose animals, cycling science needs precision and predictability in order to protect our tanks. perhaps an emergency setup is needed, no wait time permitted or If you are invited to show...

www.reef2reef.com

To your knowledge, has API ever commented on this? Surely they've looked into it by now. It's disappointing it hasn't been addressed.

 

[brandon429]

I’ve baited the entire chemistry forum with the claim and would savor Api rep chiming in bigtime as more eyes on the statement

i figured randy would hammer down any bad claims. Acceptance due to no retorts has to work for time being lol

has api ever visited the board as a company rep/someone we could locate on their behalf

 

[Quietman]

Back to the OP and not the entire chemistry forum...

Feed your hermit and snail...monitor ammonia. If it keeps climbing you may want to remove them until ammonia drops back down. Wouldn't worry about adding ammonia at this point as I doubt it would speed up anything.

Good luck!

 

[brandon429]

Agreed.

Reefing isn't about guessing or we will wind up killing stuff. there is a definitive way to use ammonia proofing so that nothing is a guess.

The updated measure to remove guessing for cycling 2020 looks at only ammonia control and seeing movement down (exclusively, the other two params don't matter)

The movement down is proof of cycle, not sustained zero due to test kit variation.

watching for levels to rise after cuc and feeding like you mentioned is one way and it's correct here since animals are in

The feed added for them is the real test, if ammonia doesn't go full green overnite you are cycled. Feed lightly so no rot compounds daily.

dosing ammonia and watching for movement down before animals are added is another way to legit verify. Either way works considering the boosters added.

 

[Leo.LA]

Thanks for the advice!

Not sure how much fish pellet to feed but I added some today. Not sure if the crab or snail will eat it then produce their waste or if it's going to be uneaten but I think either way should produce ammonia right?

My plan is wait for few more days while testing ammonia every day. If it does not go up, I will probably start adding couple fish and few easy-to-care corals. I can also add Chemi-pure and Bio-Max in my media basket and turn protein skimmer on. Is that a bad plan?

Also do I need to worry if I am not dosing ammonia enough right now? I feel like the Bio-Spira + live rock needs ammonia to process.

Also what is acceptable amount of nitrates? Should it be less or more than 5-10ppm?

I will try my best to take care of this nano-tank and will do 20% water change weekly. I am so excited, thank you!

 

[brandon429]

You'll like how easy it gets from here on out

Nitrate doesn't matter yet, your test kits won't even read the same numbers if you use two different brands

Don't run nitrate or phosphate absorbing media, you can replace it's use in nano reefing specifically by keeping the sandbed free of detritus. Clean it occasionally and do assertive water changes that's all we need to do. Ammonia is produced in many ways even if you add none, the animals in place already produce enough. Don't let any food rot, remove it if not eaten in 15 mins. Specifically don't try and spike ammonia, no thread linked for review so far mentions anything abut adding ammonia for support

Anything you choose to customize such as running things beyond keeping detritus low is part of the endless choice of assembly options. The method above is just one simple way to handle your cycle, it doesn't involve further testing for anything but ammonia spikes, overnite.
True lack of surface area kills overnite. How your params appear on guess testers Monday won't matter, it's all algae tuning from here on out

You added a one day cycling product backed up with already live rock. It's ready and cannot uncycle.

 

[Leo.LA]

Thank you!

Also I am planning to add more CUC to make it overall 2 snails and 3 hermit crabs. Would that be too much or not enough?

 

[brandon429]

I do believe that'll be fine / very reasonable starting bio load keep us updated its fun to track these new tank starts

 

[Leo.LA]

3rd week update

Currently have ocellaris clownfish and firefish and some corals but mostly frag
Torch (colony)
White hammer (colony)
3 Zoa - red, green, and yellow (frag)
GSP (frag)
Red War Green (frag)
Kenya Tree (frag)
Red Scoly (medium)
Ricordea mushroom (frag)
Duncan (frag)

CUC:
1 margarita snail
2 hermit crab
and planning to add maybe 1 nassarius snail

Customization from Fluval evo 13.5
Added protein skimmer
Changed carbon to chemi-pure elite

Here's the pic:

Both fish are adults and pretty happy. The clownfish I think are hosting multiple corals but sleeping in the bigger Zoa but also play with Torch colony during the day. The firefish found a home inside of live rock, kinda shy during the night. Both like and peaceful with each other.

I started feeding reef roids to my coral. Corals are growing but it's still early to tell. I also see copepod bloom yesterday and there is a lot and I can see them in the glass and water. I've read it's a good thing but it looks annoying. I also see some light green algae which I think turns to coralline?

Water parameters are good. RO/DI water with Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. Doing 20% water change weekly.
dKH 11-12 but I'd say it's more like 10.5-11.5
Ammonia 0ppm
pH 8.4
salinity 1.025 to 1.026

I noticed the light makes the tank hotter during the day so I adjusted my temp to 77. Hottest is around 79 during the afternoon, and it goes back to like 77 to 77.5 when light is off during the night.

I added a small Azure damsel and clown was aggressive to it so I returned it. I added an adult bicolor dottyback but it was too aggressive so I returned it then I added another clown but the ocellaris clownfish was aggressive so I also returned it. So looks like my clown is a female and does not like another damsel or clown.

I want a 3rd and final fish. Which 3rd tank mate do you recommend where it would not attack my firefish and my clown would be peaceful to?

Any other advice is appreciated! Thanks!