Say 1 Tank cycle low ammonia

ReefRusty

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So I've started the process of cycling my tank. I have a waterbox 70.2 day 1 of cycle

Current parameters are
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.0
Have added mico bacter start xlm used 90ml of my 125ml bottle as per instructions.

The ammonia lever is at 0.25 have added 54 drops as per instructions.

How do I raise my ammonia is it as simple as putting in more?

No matter how much information you read I seem to ask for guidance still.

Thanks in advance
 

brandon429

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Adding more isn’t going to change the outcome of your cycle or the completion date, adding any was sufficient since you are reporting conversion going on
You can add ammonium chloride liquid from Dr Tims if you do want more ammonia, I haven’t researched how much is in the prep you are using, apparently there’s some ammonia in it


per recent posts that could be nitrite making the reading for trate, still active conversion going on

for that particular brand of bac, how long does the directions say to wait for completion-most brands want about a weeks wait time
 
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ReefRusty

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Adding more isn’t going to change the outcome of your cycle or the completion date, adding any was sufficient since you are reporting conversion going on
You can add ammonium chloride liquid from Dr Tims if you do want more ammonia, I haven’t researched how much is in the prep you are using, apparently there’s some ammonia in it


per recent posts that could be nitrite making the reading for trate, still active conversion going on

for that particular brand of bac, how long does the directions say to wait for completion-most brands want about a weeks wait time
Ok great will let it run its course and measure each day to see any changes.
It does day ammonia should be 1ppm and to try and reach 2ppm but only measuring 0.25

Yes sorry the Nitrite is measuring 0.1
It states 7 days but continue to cycle if traces of ammonia and Nitrites are not at zero. And when Nitrate is at .25ppm or higher
 

tankstudy

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Ok great will let it run its course and measure each day to see any changes.
It does day ammonia should be 1ppm and to try and reach 2ppm but only measuring 0.25

Yes sorry the Nitrite is measuring 0.1
It states 7 days but continue to cycle if traces of ammonia and Nitrites are not at zero. And when Nitrate is at .25ppm or higher

Just follow the dosing instructions for how much ammonia to add per gallon.

If you add and test till you can actually see 2 ppm ammonia on the kits, you'll have added way more bacteria than necessary.
 

brandon429

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some kits including many of the non digital ones will never read accurately, you’ll be at eight ppm vs 2 waiting months for all three params to line up. Nearly every false stalled cycle is this issue, they’re not really stalled they’re ammonia overdosed as color kits are slow to indicate changes and by the time we get a change, there’s a massive load to clear in the wastewater

Adding a bit more in certainly won’t hurt, but just wanted to convey the notion that you can’t mess up a cycle, there isnt a consequence for minor variance they’re forgiving


adding a pinch of fish feed would be a tangible boost per Dr Reefs bottle bac thread findings.

The surface area determines your bacterial loading factoring time underwater as the counterpart (consider a quarantine tank with only pvc as surface area, nothing else, even if we add a bunch of ammonia and bac there is no where to attach to, and one full water change will render the system unable to keep fish)

Having some ammonia is the same final ability as having a huge amount given the wait time, see this thread where overdosing per test kit got him eight ppm and it seemed stuck but wasn’t:



if polled not seeing that thread, 100% of respondents would have answered no bacteria would survive eight ppm. They all survived fine. Underdosing works the same I just don’t have any of those examples quick handy. The overdoses are everyday all day long
 
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brandon429

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Hey let’s see pic of the tank for ratios sand rock etc

the other day on a cycling thread when they posted pics the rock had sponges, fanworms attached, live coral

That is precycled rock we were working backwards lol adding ammonia would be barbarism in that case. This is likely dry rock but occasionally we do see the skip cycle stuff
 
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ReefRusty

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16087065238077319718589013293099.jpg
 

brandon429

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Hey that looks like liferock, painted in its own bacteria from caribsea as a nice redundancy

they claim to paint it on anyway...needs verification but if I’m not mistaken a red convertible plus a mannequin driver is orbiting the solar system as we speak...decent tech achievement there so if some other fella suspends bacteria in a sprayable shellac that has a shelf life for viability I’m not blown away in 2020
 
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ReefRusty

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Hey let’s see pic of the tank for ratios sand rock etc

the other day on a cycling thread when they posted pics the rock had sponges, fanworms attached, live coral etc we said halt! That is precycled rock we are working backwards here lol adding ammonia would be barbarism in that case.
Have a look here is a closer picture
 

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ReefRusty

ReefRusty

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Hey that looks like liferock, painted in its own bacteria from caribsea as a nice redundancy

they claim to paint it on anyway...needs verification but if I’m not mistaken a red convertible plus a mannequin driver is orbiting the solar system as we speak...decent tech achievement there so if some other fella suspends bacteria in a sprayable shellac that has a shelf life for viability I’m not blown away in 2020
Its real reef rock and has been imported from overseas, it has to be dead on arrival to come through customs. But yeah not 100% would be dead
 
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ReefRusty

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Also just re tested the salinity and its now reading 1.027. Can you reduce during cycle or let it ride out till cycle completion to do a Water change? Im using NSW as well not mixed
 

brandon429

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You could for sure instantly drop it to .023 or whatever setting you want and it won’t kill them

lets say the refract is calibrated wrong and your salinity is off, you discover it and fix the salinity again all at once by adding salt right back into the tank, that still wouldn’t harm your cycle

nsw is importing a million cycling bacteria per load / guesstimates/ nice triple sourcing.
 
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ReefRusty

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You could for sure instantly drop it to .023 or whatever setting you want and it won’t kill them

lets say the refract is calibrated wrong and your salinity is off, you discover it and fix the salinity again all at once by adding salt right back into the tank, that still wouldn’t harm your cycle

nsw is importing a million cycling bacteria per load / nice triple sourcing.
But by removing lets say 10L water and replace with RO will this not remove any of the live bacteria and ammonia that has justbeen added today? Or just leave it for now?

It was calibrated yesterday however just did a minor tweek as it was just sitting above 0 so rectified this and retested water 1.026
 

brandon429

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It will remove some for sure but it just doesn’t matter in the end


the way I’m getting at these seemingly huge leaps is because I’ve never seen common variation stall a cycle or make one not complete, I can’t think of a single example. I can certainly google stuck cycle and get six million logged returns of people sure they’re stalled, but that’s just because they’re basing it all on approximation testers like jacks reef before we did the 100% water change, far more insulting than a salinity reset

given decent wait time, any stew we create is going to lay down bacteria that can either be calibration proved with the three part ammonia test above, or we can just change some water and add life after a couple weeks max wait, it doesn’t ever seem to fail that I can see.
 
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ReefRusty

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It will remove some for sure but it just doesn’t matter in the end


the way I’m getting at these seemingly huge leaps is because I’ve never seen common variation stall a cycle or make one not complete, I can’t think of a single example. I can certainly google stuck cycle and get six million logged returns of people sure they’re stalled, but that’s just because they’re basing it all on approximation testers like jacks reef before we did the 100% water change, far more insulting than a salinity reset

given decent wait time, any stew we create is going to lay down bacteria that can either be calibration proved with the three part ammonia test above, or we can just change some water and add life after a couple weeks max wait, it doesn’t ever seem to fail that I can see.
If it doesn't matter I will safe the hassle and not bother, 1.026 is actually not bad im just over thinking things wondering of its actually cycling, I spose day 2 and 3 ect will show different results to todays tests.
 

brandon429

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yes agreed that nsw is really going to be a streamliner for sure. I’d use it if could get for sure. unless they’re boiling it before storage it’s considered the best supplement you could be adding for micronutrients, planktors bacteria refreshed etc
 
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ReefRusty

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I love the fact I can use NSW over here in Perth its $80 Aud for 500L which works out to $0.16/L only thing is that it is high salinity 1.028, but will add a little RO water to lower when I do a WC.
yes agreed that nsw is really going to be a streamliner for sure. I’d use it if could get for sure. unless they’re boiling it before storage it’s considered the best supplement you could be adding
 

brandon429

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If your system was 100% dry and you added no ammonia, no bottle bac, no feed, and you merely put reef water in it, by contact alone that would fully cycle the reef here’s a work thread showing the test

Cycled 100% new dry tank off one connecting pipe in/out to an existing reef, twenty days to a contact-only cycle. No extra feeding added to main, it’s a literal transfer of shedded mass. Bristleworms somehow rode into the new system as well (when benthic organisms establish that is always tied with cycling, they don’t establish in uncycled systems)

This test reinforces the common cycling chart as to what cycles do when non boosted by bottle bac and feed
your tank is getting bacteria from three manmade sources and twelve home contamination sources heh nice combo

if polled before seeing that thread, respondents would say reef water has no bacteria it’s all on surfaces. it’s both.
 
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