7 days into cycling, please help me interpret test results

[first29gallon]

Hi readers! I set up my saltwater aquarium exactly 7 days ago and have been monitoring the water for every other day using an API saltwater test kit following the directions as described. Please look at the image attached and tell me if it's going well? The test results have been the same each of the three times I've tested it. Ph = 7.8 (low I know). Ammonia = .25ppm. Nitrite = 0ppm. Nitrate = 0ppm.

Shouldn't the Ammonia be rising further into the 2's and 4's ppm? I used 40 lbs of live rock in my 29 gallon tank. The rocks were no more than a few hours out of their original salt water (got them from a friend's tank). I also put brand new live sand from CaribSea. I've been running the heater on 78 but no filter yet. Just two power heads to keep good flow in the tank. Can you guys please tell me what I should be expecting in the coming days/weeks? :bounce3:

Thank You.

 

[BillNye]

My cycle took a little more than three weeks for my 125. I threw a piece of raw shrimp in there to start it and I saw levels changing after around a week or so, which leveled out about two weeks later.

I think it's too soon to tell but hopefully others with more experience can chime in.

 

[first29gallon]

I wasn't sure if the cycle hasn't started in my tank yet or is it already over because I am using the live rock straight out of an established tank.

 

[KMS.Kyle]

New to the hobby but I believe - through my research that if you're using rock/sand out of an established tank, it should greatly reduce your cycle - so that could be accurate.

I would do another in a few days.

I would definitely look into getting a PH Buffer - I use Eight Four (8.4 buffer) - super easy to use/dose. (Assuming your PH needs to be 8+)

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I do not see in your test results any change ,beyond your ammonia and nothing happening with the nitrite yet.In a short time your ammonia may rise,a bit more .It may not however.Your nitrite test will show an increase as your ammonia starts to drop,as the cycle continues.
As the cycle ends your nitrites will go down to zero,and you will notice ,that you will have some increase of your nitrates. Varies depending on what test kit is used,sometimes.Depending on your bio load you may not see nitrate for a while,with an API kit.In a few weeks you should have seen some changes.
The LR will speed up your cycle .When I cycled my last aquarium with LR and some crushed gravel from another system,to seed the system,my tank cycled in about 10 days.
Test your water as you have every couple days to see if you are getting any readings on ,nitrites or nitrates,after your ammonia has dropped.That will give you an idea of where you are in the cycle.

 

[Lunchbox360]

I do not see in your test results any change ,beyond your ammonia and nothing happening with the nitrite yet.In a short time you should see the ammonia rise,a bit more and then your nitrite test will show an increase as your ammonia starts to drop,as the cycle continues.
As the cycle ends your nitrites will go down to zero,and you will notice ,that you will have some increase of your nitrates. Varies depending on what test kit is used,sometimes.
The LR will speed up your cycle and there should be changes in your testing soon.When I cycled my last aquarium with LR and some crushed gravel from another system,my tank cycled in about 10 days.
Test your water in a coule days to see if you are getting any readings on ammonia,nitrites or nitrates.

looks like your cycle is still in the begining stages give it a couple days. took me 5 days to cycle my 100 G with bacteria added

 

[Swensos]

If you have ammonia showing on the test, but no nitrites, the cycle may be just beginning. At first ammonia will rise, from whatever ammonia source you have. Then, it will be slowly replaced by nitrites, which will build. Then, nitrates will begin replacing the nitrites. When you have zero ammonia and zero nitrites, the cycle is complete.

Maybe I missed it, but what ammonia source are you adding to feed the cycle? Like BillNye added a table shrimp to decompose, some people add ammonia, others add a sacrificial fish.

 

[gone fishin]

How was the rock transported, was it in water or kept wet?

Was the friends tank cycled?

If the answer is yes to both then you may not really see much of a cycle.

Are there any living critters in the tank now? if not you could add some pure ammonia to the tank to check the status of the rock. good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[panhandler01]

I would dose pure ammonia to get the level up to 2 ppm and if the ammonia and nitrite levels are both zero after 24 hours you are cycled. If you do this make sure you use pure ammonia and not ammonia with surfactants added. Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride works great if you can get some of that. Most ammonia that you can buy at the hardware store has surfactants in it but they do sell some without. Shake the bottle and if it foams up, don't use it. If a few small bubbles form and then go away right away then you can use it. Sorry I don't have any other product names for pure ammonia but the bottle shaking technique works.

 

[first29gallon]

How was the rock transported, was it in water or kept wet?

Was the friends tank cycled?

If the answer is yes to both then you may not really see much of a cycle.

Are there any living critters in the tank now? if not you could add some pure ammonia to the tank to check the status of the rock. good luck just my 2 cents.

My friend's tank from which I got the rock has been running for 5 years. It was transported half in fully submerged tank water from his tank and half wet in a bag (since I only had a small bucket). But in less than 24 hours I had put all the tank water into a bigger drum and all the rocks then were submerged in the tank water. The rocks stayed submerged in the drum for 4 days before I put them in my new tank filled with fresh RODI salt water.

Btw, I am adding fish food to make it cycle - like 10 tiny pellets every night.

After I test the water tomorrow, if its still the same then i'll think about getting the pure ammonia. I want to resist doing that though because I want to keep this process 100% natural. I didn't even want to get the liquid that supposed to cycle a tank in 24 hours for this reason.

 

[first29gallon]

Funny you ask if there are any live creatures... I saw a small grasshopper looking creature come out of one of the holes in the rock and then quickly went back in. Haven't seen him or anything else more since then. Day 8 is today.

 

[gone fishin]

My friend's tank from which I got the rock has been running for 5 years. It was transported half in fully submerged tank water from his tank and half wet in a bag (since I only had a small bucket). But in less than 24 hours I had put all the tank water into a bigger drum and all the rocks then were submerged in the tank water. The rocks stayed submerged in the drum for 4 days before I put them in my new tank filled with fresh RODI salt water.

Btw, I am adding fish food to make it cycle - like 10 tiny pellets every night.

After I test the water tomorrow, if its still the same then i'll think about getting the pure ammonia. I want to resist doing that though because I want to keep this process 100% natural. I didn't even want to get the liquid that supposed to cycle a tank in 24 hours for this reason.

I guess it is a matter of perspective. ammonia is natural, it naturally occurs in a tank but when properly cycled it gets consumed pretty quick.

I have no idea about the grasshopper looking critter, If you can get a pic I would be curious. Since you appear to have some sort of critters in the rock I would be hesitant to spike the ammonia level. Doing this could have detrimental results for the critters.

 

[scooter31707]

+1^^^..Looking at your test results, looks like you have about 5ppm of nirates. I don't think you are going to have much of a cycle. You can get 1-2 crabs or snails and see how they do.

 

[first29gallon]

Really!! I'm going to do another test in the next hour once I get home and post those results. I think my Ph will still be around 7.8 . Is this safe for fish and inverts? How can I safely raise it?

 

[gone fishin]

Don't sweat the pH especially during the cycling process. A pH of 7.8 is not to bad. I think the last time I checked mine it was about the same, that was probably 4 years ago.

Of more importance than pH is the alkalinity. There is a relationship between alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. There are some articles about in the setting up sticky at the top of the forum.

 

[reefbroao]

For whatever reason Ive never had an API test kit accurately show my ph. It will hit 7.5 every single time which I know is wrong.

 

[first29gallon]

Results are in (see pic) and looks like ammonia might have actually gone down from .25 ppm to 0 but its so hard to tell these shades of color from one another. On the other hand I think Nitrates went up to 5ppm where before it was in between 0 and 5. Does this mean that its okay to start adding fish and inverts. It's day 9 and I didn't even witness a cycle?! Did I just get lucky bc I used live rock from an established tank?

 

[first29gallon]

I am going to get a black clownfish tomorrow. Does anyone advise against this?