Question on Cycling

[Goneaway562]

Hi all,

I set up a bare bottom Red Sea Reefer 425XL with 65lbs of dry rock (reefcleaners) 5 weeks ago and was wondering if my cycle was stalling. I dosed both Dr. Tim's One and Only bacteria and Biospira and kept raising the Ammonia to 2ppm which goes to 0 within 24 hours, however my Nitrite has been stuck at around 2ppm for weeks now with little Nitrate showing (10ppm). Is this just something I need to wait out for the cycle to complete due to having no sand? My 20g with sand cycled within a week and a half. I did add a little bit of sand to my fuge side of the sump to hopefully help the bacteria.

Thanks!

 

[EmdeReef]

Hi all,

I set up a bare bottom Red Sea Reefer 425XL with 65lbs of dry rock (reefcleaners) 5 weeks ago and was wondering if my cycle was stalling. I dosed both Dr. Tim's One and Only bacteria and Biospira and kept raising the Ammonia to 2ppm which goes to 0 within 24 hours, however my Nitrite has been stuck at around 2ppm for weeks now with little Nitrate showing (10ppm). Is this just something I need to wait out for the cycle to complete due to having no sand? My 20g with sand cycled within a week and a half. I did add a little bit of sand to my fuge side of the sump to hopefully help the bacteria.

Thanks!

If the ammonia is dropping that fast your cycle is likely complete. Nitrites aren’t that much of an issue in a sw tank. It could also be a testing error.

After you add a fish I would dose more bacteria to be extra safe. No sand wouldn’t be an issue.

 

[Liron Mishal]

Just wait until it drops.
Mine took two weeks, and i have sand.
Not sure if that's a factor.
I would stop dosing ammonia until your nitrites reads 0.
Also, don't test for nitrates until nitrites are 0, the test kit will usually false read nitrite as nitrates.

 

[Goneaway562]

If the ammonia is dropping that fast your cycle is likely complete. Nitrites aren’t that much of an issue in a sw tank. It could also be a testing error.

Thanks for the replies. I did test my nitrites in my mature tank and it tested 0 so I believe the testing is fine. I guess I'll just wait it out and stop dosing ammonia.

 

[User]

Yes, essentially.

It’ll take time for the nitrite reducers to populate the rock. Sand has a much higher surface area and populates more quickly.

Also- the nitrate test works by reducing nitrate to nitrite and measuring the nitrite levels. Doing the test in the presence of nitrite creates a false positive reading. Your tank likely has zero nitrate at this point, and an accurate test can only be done when nitrite has peaked and gone back to zero.

 

[EmdeReef]

Thanks for the replies. I did test my nitrites in my mature tank and it tested 0 so I believe the testing is fine. I guess I'll just wait it out and stop dosing ammonia.

Got it, fwiw 2 won’t harm anything. You can dose more bacteria or dose bacteria after adding fish.