Qt won't cycle

[Reefer_madness78]

I have been trying to cycle 10g qt. On July 24th I bought some bio matrix from lfs supposedly seeded. They have bags of bio matrix in a separate tank for sale. I put it into hob filter and some on bottom of tank because all of it wouldn't fit in hob filter( it's just a small one that came with tank). I never added any source of ammonia but it was reading 2 on red sea test so I started adding microbacter7 everyday like I did when I cycled my dt. Ammonia would never go to 0. So Finally on September 5 I added half bottle of bio spira ( the one for up to 75g ) the next day, ammonia 0 nitrite .2 nitrate 50. September 8th ammonia back up to .4 - .8 nitrite .5 nitrate 50 so I did a 50% wc. That helped and on the 12th I added rest of bio spira just because. So yesterday I dosed .5 ml ammonia. Now 24 hours later ammonia 0 but nitrite is 1 ( that's as high as test goes) and nitrates are 50 ( high as test goes) i don't know where ammonia came from without dosing or anything. So is it still not cycled because nitrites are high? What do I need to do to get this thing ready?

 

[WIReefer]

You say this is a QT? Do you have some media or a sponge that has been sitting in DT?

 

[brandon429]

the system is as cycled as that lot of substrate can be. if this was a display the extra surface area would be added coverage and easy contact for all wastewater, but in this type of setup the display is mostly devoid of helpful surface area (its glass slicks and pvc usually) so how you route the water across the mass of filter material will affect your ability to measure readiness, you'll need to calibrate your ammonia tester a certain way to make it work. it wont be by taking a reading and seeing if ammonia is zero.

we know your current substrate is ready, biospira is skip cycle ready/meaning I have threads of entire reefs started in one day with dry materials and biospira.

 

[Reefer_madness78]

You say this is a QT? Do you have some media or a sponge that has been sitting in DT?

Nothing from dt just bio matrix in qt hob filter

 

[Reefer_madness78]

so shoul

the system is as cycled as that lot of substrate can be. if this was a display the extra surface area would be added coverage and easy contact for all wastewater, but in this type of setup the display is mostly devoid of helpful surface area (its glass slicks and pvc usually) so how you route the water across the mass of filter material will affect your ability to measure readiness, you'll need to calibrate your ammonia tester a certain way to make it work. it wont be by taking a reading and seeing if ammonia is zero.

we know your current substrate is ready, biospira is skip cycle ready/meaning I have threads of entire reefs started in one day with dry materials and biospira.

So should do a water change to get the everything down and then it will be ready for fish?

 

[brandon429]

especially when dealing with qt setups, restricted surface area setups, its important to pre verify that surface area is sufficient. the tank ideally needs a 100% water change so there is nothing in suspension cheating the readings. clear water. take pic #1 of an ammonia test on that all new water, no matter what it shows we know the reading is calibrated safe/zero. that's pic #1

pic 2 is after dosing to a slight color change up, not opaque green or we'll be waiting fifiteen days for api to show that coming down. slightly up, to yellowish slight green, say .5 ppm or so. pic 2 of the calibration step is the barest new change up you can register after adding cycling ammonia to the clean water.


pic #3 is the reading in 24-48 hours. if it hasn't moved down you need more active surface area. *some qt run so low surface area they need prime anyway to keep things alive, you'll have to decide how barren you want it. I would prefer designing a setup that doesn't need prime dosed, one able to stand alone on currents and contact placement of the active media.

those 3 pics show a direct change in color, or a stall in color, and from that we know about your current circulation setup + its contact to materials. if no change in color from pic 2, double your media and wait a few more days to check. dose more bac after.

 

[Reefer_madness78]

especially when dealing with qt setups, restricted surface area setups, its important to pre verify that surface area is sufficient. the tank ideally needs a 100% water change so there is nothing in suspension cheating the readings. clear water. take pic #1 of an ammonia test on that all new water, no matter what it shows we know the reading is calibrated safe/zero. that's pic #1

pic 2 is after dosing to a slight color change up, not opaque green or we'll be waiting fifiteen days for api to show that coming down. slightly up, to yellowish slight green, say .5 ppm or so. pic 2 of the calibration step is the barest new change up you can register after adding cycling ammonia to the clean water.


pic #3 is the reading in 24-48 hours. if it hasn't moved down you need more active surface area. *some qt run so low surface area they need prime anyway to keep things alive, you'll have to decide how barren you want it. I would prefer designing a setup that doesn't need prime dosed, one able to stand alone on currents and contact placement of the active media.

those 3 pics show a direct change in color, or a stall in color, and from that we know about your current circulation setup + its contact to materials. if no change in color from pic 2, double your media and wait a few more days to check. dose more bac after.

Just so I'm clear. I should do 100% wc then test ammonia with my red sea test to get my base line reading. Take pic. Then dose with just enough ammonia to raise up to say .5 then take pic of that for reference. Then wait 24-48 hours and see if it has gone back down to base line reading? What about nitrites and nitrates?

 

[brandon429]

Those do not factor for this reason: ammonia is the only param that burns animals and the others do not, in marine setups, in fw nitrite would matter. Nitrite presence yay or nay doesn’t matter to us in reefing

 

[Reefer_madness78]

Those do not factor for this reason: ammonia is the only param that burns animals and the others do not, in marine setups, in fw nitrite would matter. Nitrite presence yay or nay doesn’t matter to us in reefing

Thanks for your help. I think i will get some extra bio media to seed and get a bigger hob filter for it because my plan is to use it continuously, buy a fish, quarantine and when it's ready to go in dt, have another fish to go in right away until i have all my fish then probably use it for coral qt.