My amonia, nitrite, and nitrate are at zero...

Is it bad?

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  • No

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Camron

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Hey guys, weird question here..

I jump started my cycle with a bottle of some Dr. Tims. Then I used a a couple doses (perhaps 3-4) of FaStart-M, and a couple doses of MicroBacter7 (perhaps 5-8), and even a dose (only one of this, I think) of Vibrant.

My current ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels are at zero. I have done zero water changes since starting and cycling my tank.
Is this bad?


I have a very low stock on a 55 gallon aquarium (2 small clowns and 2 Banggai cardinals). I have some snails, herm crabs, etc. Tank has been up since late September.
Other parameters for those that care, DKH 7.5, PH 8.2, Sal 1.026, CA 480
 

Flippers4pups

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Hey guys, weird question here..

I jump started my cycle with a bottle of some Dr. Tims. Then I used a a couple doses (perhaps 3-4) of FaStart-M, and a couple doses of MicroBacter7 (perhaps 5-8), and even a dose (only one of this, I think) of Vibrant.

My current ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels are at zero. I have done zero water changes since starting and cycling my tank.
Is this bad?


I have a very low stock on a 55 gallon aquarium (2 small clowns and 2 Banggai cardinals). I have some snails, herm crabs, etc. Tank has been up since late September.
Other parameters for those that care, DKH 7.5, PH 8.2, Sal 1.026, CA 480

Sound like it was cycled some time ago. How long have you had fish in it?

Not uncommon to have 0 nitrate.
 

Flippers4pups

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It is if he’s never done a WC? Where did it go?

Can't rule out testing error. Low to no bio load results in low or non-existent nutrients. Got to feed the bacteria too.
 

Dine

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Can't rule out testing error. Low to no bio load results in low or non-existent nutrients. Got to feed the bacteria too.
Yes, Testing error was my immediate thought.
If that’s the case OP I’d say you’re right on track. Just keep the new additions spaced out so the bacteria can grow and keep up with the changes. Can’t imagine you’re not cycled so you must just have very low nitrate OR there’s a problem with the test
 
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Camron

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Sorry, I set the tank up with non-live everything at the end of September. That is when I added salt to my ro water and heated the water (in the aquarium after leak testing). As soon as the tank was up with salt water, I added coraline algea in a bottle and a bottle of Dr. Tims. Then I started ghost feeding.

I got ancy having an empty tank, went to petco (my only LFS) and was drooling over some clowns. So I bought a QT tank and set that up. I had my clowns in QT for two weeks, before adding them to the aquarium.

By October I had zoas in my uncycled tank.

I ghost fed while my clownfish were in quick QT for two weeks. Then tossed the clowns into the tank with the zoas.


As soon as my fish hit the water, I ordered the other additives out of a fear of an ammonia or nitrite spike.
On October 6, I had .2 ppm ammonia and .35 nitrites.

I dosed what the bottle said on the FaStart-M, and MicroBacter7 when my ammonia rose over .01.

So tank has been going with fish and coral for one month, approximately. I figured my nitrates would spike requiring a water change, but it has not happened yet?
 
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Camron

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For testing I used the Red Sea test kit. I double tested ammonia and nitrite because I thought there would be readings. I triple tested Nitrate because I assumed it would have to be reading something.
 

Dine

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If you only ever read .35 nitrite then there’s not much to turn into nitrates. But after feeding, fish waste, etc I would expect to see nitrates. You must simply have such a low bio load that there’s not enough “stuff” to process. Proceed with caution as adding too much too quick will result in problems if your bacteria hasn’t had enough “food” to grow which I believe is the case right now
 
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Camron

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20191103_133328.jpg
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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This is a great thread to link to page one of the microbiology of cycling thread, where we discuss pertinent params to test during cycling. We cover zero nitrate systems having literally nothing to do with cycling, since we can easily search out zero nitrate full mature ten thousand dollar systems who still have to dose stump remover daily. Both nitrate and nitrite have no bearing in updated cycling science, your thread also confirms. In fact, to use all three params in cycling in the classic sense has been the cause of mass misinformation (due to rampant mis testing mainly for nitrite and low level ammonia classic .25 misread makes a cycle seem stalled)

for example, it’s not possible to stall a cycle, and no reef online has ever stalled in a cycle buildup. They’re literally all misreads that have claimed it, :) talk about a controversial claim. We have some work to back it up though below

i agree one month isn’t very long, but you used redundant one day cycling products. And gave an extra month on top, nice

Linked page one here below
 
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brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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another tenet: your tank can have fish whenever you want and when your disease protocol has been selected for fish, bacteria do not utilize ramp up to match a bioload. At the end of thirty days with the mix you have (day 30 after adding water) your surfaces have as much bacteria as they will in six months. Or eighteen. The colonies are dynamic and alter over time based on conditions (minor over feeds, temp spikes etc) but not to any degree you can measure with home gear

*any system using live rock and sand and thirty days with boosters have such massive surface area, only a thin functional layer is required. It’s why they catch on so fast given bottle bac dosing and it’s why these fish in cycling threads aren’t reporting loss...they’re reporting crypto :) (due to foregoing disease preps)


Bac don’t just stack infinitely given time or our tanks would be opaque. They self regulate to max density surface area/water shear/local competition allows in about thirty days, and seneye ammonia testing confirms this for anyone.

even if we cease feeding the tank, the surfaces don’t downscale to lesser bacteria for lack of feed... no mechanism exists for you to sterilize hydrated surfaces by withholding things. these are aquarium notions vs microbiology notions, it’s what we test constantly above. vs just making crazy claims, we built a work thread where people’s tanks will die on a bad cycle call. The claims above are also used to run the sand rinse thread, which is 23 pages of taking tanks apart to move homes and never testing for ammonia and never losing a tank to a recycle. We rip out a ten year old sandbed and let the rocks carry the current bioload, without ramp up. The science is useful and these claims are tested and searchable.
 
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Camron

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This is a great thread to link to page one of the microbiology of cycling thread, where we discuss pertinent params to test during cycling. We cover zero nitrate systems having literally nothing to do with cycling, since we can easily search out zero nitrate full mature ten thousand dollar systems who still have to dose stump remover daily. Both nitrate and nitrite have no bearing in updated cycling science, your thread also confirms. In fact, to use all three params in cycling in the classic sense has been the cause of mass misinformation
for example, it’s not possible to stall a cycle, and no reef online has ever stalled in a cycle buildup. They’re literally all misreads that have claimed it, :) talk about a controversial claim

Linked page one here:
I added so many different types of bacteria sources early on, from Dr. Tim's, FaStart-M, MicroBacter7 and Vibrant- in addition to what ever came in the frags or in the frozen foods.

I watched a video, I think on the BRS webpage, where Dr. Tim discussed bacteria "stalling" if the parameters get out of wack. video from BRS For example there was a part where he discussed high nitrate stalls the ammonia eating bacteria over 5.

What I learned from this video (Bigly) - test alk during cycling because ammonia conversion decreases alk.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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I have a link in my thread of a 300 ppm ammonia system still producing nitrate taken from scholar.

bacteria in a biofilm anchored to rocks and sand pass amazing stress tests vs bottle bac isolated into a soln and possibly dormant for the packing. That could be a key contextual difference.
I guess no two people will ever agree on stalling :) but at least your tank is mighty diverse. Given any one single dose of those bac the ends results to you are measurably the same. when you input fish, they will not die in a cloud milky ammonia mess overnite

at aquarium conventions, 100% of the entrants are insta reefs and it works every time. I like to use them as an example of controlled predictable instant tanks, you have given even more prep time than they do
 
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