Potential stuck cycle

[ajtomase]

Hello,

I'm currently on day 13 of Dr. Tim's cycle and have been following his schedule for starting my cycle. I've dosed his ammonium chloride on his designated days, and dosed my 200 gallon tank with his One and Only on day 1 and another day on day 10 after email dissuasions with his team. My tank is currently at .25 ammonia, .1 nitrite, 100 nitrates, 7.8 pH (all with Salifert tests) and is kept at 84 degrees (per Dr. Tim's instructions).

I'm not sure why my ammonia or nitrites are at 0 yet, but I wanted to perform 2 40% water changes to at least bring down the nitrates to a tolerable level. My concern is that if I do that large of a water change (taking water from the water column and not disturbing the sand) that I'd disrupt the cycle.

How can I get my ammonia and nitrites to 0 so I can start adding my first fish (clownfish) to the tank? Is my cycle stuck, and if so how do I get it going again? I heard that I'm not supposed to (Dr. Tim says to avoid it) and i've heard that it can really mess up chemistry in the tank.

Please help this new reefer enjoy some fish in his new tank soon!

 

[lapin]

Stop adding ammonia if you still are. Your tank is almost fully cycled. Do your big water changes. I think the .25 is a testing error. Our test kits are not really very good. After the water changes you can add 1 small fish or 2.

 

[ajtomase]

Stop adding ammonia if you still are. Your tank is almost fully cycled. Do your big water changes. I think the .25 is a testing error. Our test kits are not really very good. After the water changes you can add 1 small fish or 2.

Thanks, and yes I've only added ammonia on the 3 days that Dr. Tim's schedule requested and haven't added anything then. Was thinking of the following schedule this week:

Wednesday
- [ ] 40% water change

Thursday
- [ ] Test if another water change is needed

Friday
- [ ] 40% water change (if needed)

Saturday
- [ ] test

Not sure if I should try to add ammonia on Saturday up to 2ppm to see if it will end up as zero a couple days later.

 

[Spieg]

I would just wait it out. If your Ammonia doesn't drop to zero, you have a problem. What test kit are you using (API is known to give false positive readings).

 

[ajtomase]

I would just wait it out. If your Ammonia doesn't drop to zero, you have a problem. What test kit are you using (API is known to give false positive readings).

All my results are tested on Salifert test kits. How long do I wait to know if I have an issue?

 

[Spieg]

I'd give it a few more days... nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

 

[lapin]

Thanks, and yes I've only added ammonia on the 3 days that Dr. Tim's schedule requested and haven't added anything then. Was thinking of the following schedule this week:

Wednesday
- [ ] 40% water change

Thursday
- [ ] Test if another water change is needed

Friday
- [ ] 40% water change (if needed)

Saturday
- [ ] test

Not sure if I should try to add ammonia on Saturday up to 2ppm to see if it will end up as zero a couple days later.

Do the water changes to get rid of nitrates, then test. The .25 is a false reading for ammonia. The bacteria is in the the rocks and growing. Nitrates prove this. You could add a fish or 2.

OR

If you really want you can test this weekend. Add to 1.0 ammonia, test. Wait 24 hours test again. Your kit will still prob show .25. You will need to do another water change to get rid of the nitrates or you risk a big algae bloom.

 

[BostonReefer300]

I agree with @lapin and won't repeat everything he said. Just to add though, if you're worried that you don't have enough of a biofilter established yet, just add a bottle of good nitrifying bacteria, call it a day, and add some pre-quarantined fish. It honestly mystifies me that people are still going through these extensive cycling protocols. I have instantly cycled probably 6-7 dozen tanks and never had even the slightest problem

 

[nereefpat]

If you want ammonia and nitrite to read zero, you'll likely just need to wait a little longer. However, ammonia of 0.25 is pretty low, and nitrite is not very toxic in saltwater.

Don't panic about the nitrates. I would argue that the ammonia and nitrite are not misreads, and that the nitrate is a misread. If there is any nitrite in a water sample, it will interfere and make nitrate read incorrectly high. For every 1ppm of ammonia you added, when it's fully converted to nitrate, you will end up with about 4 ppm nitrate.