New tank won't even start cycling

[freeeeezy]

Hello all, sorry if this has already been discussed but I cant quite find anyone with the exact problem I'm having.

I'm on week two of a fishless cycle and as of today I haven't seen any sign of nitrites or nitrates. I started off with Dr Tims and ammonia drops and maybe over-dosed the ammonia (around 4-8ppm). Some people on here had said the cycle would stall if ammonia was too high so I did a water change and brought it down to 2ppm but there is still zero sign of nitrites or nitrates.

So far I've tried Dr Tims one and only, Sea Chem stability and Brightwell with absolutely zero change in anything.

Pretty much open to anything at this point.

If it helps, I started with dead rock, live sand. Temp is stable at 76, pH has been stable just above 8.

 

[Alkamist]

Patients my friend, let the tank do its thing but if you want to kick it up get a shrimp from the grocery store and throw it in there with the cycle

 

[rayadog]

How many days since water change?

 

[Wallda]

Increase your water temp to 85 degrees. Then have patience. Ammonia as high as you had will stall the cycle so you are basically starting over. I am on week 2 of mine and just had my first detectable level of nitrites. It is a long process.

 

[freeeeezy]

How many days since water change

Probably a week since the water change.

 

[freeeeezy]

Increase your water temp to 85 degrees. Then have patience. Ammonia as high as you had will stall the cycle so you are basically starting over. I am on week 2 of mine and just had my first detectable level of nitrites. It is a long process.

That is good to hear, Its concerning when I keep reading how fast people are seeing nitrates with all these fishless products.

 

[winxp_man]

Recently started another new tank. IceCap AIO 45.
Put in 4 polyplab genesis rocks, the added startup Probidio to the tank. 24 hours later added 5 fish. Ammonia never got above .25ppm added inverts and they are all good. Never even checked ammonia any longer. Might have to just out of curiosity. The fish never skipped a beat either.

Stopped using Dr.Tims and even use it for QT tanks when I get up a new one.

 

[mcarroll]

Pretty much open to anything at this point.

I honestly have no idea how this method became so popular...it's an interesting experiment, but a terrible way to start a tank IMO. Problematic for SO MANY who attempt it that it's almost funny....but not funny. It's a bummer for me to see regressive trends like this.

The natural method always works and takes about 30-40 days. It requires no effort from you, or much of anything else – just patience.

The track you're on is really for folks who are in a hurry for some reason.....Dr Tims lets you add livestock immediately. This could be handy in emergency situations, for example. It was not made for what you're using it for.

As the old saying goes, nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.

There's no good reason to need to add livestock immediately to a regular new tank, so the natural method usually makes all the sense in the world.

Follow this up with a nice slow rate of stocking the tank (especially re: fish) and you're golden.

If you've never read Martin Moe Jr's reef books, check them out. True classics. (On that topic.)

Links in URL form:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nothing-good-happens-fast-in-a-reef-tank.286472/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-long-is-your-aquarium-book-collection.180547/

 

[Fish Fan]

Hello all, sorry if this has already been discussed but I cant quite find anyone with the exact problem I'm having.

I'm on week two of a fishless cycle and as of today I haven't seen any sign of nitrites or nitrates. I started off with Dr Tims and ammonia drops and maybe over-dosed the ammonia (around 4-8ppm). Some people on here had said the cycle would stall if ammonia was too high so I did a water change and brought it down to 2ppm but there is still zero sign of nitrites or nitrates.

So far I've tried Dr Tims one and only, Sea Chem stability and Brightwell with absolutely zero change in anything.

Pretty much open to anything at this point.

If it helps, I started with dead rock, live sand. Temp is stable at 76, pH has been stable just above 8.

Sorry you're having some issues with your cycle, but cycles don't stall, they just take longer than it's suggested on the bottle of Dr. Tim's

A cycle started with Dr. Tim's One and Only, Stability, or even Microbacter typically takes about 3 to even 4 weeks, despite what the instructions say. If you're really in a hurry, Fritz Turbostart 900 seems to work much more quickly that all others to establish a biofilter, in as little as a couple of days.

I would keep going at this point, don't do more water changes, just let the bacteria do their thing.

Watch for the ammonia to reach under about 0.25 ppm to 0.50 ppm and then you can start to safely add some hardy livestock.

There's no need to measure or wait for the nitrite to zero out, it's non-toxic in marine systems.

Good luck!

 

[freeeeezy]

I honestly have no idea how this method became so popular...it's an interesting experiment, but a terrible way to start a tank IMO. Problematic for SO MANY who attempt it that it's almost funny....but not funny. It's a bummer for me to see regressive trends like this.

The natural method always works and takes about 30-40 days. It requires no effort from you, or much of anything else – just patience.

The track you're on is really for folks who are in a hurry for some reason.....Dr Tims lets you add livestock immediately. This could be handy in emergency situations, for example. It was not made for what you're using it for.

As the old saying goes, nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.

There's no good reason to need to add livestock immediately to a regular new tank, so the natural method usually makes all the sense in the world.

Follow this up with a nice slow rate of stocking the tank (especially re: fish) and you're golden.

If you've never read Martin Moe Jr's reef books, check them out. True classics. (On that topic.)

Links in URL form:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nothing-good-happens-fast-in-a-reef-tank.286472/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-long-is-your-aquarium-book-collection.180547/

There are no fish in my tank. As far as I'm aware, i'm using it the way its intended

Sorry you're having some issues with your cycle, but cycles don't stall, they just take longer than it's suggested on the bottle of Dr. Tim's

A cycle started with Dr. Tim's One and Only, Stability, or even Microbacter typically takes about 3 to even 4 weeks, despite what the instructions say. If you're really in a hurry, Fritz Turbostart 900 seems to work much more quickly that all others to establish a biofilter, in as little as a couple of days.

I would keep going at this point, don't do more water changes, just let the bacteria do their thing.

Watch for the ammonia to reach under about 0.25 ppm to 0.50 ppm and then you can start to safely add some hardy livestock.

There's no need to measure or wait for the nitrite to zero out, it's non-toxic in marine systems.

Good luck!

Thank you for the insight! At this point I’d love to worry about my nitrites not going down but I don’t have any to begin with lol. I’ll keep waiting a week or two more and then maybe try Fritz if nothing is progressing.

 

[Fish Fan]

There are no fish in my tank. As far as I'm aware, i'm using it the way its intended

Thank you for the insight! At this point I’d love to worry about my nitrites not going down but I don’t have any to begin with lol. I’ll keep waiting a week or two more and then maybe try Fritz if nothing is progressing.

Usually with the other bacteria-in-a-bottle products, it can take two or even three weeks before you start to see the ammonia coming down. I think you're fine to just steer the course, and in a week or so you should start to see some real progress

 

[BeanAnimal]

Let's back up here a bit.

1 - you have not told us how many times that you dosed ammonia or what the readings are currently.
2 - don't dump anything else into the tank until we have those numbers.

Any advice to this point is being given without an understanding of the current state of the tank.

Nitrite and Nitrate may or may not be detectable, but before we talk about that we need to understand what the ammonia is doing.

 

[freeeeezy]

Let's back up here a bit.

1 - you have not told us how many times that you dosed ammonia or what the readings are currently.
2 - don't dump anything else into the tank until we have those numbers.

Any advice to this point is being given without an understanding of the current state of the tank.

Nitrite and Nitrate may or may not be detectable, but before we talk about that we need to understand what the ammonia is doing.

In my original post I included ammonia pre-and post water change, nitrates/nitrites, ph, water temp and everything I’ve added to the tank.

I only dosed ammonia one time when I first set the tank up.

Ammonia has not decreased on its own at all, only a decrease because of the water change. It’s still exactly what it was after the change.

 

[mook1178]

It seems that everybody has missed that you started with live sand. You probably killed the sand adding so much ammonia.

Put a piece of raw shrimp in there and come back in 2 weeks. No need to adjust temp. The only thing needed is patience.

 

[freeeeezy]

Wouldn’t shrimp just raise the ammonia even higher?

It seems that everybody has missed that you started with live sand. You probably killed the sand adding so much ammonia.

Put a piece of raw shrimp in there and come back in 2 weeks. No need to adjust temp. The only thing needed is patience

 

[freeeeezy]

You’re probably right I killed the sand. It still looks nice though

It seems that everybody has missed that you started with live sand. You probably killed the sand adding so much ammonia.

Put a piece of raw shrimp in there and come back in 2 weeks. No need to adjust temp. The only thing needed is patience

 

[The Ugly Phase]

get urself a bottle of fritz turbo start 900 cant beat it

 

[BeanAnimal]

Wouldn’t shrimp just raise the ammonia even higher?

Maybe, but they are also covered in bacteria.

In my original post I included ammonia pre-and post water change, nitrates/nitrites, ph, water temp and everything I’ve added to the tank.

I only dosed ammonia one time when I first set the tank up.

Ammonia has not decreased on its own at all, only a decrease because of the water change. It’s still exactly what it was after the change.

I am not worried so much about Nitrite or Nitrate.

So you are actively testing ammonia.

You said it was somewhere between 4 ppm and 8 ppm, That is a large range and that it was 2 ppm after.
How long has it been at 2 ppm and when was the last test?

Adding more bacteria may help, but before we do that, I just want to make sure we all understand the timeline and current status.

 

[freeeeezy]

Maybe, but they are also covered in bacteria.



I am not worried so much about Nitrite or Nitrate.

So you are actively testing ammonia.

You said it was somewhere between 4 ppm and 8 ppm, That is a large range and that it was 2 ppm after.
How long has it been at 2 ppm and when was the last test?

Adding more bacteria may help, but before we do that, I just want to make sure we all understand the timeline and current status.

It’s been unchanged at 2ppm since the water change about a week ago. I test daily, sometimes multiple times a day.

The range from 4-8 is just a limitation of my test kit. Once the colors get that dark it’s hard to distinguish and it goes straight from 4ppm to 8ppm. So it’s not like it was 8 and went down to 4, it was just the same high reading for the whole first week.

TLDR the ammonia level has not change at all through any means other than water change. Has been 2ppm for a week with no changes up or down.

 

[BeanAnimal]

At this point. It is possible that a few things could be happening.

Was the various bottled bacteria dumped in at 4-8 or 2 ppm?
When was the last bottle dumped?