New tank

[Rubyheidi]

Starting to add water and want to do a fishless cycle. 40 gallon breeder. How much ammonia should I add to the tank to get the cycle started? Do I add it once then wait until it reads zero?

 

[mpatterson42]

Are you also adding beneficial bacteria like Fritz TurboStart or Tim's One and Only? If not it will take months to cycle. Ammonia is food, you need something to eat the food to cycle.

I generally aim for between 2ppm and 4ppm ammonia when I cycle. The ammonia should tell you how much to add to reach those levels.

 

[Rubyheidi]

Are you also adding beneficial bacteria like Fritz TurboStart or Tim's One and Only? If not it will take months to cycle. Ammonia is food, you need something to eat the food to cycle.

I generally aim for between 2ppm and 4ppm ammonia when I cycle. The ammonia should tell you how much to add to reach those levels.

Yes, Dr Tims start up, in conjunction with Fritz Zime fishless Fuel

 

[mpatterson42]

The fishless fuel is the ammonia, just to verify, when you say "Dr Tims start up" are you referring to the "One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria" or the "Ammonium Chloride"?

 

[Rubyheidi]

The fishless fuel is the ammonia, just to verify, when you say "Dr Tims start up" are you referring to the "One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria" or the "Ammonium Chloride"?

Yes, sorry.. Dr Tims one and only for nitrifying bacteria.

 

[Rubyheidi]

So get my ammonia levels between to 2ppm to 4ppm. Once nitrifying bacteria does its job and gets levels down to zero or close to it, my cycle should be done?

 

[mpatterson42]

Great! Exactly what you need.

For the fishless fuel, you need 4 drops per gallon, so a 40 gallon tank is 160 drops. If you don't want to stand there and count drops and you have access to a 10ml vial, there are also instructions for 5ml per 25 gallons. So I would fill up a 10ml vial about 80% of the way (or you could put 160 drops in the 10ml and see about where it ends up).

For Dr. Tim's usually you dump the whole bottle in, but read the instructions and make sure you are following along. There are things to do every day for the first 14 days.

 

[mpatterson42]

So get my ammonia levels between to 2ppm to 4ppm. Once nitrifying bacteria does its job and gets levels down to zero or close to it, my cycle should be done?

Pretty much! When I cycle, I measure ammonia and nitrite daily. I see ammonia go up, ammonia go down, nitrite go up, nitrite go down. Once nitrite hits 0 I add livestock.

Others may chime in and tell you nitrite isn't important, and they're probably right, nitrite is much less harmful in saltwater than freshwater. I just prefer to get everything down to 0 before adding anything. Nothing good comes from rushing in this hobby! Others prefer live rock as well as a way to more quickly cycle their tank, and again, nothing wrong with that (and even a lot of benefits) but at this point I wouldn't change course on what you've already started.

 

[Rubyheidi]

Awesome, thank you so much!!!

 

[BryanM]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/