First day of cycle I added fritz nurifying bacteria turbo start 900. after a few days of testing I saw zero signs of ammonia, went and got another 2 small bottles and as instructed by my local fish shop I put them both in my 60 gallon tank . Immediately saw ammonia present on my water test and has still been present to just 20ppm until today.... I decided to go bare bottom after a long hard decision...instead of removing the sand a little at a time through water changes, I shop vaccd all the sand and present water in my display tank and almost all of my sump until I realized I should probably use the little I had left to hopefully keep my cycle going and not restart. I have substrate that I added from the start that I have in a bucket but the only matured and developed BB are on one piece of supposedly live rock that I purchased at the fish store and (the carib sea sand that's now removed) the rest is dry rock and 2 marine pure bricks along with balls...so guess my question is, would the live sand and one piece of live rock as well as the 3-4 inches of sump water have had enough time to seed the other media I have in my tank without having to start the cycle over? would appreciate some other opinions or suggestions in what would be best and most beneficial way to finish this what seems to be forever long aquarium cycle (really just 3 weeks).
need feedback please
- Thread starter WillyBux
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BeejReef
2500 Club Member
It doesn't sound like your cycle has well and truly begun. You're saying 20ppm ammonia is your latest reading? Hopefully a typo. You're aiming for 2ppm.
Regardless, since you've not noted any nitrite or nitrate readings, it's impossible to say where you may be in your cycle.
You're considering all the right things. Your cycle may have been interrupted or disturbed by all the changes, but the bacteria that you want live mostly on the rocks, sand, biomedia, and glass.
Having changed out near all of the water is a concern mostly because you've likely removed any ammonia and nitrite that was in there that your bacteria need to feed on. Can't say for sure. I doubt you've set yourself back to square one, but I think, IMHO, you would be well served to re-dose your ammonia to 2ppm and closely observe the results.
You're aiming to see zero ammonia and nitrite within a day's time of dosing ammonia.
Regardless, since you've not noted any nitrite or nitrate readings, it's impossible to say where you may be in your cycle.
You're considering all the right things. Your cycle may have been interrupted or disturbed by all the changes, but the bacteria that you want live mostly on the rocks, sand, biomedia, and glass.
Having changed out near all of the water is a concern mostly because you've likely removed any ammonia and nitrite that was in there that your bacteria need to feed on. Can't say for sure. I doubt you've set yourself back to square one, but I think, IMHO, you would be well served to re-dose your ammonia to 2ppm and closely observe the results.
You're aiming to see zero ammonia and nitrite within a day's time of dosing ammonia.
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