Testing

[Kaden Obrien]

. Are these good levels for a 2 week old tank? I’m still waiting for my ammonia kit to come in so haven’t tested that

 

[Cthulukelele]

. Are these good levels for a 2 week old tank? I’m still waiting for my ammonia kit to come in so haven’t tested that

It is hard to say without ammunia and nitrite readings. How did you initiate your cycle? What does the tank look like?

0 nitrates makes me think you haven't cycled yet and have unprocessed ammonia or nitrite in the tank.

 

[Kaden Obrien]

Dr Tim’s and live sand

 

[Kaden Obrien]

 

[Kaden Obrien]

It is hard to say without ammunia and nitrite readings. How did you initiate your cycle? What does the tank look like?

0 nitrates makes me think you haven't cycled yet and have unprocessed ammonia or nitrite in the tank.

I’m sure its not done cycling just wondering where i’m at

 

[Cthulukelele]

Dr Tim’s and live sand

You'll need to add an ammonia source like ammonium chloride or ghost feeding (just adding a pinch of food even though you don't have fish) to feed the bacteria you added. This allows you to track ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate production.

Without an ammonia source, you have no idea if the ammonia is being sufficiently processed into nitrite by the bacteria in the tank and then that nitrite to nitrate.

Alk and calcium are a lot less important at this point. Add a source of ammonia. Your ammonia test kit should read this. It will have instructions on the bottle if you get ammonium chloride from a LFS. The ammonia will get processed to nitrite. The nitrite will get processed to nitrate. Nitrite and ammonia are toxic to fish. You want to make sure you are sufficiently processing these byproducts of fish waste

 

[Kaden Obrien]

You'll need to add an ammonia source like ammonium chloride or ghost feeding (just adding a pinch of food even though you don't have fish) to feed the bacteria you added. This allows you to track ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate production.

Without an ammonia source, you have no idea if the ammonia is being sufficiently processed into nitrite by the bacteria in the tank and then that nitrite to nitrate.

Alk and calcium are a lot less important at this point. Add a source of ammonia. Your ammonia test kit should read this. It will have instructions on the bottle if you get ammonium chloride from a LFS. The ammonia will get processed to nitrite. The nitrite will get processed to nitrate. Nitrite and ammonia are toxic to fish. You want to make sure you are sufficiently processing these byproducts of fish waste

Sounds good I’ll do this

 

[Cthulukelele]

Sounds good I’ll do this

Just be careful on how much ammonia you add. There is a sweet spot which I believe is 2-3 ppm. By the time you are done cycling you will likely have A LOT of nitrate in the water and will want to do a big water change to decrease that. I did a 90% water change before adding fish, but you want to make sure the water is very similar to what's already in the tank as to not upset the delicate bacterial colony at this time.

A first good sign will be getting a nonzero reading for nitrite.

Also a caveat with the API kits--if you have ANY nitrite you may get an artifically SUPER high nitrate test. Disregard that until your nitrite is 0. It has some weird kit cross-reactivity.

P. S. I like your aquascape :)

 

[Cthulukelele]

Sounds good I’ll do this

And remember the flow

Fish poop->Ammonia(very toxic)->Nitrite(kind of toxic)->Nitrate(not particularly bad until very high levels but feeds algae growth like crazy and can stunt coral growth)

 

[Cthulukelele]

Sounds good I’ll do this

Also also (hopefully I'm not overexplaining) you won't want to add fish until you can add 2-3 ppm ammonia and read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite within about 24 hours.

 

[Kaden Obrien]

Also also (hopefully I'm not overexplaining) you won't want to add fish until you can add 2-3 ppm ammonia and read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite within about 24 hours.

Ok thanks your not over explaining this is helpful

 

[ReeferReefer]

I also recommend ghost feeding the tank during the cycle.

 

[Kaden Obrien]

I also recommend ghost feeding the tank during the cycle.

How much should I ghost feed? Everyday?

 

[Captain Quint]

@Kaden Obrien welcome to R2R!

Your tank looks amazing and the scape is cool looking. Congrats on your startup.

Yes, kind of hard to tell with no ammonia nor nitrite results. But you're doing great and I would think you'll see traces of the first steps in the cycle once done.

As far as ghost feeding a few flakes or a cube of frozen. It doesn't need to be much. :)

 

[Kaden Obrien]

@Kaden Obrien welcome to R2R!

Your tank looks amazing and the scape is cool looking. Congrats on your startup.

Yes, kind of hard to tell with no ammonia nor nitrite results. But you're doing great and I would think you'll see traces of the first steps in the cycle once done.

As far as ghost feeding a few flakes or a cube of frozen. It doesn't need to be much. :)

Just once or multiple times? Thanks i’m getting more and more excited. I have a salifert nitrate and ammonia test that will be here tomorrow. I’ll post the readings tomorrow night

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Get the ammonia at Ace Hardware (ace brand) and then go to Hamzareef.com for the calculator to know how much ammonia to add.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Just once or multiple times? Thanks i’m getting more and more excited. I have a salifert nitrate and ammonia test that will be here tomorrow. I’ll post the readings tomorrow night

Just once or multiple times? Thanks i’m getting more and more excited. I have a salifert nitrate and ammonia test that will be here tomorrow. I’ll post the readings tomorrow night

Ride that excitement wave. It is a lot of work, but there is nothing like coming home to your own personal reef. I wouldn't trade the last 6 months of reading and growing for anything--bumps, lighter wallet, and all :)

Do you have a nitrite test kit? It is something you won't really test for after your cycle, but it is important to measure during the cycle because it is a toxic intermediary in processing ammonia to nitrate.

Ghost feeding you do slowly while measuring ammonia each day. Start slow, and stop as your ammonia rises to 2ish ppm

 

[Kaden Obrien]

Ride that excitement wave. It is a lot of work, but there is nothing like coming home to your own personal reef. I wouldn't trade the last 6 months of reading and growing for anything--bumps, lighter wallet, and all :)

Do you have a nitrite test kit? It is something you won't really test for after your cycle, but it is important to measure during the cycle because it is a toxic intermediary in processing ammonia to nitrate.

Ghost feeding you do slowly while measuring ammonia each day. Start slow, and stop as your ammonia rises to 2ish ppm

I will have a nitrite test tomorrow and I will test tomorrow night. I will also have the ammonia test kit.

 

[Kaden Obrien]

I will have a nitrite test tomorrow and I will test tomorrow night. I will also have the ammonia test kit.

I will test ammonia tomorrow to see where i’m at. I put a pinch of food in it about 3 days ago and another today. Do u think it will show up or is it too early?

 

[Cthulukelele]

I will test ammonia tomorrow to see where i’m at. I put a pinch of food in it about 3 days ago and another today. Do u think it will show up or is it too early?

Ammonia should show up pretty quick. Since you added bottled bacteria you may even have some nitrite