My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels aren't moving?

VisibleClownage

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Hi, I've bought a small saltwater tank and I started cycling it about 3 weeks ago. At first i added some fish flakes as a source of ammonia, and at that time i still hadn't had a test kit. When I got the test kit (about 1 week later) the ammonia readings were at 0.5ppm and surprisingly I also read some nitrates already (about 10ppm). I kept adding fish flakes, but the levels didn't change.

Then, recently, I added a frozen shrimp in the tank, and after 2 days the readings were still the same.

I thought that maybe my cycle was done and i stopped adding ammonia, but two days later the levels didn't move a bit.


I only added an aquarium rock, dechlorinator and some bottled bacteria my pet store sold. I couldn't find any bottled ammonia online or in stores.

The temperature is stable at 82°F (28°C)
Salinity is at 1.025


It's surprising that in the course of 2 weeks the nitrates and ammonia were always the same considering that i added a pinch of fish flakes about every day. Where did all of that rotting stuff go? What could be the problem here?
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Here’s all you need to do

wait a total of two weeks, change the water out for new, its cycled. This is how long your current arrangement will take to be ready, and your test levels have nothing to do with the endpoint. What they read after will have nothing to do with readiness, the number of days underwater sets the rule because that is longer than a cycling chart requires for ammonia control.

for reference on where that comes from and where it’s been tested, see the big thread a few links down about unsticking stuck cycles

in the new tanks forum under this very thread, is that big thread.

unique for your tank:
your bacteria are being fed by the second in the mix provided. They’re eating up what’s broken down, not the same as adding liquid ammonia to a specific level and watching it drop. Your approach needs a different meter than common test kits, it needs the number of days a cycling chart shows for ammonia control, a little better than ten days will do. 15 days wait in this fed and bottle bac dosed system is plenty.

all you do is let stew for two weeks total, doesn’t matter if you start now or back when water hit the tank, two weeks total, change water and it’s ready. Be reading the fish disease forum before adding fish, today’s best disease protocols are based on timed fish additions.
 
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VisibleClownage

VisibleClownage

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Here’s all you need to do

wait a total of two weeks, change the water out for new, its cycled. This is how long your current arrangement will take to be ready, and your test levels have nothing to do with the endpoint. What they read after will have nothing to do with readiness, the number of days underwater sets the rule because that is longer than a cycling chart requires for ammonia control.

for reference on where that comes from and where it’s been tested, see the big thread a few links down about unsticking stuck cycles

in the new tanks forum under this very thread, is that big thread.

unique for your tank:
your bacteria are being fed by the second in the mix provided. They’re eating up what’s broken down, not the same as adding liquid ammonia to a specific level and watching it drop. Your approach needs a different meter than common test kits, it needs the number of days a cycling chart shows for ammonia control, a little better than ten days will do. 15 days wait in this fed and bottle bac dosed system is plenty.

all you do is let stew for two weeks total, doesn’t matter if you start now or back when water hit the tank, two weeks total, change water and it’s ready. Be reading the fish disease forum before adding fish, today’s best disease protocols are based on timed fish additions.
so i just keep adding shrimps for 15 days?
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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No it was to stop all actions, add nothing, simply let the current arrangement swirl for two weeks, change water out for new and it’s ready. Dont add fish to the system till you’ve studied the stickies in the fish disease forum or they’re likely to die of disease in a few months if preps are skipped. Marine fish keeping isnt like freshwater fishkeeping in that both the tank and the fish in a saltwater build need special preps before coming together. The fish disease forum has several days of reading you’ll need before adding fish, the cycle needs zero study we already known when your tank will be ready.


it doesn’t matter if you select two weeks from the first day you added water and feed to the tank, or two weeks from now. Reading up on fish disease prep is key, the bottle bac you added will handle cycling just fine.
 
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VisibleClownage

VisibleClownage

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No it was to stop all actions, add nothing, simply let the current arrangement swirl for two weeks, change water out for new and it’s ready. Dont add fish to the system till you’ve studied the stickies in the fish disease forum or they’re likely to die of disease in a few months if preps are skipped. Marine fish keeping isnt like freshwater fishkeeping in that both the tank and the fish need special preps before coming together.


it doesn’t matter if you select two weeks from the first day you added water and feed to the tank, or two weeks from now. Reading up on fish disease prep is key, the bottle bac you added will handle cycling just fine.
ok i'll try doing that, thanks
 
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VisibleClownage

VisibleClownage

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No it was to stop all actions, add nothing, simply let the current arrangement swirl for two weeks, change water out for new and it’s ready. Dont add fish to the system till you’ve studied the stickies in the fish disease forum or they’re likely to die of disease in a few months if preps are skipped. Marine fish keeping isnt like freshwater fishkeeping in that both the tank and the fish in a saltwater build need special preps before coming together. The fish disease forum has several days of reading you’ll need before adding fish, the cycle needs zero study we already known when your tank will be ready.


it doesn’t matter if you select two weeks from the first day you added water and feed to the tank, or two weeks from now. Reading up on fish disease prep is key, the bottle bac you added will handle cycling just fine.
now that i think of it, won't bacteria just die off if i dont add ammonia for them to feed on?
 

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