\Clownfish/ 29 Gallon BioCube Tank

do you have an ace hardware local to you? If so walk in and buy their janitorial ammonia. Just get the small bottle. I think it is like $5.

Just add a couple drops then test and continue till you get up to your levels.
 
Last time I checked they were out but I can check again today. Are there anythings that I should look out for that could harm the tank?
 
You just need to get the ace janitorial and you are set. If that brand is not in stock it gets tough as many other brands add scents and things of that nature that are detrimental.

I would say if the ace brand is not in then go with the shrimp again just to be safe.

I did not count drops. I dumped some in and tested then put in drops to get close to desired amount. I think I had to test twice and I was at 3ppm and then let it go...
 
Day # 5

Today I tested Ammonia and Nitrite, Ammonia is at 5.0 ppm and Nitrite at 5.0 ppm. I took the shrimp out and am now waiting for it to zero out. Later today I will be testing again to see if I see any changes. Once both Ammonia and Nitrite Zero out I will be either adding ammonia or doing the shrimp method again and wait for another spike in both Ammonia and Nitrite and will be waiting for them to zero out within 24 Hours. If I missed something please correct me :celeb2:

Parameters for this morning

Ammonia 5.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm

 
Should always test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate everytime.

But anyways, wait until ammonia and nitrite drop down to zero. Next time, only use say 1/3rd of the shrimp and really grind it up, works way better. That or just use fish food to test your filtration.
 
Azedenkae said:
Should always test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate everytime.
Click to expand...

It doesnt matter when starting the cycle and bringing up the ammonia. If you test all three all you are doing is wasting the nitrite and nitrate tests. You dont care about them until you get ammonia up first.
 
I wouldnt bother with nitrate till your ammonia and nitrite drop off. It is a three part cycle where ammonia will drop and nitrite will spike. nitrite will drop and nitrate will spike.

So test ammonia first and if it has dropped a noticeable amount then test nitrite to see the conversion.

Scatter in a nitrate test as well just so you can see the complete cycle of the bacteria.
 
Okay, so ill wait for ammonia to go up the scale (0) and then wait for Nitrite to go up (0) then test nitrates.
 
soulpatch said:
I disagree with this. You typically want the ammonia to build up to the 2ppm or so to encourage the bacteria to build up in prep for your enhanced bioload. Sure you have some die off but that is the purpose as that die off also feeds some of the bacteria in the tank. You dont want to do a water change till you are closer to the end of the cycle.

This is a good article:

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

Changing the water only removes those items that are encouraging the growth of bacteria and slows your cycle.

The only reason you would swap water and try to keep ammonia down a bit is if you were doing a fish cycle or had other live stock so as to not damage them.
Click to expand...
...
Click to expand...

The only reason you would swap water and try to keep ammonia down a bit is if you were doing a fish cycle or had other live stock so as to not damage them.
Click to expand...

I should have better clarified. I don't disagree with what you are saying at all. However, the rock and sand I use is live (out of the ocean delivered to my local airport wet - live) and covered with life.

In making my comment I was thinking we ( \Clownfhis/ and I ) were taking similar approaches (using different methods) of cycling our tanks and therefore didn't think to clarify why I didn't want to kill off my live rock in the process.

During the process I'm sharing, the goal is to keep the ammonia levels under 1.00ppm which will help keep additional die off to a minimum. I'm actually doing it on a new build now (which will make my fourth using this process).

During times past I've had to do multiple water changes to keep ammonia levels at or below 1.00ppm. Fortunately, with this current build I've only had to do one 25% water change (day 3 - ammonia was 1.25ppm) and since then it has not been above 1.00ppm, and in fact all readings (ammonia, nitrite and nitrates) this morning are at 0.

So now I'm ready to add the other half of the wet, live rock, cuc's, sponges, and gorgonians and whatever else decides to tag along on the rock!

To add to what you were saying though, yes, if I constantly did water changes keeping the levels I had at and below 1ppm in hopes of achieving/maintaining a 0 reading, I would have most certainly extended my cycling time.

Sorry for any confusion all that may have caused.
 
It is good to know all three all the time, to see what may or may not need work on. It is untrue that it has to be a spike-drop-next-one-spike cycle. For example here, it is clear that both ammonia and nitrites are high. What does that mean?

Well that indicates that there is quite a number of ammonia-reducing bacteria already. Measuring nitrate might see plenty, and that would for example indicate that there is nitrite-reducing bacteria already.

So measuring everything gives a good, clear idea of what is going on at all times. Heck, I even measure phosphates to see the changes in it over time.

And that's the other thing, 'changes over time'. If you measure no ammonia and no nitrite, but say, 40ppm nitrate. Did it rise to that point? Or decrease? And how fast did it get there? Sure eventually after subsequent tests you would know, but why bother with that.

I like to keep track of everything constantly. And see the changes. For example, here is day 6 of my cycle: http://sosofishy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/tj-mini-sea-4.html

Parameters are all over the place, coming from this on day 5: http://sosofishy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/tj-mini-sea-3.html

Then day 7: http://sosofishy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/tj-mini-sea-5.html

So after adding seafood, everything spiked and then dropped. If I had not test nitrite or nitrate there, I would probably be thoroughly confused.
 
This is a great thread you're doing a great job documenting the cycle, when you are done and add a CUC this should be a sticky in the "new to hobby" forum.
 
Thank you JammyBirch

Day #4 still :bdaysmile:

So I just re-tested again and something's have changed while others stayed the same.

Parameters for today

Ammonia - 4.0 ppm (went up a tad from 5.0 ppm)
Nitrite - 5.0 ppm (stayed the same since this mornings testing)
Nitrate - 2.0 ppm (Has gone up since I tested last)
Phosphate - 0.5 ppm (last test was at 0.0 ppm)
Salinity - 1.025



Tank today (water seems more clear since I removed the shrimp since this morning.)

 
Cool. Well can't really say much yet, but at least you know now that you have both ammonia- and nitrite-reducing bacteria. :) Continue testing all that, and more can be said each day.
 
Looks awesome and so this is the fishless method. Now how hard is it to cycle a new tank with say one clown fish in there with the live Rock and sand? Does it stress the fish to much with the spikes in ammonia, nitrite and nitrates?
 
mx29 said:
Looks awesome and so this is the fishless method. Now how hard is it to cycle a new tank with say one clown fish in there with the live Rock and sand? Does it stress the fish to much with the spikes in ammonia, nitrite and nitrates?
Click to expand...

With live rock and sand, it depends. If it is cured, and you are cycling via feeding the fish, then it may not be so bad.

It is is uncured, lot's of die-off, then ammonia might spike to a point whereby the Clown will not be able to withstand.
 
Day #5

Today's parameters

Ammonia - 2.0ppm (went up yay!:bdaysmile:)
Nitrite - 3.0 ppm (seems lighter than yesterday)
Nitrate - 4.0 ppm (went from 2.0 to 4.0)
Phosphate - 1.0 ppm (went from 0.5 to 1.0)
Salinity - 1.026 (lowered it a bit with distilled water)



Tank today (water is clearing up again)
 
Decided to share this with you all. My progress so far :) the app I'm using is Aquarimate. Really neat app where you can keep track of everything :)

 
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