Weird cycle. Could use some guidance.

Broxplode · Jul 7, 2020

Hey guys,

I've been lurking for a few months now. Been steadily reading and buying equipment and waited till I moved this past month to jump the gun and get my 40b tank cycled. I'm sure this has been asked a million times but i'm having a hard time finding answers on my particular cycle method. I started my cycle officially on the 25th of June and opted out of using fish. Instead of using shrimp - because I was going on vacation the next day - I opted to just use fish pellets to introduce ammonia to the tank. I was going to use Dr. Tims ammonia but my local fish store told me to skip it as I was using live sand. (The owner of the lfs informed me she had spoken to Dr.Tim and he stated that using his ammonia product with live sand gave un-optimal results? No idea).

I haven't had a real ammonia spike in the last 2 weeks. I'm using live sand - the carrib sea fiji pink variety, dry rock and I spiked the water with Dr. Tim's One and Only when I introduced a food source initially on the 25th. I also added Seachem Matrix biomedia to my sump, as I was told that it was very porous and would help give bacteria more room to colonize. My skimmer has been turned off, lights are off ( such a bummer because they're beautiful) and I put in a pinch of pellets everyday to 'ghost feed'.

I'm using the API test kits which are admittedly a little hard to read. I really cant tell the color differences between many of the tests, but I have seen variable differences. I wanted to ask here first because it looks like my tank did a mini - cycle, but im not sure. I've heard of tanks cycling between 2 and 6 weeks. Not sure where I fall on the scale. Furthermore I haven't done any water changes. Any guidance would be great.

Here's a brief ( relatively ****** because I can't tell the difference between colors apparrently of API tests) reading of the log for the last 2 weeks.

Wednesday 24th

added Live Sand, Dry Rock and Salt water reading at 1.025ppm

Thursday June 25th

added couple pinches of fish food
added 1 bottle Dr.Tims' One and Only

Friday June 26th

ammonia - between 0 & 0.25ppm
nitrite - 0
nitrate 0

Saturday June 27th

no testing, on vacation

Sunday June 28th

no testing, on vacation

Monday June 29th

Came home from vacation, tank smelled like a fish shop
added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.25/0.5
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0

Tuesday June 30th

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.25/0.5 ppm
nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm
nitrate - 0/10 ppm

Wednesday July 1st

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.25/0.5 ppm
nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm
nitrate - 10/20 ppm

Thursday July 2nd

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.5ppm
nitrite - 0.25/0.5 ppm
nitrate - 10/20 ppm

Friday July 3rd

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.5ish ppm
nitrite - 0.25 ppm
nitrate - 20ish ppm

Saturday July 4th

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0.5ish ppm
nitrite - 0.5 ppm
nitrate - 20/40 ppm

Sunday July 5th

didn't test - too hung over.
no extra food source added.

Monday July 6th

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0/0.25ish ppm
nitrite - 0.25 ppm
nitrate - 20ish ppm

Tuesday July 7th

added fish pellets
ammonia - 0/0.25ish ppm
nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm
nitrate - 20ish ppm

Cerberusfish · Jul 7, 2020

Broxplode said:
Hey guys,

I've been lurking for a few months now. Been steadily reading and buying equipment and waited till I moved this past month to jump the gun and get my 40b tank cycled. I'm sure this has been asked a million times but i'm having a hard time finding answers on my particular cycle method. I started my cycle officially on the 25th of June and opted out of using fish. Instead of using shrimp - because I was going on vacation the next day - I opted to just use fish pellets to introduce ammonia to the tank. I was going to use Dr. Tims ammonia but my local fish store told me to skip it as I was using live sand. (The owner of the lfs informed me she had spoken to Dr.Tim and he stated that using his ammonia product with live sand gave un-optimal results? No idea).

I haven't had a real ammonia spike in the last 2 weeks. I'm using live sand - the carrib sea fiji pink variety, dry rock and I spiked the water with Dr. Tim's One and Only when I introduced a food source initially on the 25th. I also added Seachem Matrix biomedia to my sump, as I was told that it was very porous and would help give bacteria more room to colonize. My skimmer has been turned off, lights are off ( such a bummer because they're beautiful) and I put in a pinch of pellets everyday to 'ghost feed'.

I'm using the API test kits which are admittedly a little hard to read. I really cant tell the color differences between many of the tests, but I have seen variable differences. I wanted to ask here first because it looks like my tank did a mini - cycle, but im not sure. I've heard of tanks cycling between 2 and 6 weeks. Not sure where I fall on the scale. Furthermore I haven't done any water changes. Any guidance would be great.

Here's a brief ( relatively ****** because I can't tell the difference between colors apparrently of API tests) reading of the log for the last 2 weeks.

Wednesday 24th

added Live Sand, Dry Rock and Salt water reading at 1.025ppm

Thursday June 25th

added couple pinches of fish food

added 1 bottle Dr.Tims' One and Only

Friday June 26th

ammonia - between 0 & 0.25ppm

nitrite - 0

nitrate 0

Saturday June 27th

no testing, on vacation

Sunday June 28th

no testing, on vacation

Monday June 29th

Came home from vacation, tank smelled like a fish shop

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.25/0.5

nitrite - 0

nitrate - 0

Tuesday June 30th

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.25/0.5 ppm

nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm

nitrate - 0/10 ppm

Wednesday July 1st

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.25/0.5 ppm

nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm

nitrate - 10/20 ppm

Thursday July 2nd

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.5ppm

nitrite - 0.25/0.5 ppm

nitrate - 10/20 ppm

Friday July 3rd

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.5ish ppm

nitrite - 0.25 ppm

nitrate - 20ish ppm

Saturday July 4th

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0.5ish ppm

nitrite - 0.5 ppm

nitrate - 20/40 ppm

Sunday July 5th

didn't test - too hung over.

no extra food source added.

Monday July 6th

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0/0.25ish ppm

nitrite - 0.25 ppm

nitrate - 20ish ppm

Tuesday July 7th

added fish pellets

ammonia - 0/0.25ish ppm

nitrite - 0/0.25 ppm

nitrate - 20ish ppm

I use the API test as well and agree they are hard to read. Sometimes I go to my LFS and ask for a quick test to double check what I've been getting. It's odd nitrates would go down like that, but again its API lol. You may have completed your initial cycle, I've heard of it happening very quickly. You used a lot of products and live sand. I did the same thing as you and my 75 cycled in about 4.5 weeks. I'd check with your LFS to verify levels, and if it checks out try adding 1 or 2 fish and go SLOW with stocking. Also worth noting I'd hook up the skimmer and other equipment first and wait for them to break in before adding fish. Gives you even more time to cycle the tank better and means they'll get to work right away once you stock it.

Tamberav · Jul 7, 2020

Wow that's sooo many fish pellets lol...

I just do biospira and a pinch of fish food in the beginning and maybe once midway though and Usually good to go in 1-2 weeks.

92Miata · Jul 7, 2020

Tamberav said:
Wow that's sooo many fish pellets lol...

I just do biospira and a pinch of fish food in the beginning and maybe once midway though and Usually good to go in 1-2 weeks.

Agree. I used Bio-Spira on day one, had two clownfish in the tank at about a week. People make this way more complicated than it needs to be with the ammonia dosing/etc.

Setting up a tank is way easier than it used to be.

Broxplode · Jul 7, 2020

Cerberusfish said:
I use the API test as well and agree they are hard to read. Sometimes I go to my LFS and ask for a quick test to double check what I've been getting. It's odd nitrates would go down like that, but again its API lol. You may have completed your initial cycle, I've heard of it happening very quickly. You used a lot of products and live sand. I did the same thing as you and my 75 cycled in about 4.5 weeks. I'd check with your LFS to verify levels, and if it checks out try adding 1 or 2 fish and go SLOW with stocking. Also worth noting I'd hook up the skimmer and other equipment first and wait for them to break in before adding fish. Gives you even more time to cycle the tank better and means they'll get to work right away once you stock it.

Hey thanks for the reply! I'm not trying to jump the gun here. I'm trying to be patient but its just not easy when I stare at the thing all day when im working! Lol. Thats a good idea, I will take a sample of my water to my LFS tomorrow and see what they say. I'll start the skimmer going tonight. That being said, If the cycle is falling inline with a normal cycle process and I'm good to go in terms of stocking, I should do a quick 20% water change first right?

Broxplode · Jul 7, 2020

92Miata said:
Agree. I used Bio-Spira on day one, had two clownfish in the tank at about a week. People make this way more complicated than it needs to be with the ammonia dosing/etc.

Setting up a tank is way easier than it used to be.

Thanks for the reply. I agree that I find it complicated but the complication came from reading the million threads here at reef 2 reef and videos posted on youtube. Many threads I read said a minimum of 4 weeks and some say upto 6, then others are doing it within the week or a few days. As a total newbie, it's hard to get an accurate idea of how to do things properly without jeopardizing the fish's wellbeing and ensuring the tank is stabilizing correctly.

Hausser · Jul 7, 2020

I would stop adding pellets, get ammonia in tank and let the cycle begin.
I added microbacter 7 and ammonia then waited for ammonia to go away then watch it go from nitrite to nitrates. I also kept my tank empty of fish and corals for 3 months prior to adding anything. I then added fish and made sure no spikes of anything then I have been slowly adding corals and fish. I did a modified WWC cycle that was posted on BRS video.

Broxplode · Jul 7, 2020

Alright Im gathering I used too many fish pellets, Lol. I had been reading about 'ghost feeding' and maybe misunderstood the purpose. Thanks for the input guys.

gabrieltackitt · Jul 8, 2020

I would say your tank is probably cycled or pretty close to it. I’d say get a different ammonia test and some dr tims ammonia and add to 2ppm if you are really unsure.

Also to the few people that are asking about nitrates going down, if you have detectible nitrites then your nitrate readings will be basically useless as the nitrite will give you falsely high readings.