Anyone NOT have a large ammonia spike?
- Thread starter dwculp
- Start date
Dave Pacek
New member
I'm at the six month point with my 110gal, and the only time I've ever had any measurable ammonia was during the first 48 hours or so. It never got above .2, dropped quickly to zero, and has stayed that way ever since.
However...... my nitrites have consistently measured .1 ever since then, which isn't exactly 'normal'. I've long since stopped obsessing about that. The tank looks great, the corals and fish are doing fine, and 20% water changes every two weeks are keeping nitrates in check.
Dave P
However...... my nitrites have consistently measured .1 ever since then, which isn't exactly 'normal'. I've long since stopped obsessing about that. The tank looks great, the corals and fish are doing fine, and 20% water changes every two weeks are keeping nitrates in check.
Dave P
Dave Pacek
New member
If you're using a Salifert nitrate test, any presence of nitritites will cause an artifically high nitrate reading.
Dave P
Dave P
Fountainhead
New member
No spikes here either. I cycled both shipments over a 6 week period without a single water change. The ammonia never went over 0.25 on the Salifert test kit.
I had no ammonia for a week or so then it hugely spiked but that was because things died (or were in the process of dying.) I scraped off some stuff and 3-4 days later Ammonia has been 0 since... I tend to wonder if I would have had any ammonia readings at all if everything lived.
Cholesterol
Premium Member
HUGE spike when I tried a 10 gallon TBS package in a nano cube. So bad, that by the time it was over I'd lost all my clean up crew and most of the life on the rock that makes TBS rock so special.
I called and they were extremely sympathetic and more than fair with me. I've since set up 2 125 gallon tanks with TBS rock, and both had very gentle cycles, with only one water change required on each tank.
I'm a very satisfied customer and would definitely recommend TBS most highly. I don't want people to get the wrong idea after what happened with my 10. I think nanos are just to small to follow conventional wisdom when it comes to cycling.
I called and they were extremely sympathetic and more than fair with me. I've since set up 2 125 gallon tanks with TBS rock, and both had very gentle cycles, with only one water change required on each tank.
I'm a very satisfied customer and would definitely recommend TBS most highly. I don't want people to get the wrong idea after what happened with my 10. I think nanos are just to small to follow conventional wisdom when it comes to cycling.
Cholesterol
Premium Member
Based on what I got from TBS, there would be no possible way to fit a 15 gallon TBS package in a nano cube. I ordered the 10 and the aquascaping was difficult; I ended up taking a few pieces of rock out of the cube and into another tank because it was so full.
I think I killed my first attempt at a TBS nano because I tried to use every bit of rock & sand they sent, and I didn't leave enough water. A 12 gallon nano cube only holds about 8 1/2 gallons when completely empty. Add 20lbs of rock and 10lbs of sand, and I bet you've got less than 5 gallons of water in your '12' gallon tank. In my experience, that wasn't enough water volume to properly cycle, and maintain, that much of a bioload.
I love my nano cube, and I think it's doing pretty well, but I've only got about 5 lbs of sand and 10-12 lbs of rock in there.
I think I killed my first attempt at a TBS nano because I tried to use every bit of rock & sand they sent, and I didn't leave enough water. A 12 gallon nano cube only holds about 8 1/2 gallons when completely empty. Add 20lbs of rock and 10lbs of sand, and I bet you've got less than 5 gallons of water in your '12' gallon tank. In my experience, that wasn't enough water volume to properly cycle, and maintain, that much of a bioload.
I love my nano cube, and I think it's doing pretty well, but I've only got about 5 lbs of sand and 10-12 lbs of rock in there.
