Just to clarify, it takes 48 hours for your aquarium to reduce ammonia concentrations from 2ppm to 0?
Yeah. Nitrates are a bit high, as is Nitrite.
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Just to clarify, it takes 48 hours for your aquarium to reduce ammonia concentrations from 2ppm to 0?
Yeah. Nitrates are a bit high, as is Nitrite.
Lets ask it this way
what if Siberwulf was invited to macna with his system before its assembled.
in order to make the start date for the show, when should he have started this cycle prep?
remember convention start dates don't just flex around whether we believe api in one thread and then state its inaccurate in another...a start date means a predicted timeframe, before you've even assembled the tank.
so what's his required prior start date for completion on time, if that time is not right now?
old rules, for buyers, always have a doubt, watch for doubt. Something is always not ready yet, wait longer, buy something.
new rules, from sellers for the last 30 years, specifically give you total predictive power over cycling I don't think the links could possibly be more indicative of this ability.
As far as I know, Siberwulf hasn't been invited to display their tank at Macna and has no fixed date to have the tank ready. So they should take the safe route.
Now if the live rock they are using was fully cycled...they should have insta-cycled and don't need prep time.
However, if the tank insta-cycled, it would be able to handle 2ppm in 24hrs, which according to the OP it can't yet.
Completely agree.This last line. I'm questioning just how "cycled" the LR was from the LFS. In theory with that, plus the live sand, it should drop ammonia out SUPER fast, especially with a bottle of Dr. Tim's in there. Maybe this is less about skip cycling, and more about the LFS charging more for something they shouldn't have.
Absolutely. So a bit of context, 2ppm is the amount of ammonia expected to be produced by a fully stocked tank daily. The recommended amount of live rock is 1-1.5 lb per gallon, so yours is already close towards the 1.5 lb per gallon mark, not to mention all that sand (though I think @taricha might disagree about whether sand does anything at all).This last line. I'm questioning just how "cycled" the LR was from the LFS. In theory with that, plus the live sand, it should drop ammonia out SUPER fast, especially with a bottle of Dr. Tim's in there. Maybe this is less about skip cycling, and more about the LFS charging more for something they shouldn't have.
Absolutely. So a bit of context, 2ppm is the amount of ammonia expected to be produced by a fully stocked tank daily. The recommended amount of live rock is 1-1.5 lb per gallon, so yours is already close towards the 1.5 lb per gallon mark, not to mention all that sand (though I think @taricha might disagree about whether sand does anything at all).
Regardless, even at 1 lb per gallon, it should defo be enough rock to handle 2ppm a day. I have less than 1lb per gallon by the way, for what it is worth.
So it is good that you are 'testing' your nitrification, so to speak. Even though it is expected that live rock when bought should be 'of good quality'/'well-established' enough to handle 2ppm ammonia a day, well that is not always the case. Could be dry rock that the LFS had only put in the tank for a short period. Could be live rock that could have done its thing before, but may have been transported dry to save costs and maybe even stored dried. If nitrifiers are dried for long enough, they don't immediately recover after re-wetting.
Either way, the exact cause does not matter so much as, at this point, clearly your nitrifiers are not able to as effectively handle ammonia as they are expected to.
You kind have two choices now. The point of ensuring 2ppm can be handled is to fully stock the tank from the get go. If you just want to slowly add things, then even 1ppm a day should be okay.
Personally, I want to be sure it is 2ppm a day. But yeah, your choice here.
Kinda what I was thinking. I realize it's not a race. I dooooo really want to turn the lights on though. Doing that, I feel is going to lead to some algae issues, even with some Chaeto in my sump. The thought about starting with some CUC and slow feeding some fish food (real kind, not flake stuff) is hopefully going to A) Feed them a little, but allow them to much any of the Ugly Phase stuff, and B) give the nitrifying bacteria some more runway to ramp up. Realistically, given a 30 day QA period on fish, and the fact I'm going to be traveling a bit, I don't envision getting fish in here until probably sometime in August. Just want something alive in here until then. Is that took risky? Am I going to murder my CUC with this approach?
At this point, no. I am unsure how ammonia affects cuc, but with the ammonia oxidation capacity at this point, you should be good to add cuc and turn on lights and all that.Kinda what I was thinking. I realize it's not a race. I dooooo really want to turn the lights on though. Doing that, I feel is going to lead to some algae issues, even with some Chaeto in my sump. The thought about starting with some CUC and slow feeding some fish food (real kind, not flake stuff) is hopefully going to A) Feed them a little, but allow them to much any of the Ugly Phase stuff, and B) give the nitrifying bacteria some more runway to ramp up. Realistically, given a 30 day QA period on fish, and the fact I'm going to be traveling a bit, I don't envision getting fish in here until probably sometime in August. Just want something alive in here until then. Is that took risky? Am I going to murder my CUC with this approach?
just curiosity, where's this expectation from?So a bit of context, 2ppm is the amount of ammonia expected to be produced by a fully stocked tank daily.
not to mention all that sand (though I think @taricha might disagree about whether sand does anything at all).
Good question, and I actually don't know. I am curious about it as well, but it had just always been quoted in cycling instructions so I kept it in my suggestions.just curiosity, where's this expectation from?
(I calculate my food inputs at possibly generating 0.1-0.4ppm ammonia per day but I have small fish / lightly feed)
I don't dose Alk so can't really comment there lol, but well hopefully the reading is accurate coz 8.4 is defo within the range one wants.So quick update: Testing this AM and Ammonia is still at 0. Yay! Nitrites did come down to 0, which is a good sign. Nitrates are not zero, not a shocker there. Hit it with a final dose of Ammonia and pending some good results tomorrow AM, we should be cycled...
I did notice that my Alk test came back at 8.4, which is what I'd previously been dosing to the past couple days. Is this expected? I was legit expecting it to be at 7.9 like before.
(and pH is a whole nother story...)
I ran it the first time and it came back at 8.4. I said "Well I screwed that up" and reran it. Came up 8.3. I'll call that a win.I don't dose Alk so can't really comment there lol, but well hopefully the reading is accurate coz 8.4 is defo within the range one wants.
What tester are you using?I ran it the first time and it came back at 8.4. I said "Well I screwed that up" and reran it. Came up 8.3. I'll call that a win.
For alk, using the Hanna HI772SWhat tester are you using?
Hanna Alk is awesome and almost is always close to my GHL.For alk, using the Hanna HI772S