Refer 625 G2 cycle update and question

[Reefdiculous22]

Hey all. So I’m day 11 of my Dr. Tim’s fishless cycle. My ammonia and nitrite lvls were really high after adding the last dose of ammonia on day 6. Ammonia was between 4-5 ppm and nitrites were at 5 ppm. I was waiting on a heater I ordered so I could heat the salt mix for a small water change, so when that got here I did a 10 percent water change and that brought my ammonia down to 2 ppm but the nitrites stayed off the charts. I’ve been testing every day and my ammonia is now down to .50 ppm but the nitrites are still around 5 ppm. Maybe it’s 2. I don’t really know because the 2 and 5 colors look the same on this api kit. I have been testing for nitrates for around 4 or 5 days now and I was at 5 ppm and now I’m at 40-50 ppm according to the nyos kit I got. So roughly doubling every day. So I know the bacteria are working which is good. I’m excited about that. I did order a salifert nitrite kit and it should be here Saturday. I got it just to see if it tests different than the api. I can’t for the life of me figure out why they aren’t going down if everything else is reading correctly. So I guess my question is when the ammonia gets to zero what do I do. Do I add more ammonia or do I wait until the nitrites go down. (However long that will be) I don’t know how long the beneficial bacteria can go without ammonia. I know they won’t starve right away but I have no idea how long it will take for the nitrite to go down. If you read all this thank you. Thanks everyone. Happy reefing. Cheers

 

[Reefdiculous22]

 

[brandon429]

your cycle is done that's what most full reefs read on api

 

[brandon429]

The reason you don't redo ammonia is because of a cycling chart, ammonia line, dropping by day ten exactly as yours has done. Multiple confirmation not required, it's done. You paid for less than ten day bac, this is no rush.

 

[Lavey29]

I agree if your ammonia goes down to zero over 24 hours and your nitrate number increases then your tank is cycling.

 

[nereefpat]

I’ve been testing every day and my ammonia is now down to .50 ppm but the nitrites are still around 5 ppm.

Good. Almost there.

I have been testing for nitrates for around 4 or 5 days now and I was at 5 ppm and now I’m at 40-50 ppm according to the nyos kit I got.

Since there are still nitrites present, that will confuse your nitrate test kit and make it read artificially high. After your ammonia and nitrite are completely processed, the nitrate reading will be a little less than 4x whatever your total dose of ammonia was. So if you dosed 5 ppm ammonia total, you will likely see around 20 ppm nitrate...just so you know what to expect.

So I guess my question is when the ammonia gets to zero what do I do. Do I add more ammonia or do I wait until the nitrites go down. (However long that will be) I don’t know how long the beneficial bacteria can go without ammonia.

There is no reason to add any more ammonia. Don't add any more.

I would wait until ammonia reads 0-0.25 ppm. Nitrite is not toxic to marine organisms at this level, according to Randy and other chemists/biologists here.

So, you are pretty darn close to being able to add fish.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

The reason you don't redo ammonia is because of a cycling chart, ammonia line, dropping by day ten exactly as yours has done. Multiple confirmation not required, it's done. You paid for less than ten day bac, this is no rush.

Awesome. Than you for the reply. I thought as much. I really didn’t want to add any more ammonia. Lol I have read that I should to see if it goes down in 24 hours but I see it is clearly going down.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Good. Almost there.

Since there are still nitrites present, that will confuse your nitrate test kit and make it read artificially high. After your ammonia and nitrite are completely processed, the nitrate reading will be a little less than 4x whatever your total dose of ammonia was. So if you dosed 5 ppm ammonia total, you will likely see around 20 ppm nitrate...just so you know what to expect.

There is no reason to add any more ammonia. Don't add any more.

I would wait until ammonia reads 0-0.25 ppm. Nitrite is not toxic to marine organisms at this level, according to Randy and other chemists/biologists here.

So, you are pretty darn close to being able to add fish.

That’s great to hear. Thanks for the reply. Just so I understand, once the ammonia reads .25 I should be able to add a fish? I was planning on going to a fish store this weekend. I don’t have one locally so I have to drive an hour and a half so I wanna make sure it’s safe to add a fish. I’m not gonna go wild. Just gonna get something to keep things going.

 

[brandon429]

That is .25 above

just because ten people see a different shade of green doesn’t mean the actual reading nh3 changes or that there are times a cycling chart is right, and times they’re wrong.



they‘re right, moreso than any non digital test kit and Id call that above closer to zero than I would .25. I usually see them darker, on full running reef posts (false ammonia alert threads)


ask any seneye owner, its within a tight low range by day ten. Thousandths ppm in fact, far lower than that kit can read. It should have some green in it, reefs don’t run at zero ammonia/any seneye owner.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Sweet. I’m excited. So is it safe to add a fish if I keep up with testing and do a water change if it spikes?

 

[brandon429]

Post a tank pic.

if it shows a stack of rocks that stewed ten days in fed + bottle bac cycle water then yes it’s all activated. Bottle bac is charted to three-four day implantation dates, this is ten days. More than double needed wait time= all rocks ready.


you’ll be violating fish disease protocol however, and that’s a large % loss risk within eight months of startup. the disease forum is full of those starts.


fish disease control is independent to ammonia control cycling, requires strict control of import only of quarantine / pre observed fish and in some cases, pre medicated fish.


your tank is certainly past the cycling stage and into the disease prevention choice phase. Tens of thousands of people skip waiting at all, and add fish day one as the ammonia load instead of the huge amount of liquid ammonia.

those fish are carried fine, starting day one. This is why dealing in day ten tanks, a recurring theme in start date assignment, is so easy and consistent in all examined outcomes.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

 

[brandon429]

For sure. You’re on day 11 of a Dr Tims fed cycle


I collect those, specifically those cycles here’s 31 pages all like yours, tons of same cycles with fish towed when we said they can be towed…day ten:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

non digital ammonia test kit readings (api, Red Sea, nyos, seachem badges) make you think you aren’t cycled when indeed you are if you owned a $200 expensive seneye meter, you’d never be doubting your cycle status. since .01% of the reefing population owns these, we need a way to help the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

The entire point, thesis and accepted summary of that thread above is that any day ten boosted cycle is set and ready. inspection by tuned seneye at any point, a day ten boosted stack of rocks will pass safety nh3 limit inspection at any time

 

[Reefdiculous22]

I have some first defense. But I get what you’re saying. I spent all my money on this setup . I really don’t want to hurt the fish but it’s really really hard looking at an empty tank. Hopefully I will be able to get a quarantine setup soon. And all the medications I need.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Shoot. Sorry I posted those.

 

[brandon429]

nobody says you can’t buy $450 in deep colored favia


run them under less intense light than you tend towards, it’s the classic initial blunder: running light power a five year old, self-shading scape will adapt to right up front.


produces big uglies


run a bunch of enjoyable coral frags up under nearly all blue quality led lighting, barely any white, a trace.

run it very low power, for two weeks don’t begin cranking it.


feed each coral spot injection at 4 am sometimes when the feeders are out, this is a food barren scape and they need fed. Under that blue light, some rather top shelf lps can be kept, now.


this feed: frozen rods food coral mix, or reef nutrition roti feast


add reef energy a and b only to one of these upper two feeds, reef energy isn’t a stand alone feed its a supplement.


I guarantee you this will carry corals and do it well in that tank above. You use feed and water changes, before it rots, before it turns into algae, to drive coral growth. Manually clean all expected algae growths, lift the rock right up and scrape it off.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Nice. I’m gonna hold you to that. Lol

 

[brandon429]

Hey check out why I’d make such a prediction, not flippant yep but from logged pattern



here’s a guy on one zip of biospira bac by Dr Tim, and then about eight hundred dollars in mixed fish and corals and anemone lol all on day one, the most stuff I’ve ever seen started from bottle bac day one:

Bio-spira works great

I just started a new tank a little over a week ago. I started with all dry rock and new sand. I added a bottle of Bio-Spira and put fish and coral the same day. Never saw any ammonia and fish and coral seem healthy.

www.reef2reef.com

that’s a whole reef on day one to dry rocks. Tracked out a year +


it’s why your tank can for sure carry some items you may want, if they fit within your disease protocol (what happened in final pages there long after cycle)

 

[Reefdiculous22]

Hey check out why I’d make such a prediction, not flippant yep but from logged pattern



here’s a guy on one zip of biospira bac by Dr Tim, and then about eight hundred dollars in mixed fish and corals and anemone lol all on day one, the most stuff I’ve ever seen started from bottle bac day one:

Bio-spira works great

I just started a new tank a little over a week ago. I started with all dry rock and new sand. I added a bottle of Bio-Spira and put fish and coral the same day. Never saw any ammonia and fish and coral seem healthy.

www.reef2reef.com

that’s a whole reef on day one to dry rocks. Tracked out a year +


it’s why your tank can for sure carry some items you may want, if they fit within your disease protocol (what happened in final pages there long after cycle)

Wow. That took a while to read. Yeah I think I over thought this whole process