Cycle question

[fishkeeprian]

Hello,

I am a friend who has started a new setup which as been running for 3 weeks. He started it will man-made dry rock (never been in the ocean) and dry sand.

He started the cycle with a prawn wihich decayed after about 5 days so added another two smaller ones but these made his tank smell so he removed them within 24hrs.

After 3 weeks his readings are;

Ammonia - 0.15
Nitrite - 0.7
Nitrate 50

Just doesn't seem right, what do you think. At current there is no Amonnia source being added to the tanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

Seems totally normal to me...
Once ammonia/nitrite are zero the tank is cycled.. Likely to be about another week or so..

There is no need to add additional ammonia to the tank either..
Just wait..
All you need to do is top off with fresh water to make up for evaporation.

 

[Bill_Moorman]

Oddly specific info for your "œfriends tank"

That being said, leave it be. If you are reading ammonia, that means there is some for the bacteria to convert into nitrite, and eventually into nitrate.

You don't have anything in your tank do you? If not, just let it be. Once you don't detect any ammonia and nitrite, your tank is cycled and ready for the gradual introduction of livestock.

Don't dump a whole school of fish in there at once. A few at a time is fine. The rationale being that if you add too many too quickly, the bacteria colony isn't big enough to process the added ammonia load from many fish. As more food (ammonia) becomes available, more will grow and you'll be better apt to handle more livestock.

I would do as large of a WC as possible before introducing fish (upwards of 50% to knock down some nitrates) and begin stocking when your cycle is complete.

Now if your "œfriend" has already stocked the tank with fish, they are harming those fish and should be doing WCs to prevent ammonia poisoning.


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[hegeh]

Oddly specific info for your "œfriends tank"

That being said, leave it be. If you are reading ammonia, that means there is some for the bacteria to convert into nitrite, and eventually into nitrate.

You don't have anything in your tank do you? If not, just let it be. Once you don't detect any ammonia and nitrite, your tank is cycled and ready for the gradual introduction of livestock.

Don't dump a whole school of fish in there at once. A few at a time is fine. The rationale being that if you add too many too quickly, the bacteria colony isn't big enough to process the added ammonia load from many fish. As more food (ammonia) becomes available, more will grow and you'll be better apt to handle more livestock.

I would do as large of a WC as possible before introducing fish (upwards of 50% to knock down some nitrates) and begin stocking when your cycle is complete.

Now if your "œfriend" has already stocked the tank with fish, they are harming those fish and should be doing WCs to prevent ammonia poisoning.


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LOL. I wish my friend help me too.

From the information give, the bacteria is doing its job. You need atleast 2 to 3 weeks more before nitrite and ammonia to drop to 0. Then you may do a major water change.

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[fishkeeprian]

Hello,

I friend is on week 4 off the cycle and the Ammonia, and nitrite readings are the same but nitrates have hit 100+ is this right, has the cycled stalled?

Could he add a bottle of ATM colony to help finish the cycle?

Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

Its simply time to start doing large water changes to drop that nitrate down to suitable levels..

I see no reason to start adding bacterial product at this time.

 

[fishkeeprian]

Its simply time to start doing large water changes to drop that nitrate down to suitable levels..

I see no reason to start adding bacterial product at this time.

The tank is still showing Ammonia, does this indicate its still cycling? Will the water changes help zero the ammonia out.

 

[mcgyvr]

Yes and yes..

 

[fishkeeprian]

Yes and yes..

If water changes zero the Amonnia with water changes then is this not almost falsifying the test results, as at the moment are test saying there are not enough nitrifying bacteria for a full cycle?

 

[mcgyvr]

It is very unlikely that after 2 weeks the ammonia/nitrite levels are unchanged..
Hobby test kits are frequently inaccurate/incorrect. I have more faith in the reported numbers being inaccurate vs being able to concretely determine that bacteria levels are insufficient.

Most people just over complicate/over analyze the cycling process..

My recommendation is to simply start performing water changes and when nitrate levels are acceptable I would start slowly stocking the tank.. During that time bacteria levels will continue to increase.
Keep it simple..
I would shoot for nitrate levels below 50ppm before I started stocking and continue attempting to lower them over the next few weeks.