Cycle screwed up? new tank

[burrito]

so i started up a 30L about a week ago and used dr tims and his ammonia as well following the directions for a fishless cycle.

I have about 15lbs of carbisea life rock, and 30lbs figi live sand, left me with exactly 20 gal of water in the tank/(back sump), using red sea coral pro salt with ro/di water



my parameters as as followed.

4/7-

PH: 8.0

ammonia: .5

Nitrite: .25

Salinity: 1.024

Temp: 77



4/8-

PH: 8.1

ammonia: 1

Nitrite: .25

Salinity: 1.024

Temp: 77



4/9-

PH: 8.1

ammonia: 2.0

Nitrite: 1

Salinity: 1.024

Temp: 77



no reading on the 10th, was away for work



4/11-

PH: 8.1

ammonia: 1.0

Nitrite: 5

Nitrate: 20

Salinity: 1.024

Temp: 77



4/12-

PH: 810

ammonia: .5

Nitrite: 2ish

Nitrate: 20

Salinity: 1.024

Temp: 77



so whats going on? i did a small 2 gallon water change after my reading on 4/11 as per dr tims suggestion when nitrite goes above 5, tank cycled? something messed up? i added some ammonia between day 2 and 3, do i need to add more? wait? confused since nitrites are high but ammonia seems to be going down now.

 

[thearsalan1]

Maybe try adding a couple clownfish


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[mcgyvr]

Ignore ^^ that bad advice..


Ok.. now.. What makes you think there is anything wrong?
Seems like your tank is progressing just fine..

All you need to do is wait till nitrites/ammonia are zero and if you want you can spike the ammonia back up to 1ppm and watch to make sure that both ammonia and nitrites are zero again after 24 hours.. If not just wait longer..
Your tank is cycling just fine now.. Just need patience..

 

[Rover88]

Maybe try adding a couple clownfish


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Don't do that.


Your tank is cycling. It takes more then a week. It can take 3-4 weeks, til longer. Just keep watching, and wait until the ammonia and nitrites reach zero.

Right now your ammonia is turning into nitrite. The nitrite will turn into nitrates. You are watching it happen.

 

[Ryan33]

Nice looking tank. I would wait until ammonia is at zero and nitrites are at zero then maybe add a little ammonia and if after 24 hours your ammonia and nitrites are back to zero you should be cycled. Then do a water change to get your nitrates down. My first tank with dry rock and supposedly live sand it took about six weeks to fully cycle. I'm going through the same process now with my second tank and it's been two weeks my ammonia just went down and nitrites are now spiking. It's exciting starting a tank but just be patient and let it do it's thing.

 

[sde1500]

Maybe try adding a couple clownfish


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Terrible advise, never add fish to an uncycled tank.

Your tank has only been set up a few days. Have patience. Just sit and wait now, testing every so often. The cycle is well under way.

 

[thearsalan1]

As mean as it is, clownfish are pretty hardy and a great fish for helping cycle a tank.


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[FoxFace Fish]

i do not see anything wrong with your tank cycle it is well cycling

 

[Dr. Reef]

Nothing wrong with the cycle. Its fine. Don't add nothing to it.
Specially fish. Real bad advice.

 

[homer1475]

As mean as it is, clownfish are pretty hardy and a great fish for helping cycle a tank.


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How about we dump some ammonia down your lungs and see how well you handle it? You are a hardy human after all.

Horrible advise, and quite frankly quite barbaric and goes to show how much the hobby has progressed. 20 years ago there was no such thing as a fishless cycle, now it's what we advocate.

OP, ammonia < nitrites < nitrates, your tank is cycling just fine, leave it be and wait it out. Once ammonia and nitrites 0 out, do a large water change to rid the tank of nitrates, and dump some CUC in there(maybe a fish or 2 of the smaller kind)

 

[thearsalan1]

How about we dump some ammonia down your lungs and see how well you handle it? You are a hardy human after all.

Horrible advise, and quite frankly quite barbaric and goes to show how much the hobby has progressed. 20 years ago there was no such thing as a fishless cycle, now it's what we advocate.

OP, ammonia < nitrites < nitrates, your tank is cycling just fine, leave it be and wait it out. Once ammonia and nitrites 0 out, do a large water change to rid the tank of nitrates, and dump some CUC in there(maybe a fish or 2 of the smaller kind)

[emoji23]


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[PitViper]

How about we dump some ammonia down your lungs and see how well you handle it? You are a hardy human after all.

Horrible advise, and quite frankly quite barbaric and goes to show how much the hobby has progressed. 20 years ago there was no such thing as a fishless cycle, now it's what we advocate.

OP, ammonia < nitrites < nitrates, your tank is cycling just fine, leave it be and wait it out. Once ammonia and nitrites 0 out, do a large water change to rid the tank of nitrates, and dump some CUC in there(maybe a fish or 2 of the smaller kind)

Nice answer!!!


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[Rover88]

[emoji23]


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Just consider that fish are living creatures. We are hobbyists, deciding to take them in and care for them. What you are suggesting doing to this clownfish is the equivalent of you deciding to live in a garage with a vehicle pumping exhaust into it, and only minimal ventilation. Yeah, you might live, but you won't like it.

When we join this hobby we are choosing to own creatures, and we are supposed to provide and care for them. Putting fish in your cycle 'because its easy' is the wrong mentality to have. It used to be standard practice, but as with many things in the hobby people learned and moved on from the bad practices to newer, more ethical ones.

It would be far simpler to ghost-feed a tank to kickstart the ammonia process then use a fish. Simpler still to buy plain ammonia in a bottle and use a few drops of that. There is simply no reason any more to subject a fish to what is essentially torture to save yourself the hassle of throwing in some flakes or dripping some ammonia in the tank once every few days.

 

[mcgyvr]

[emoji23]


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And here you thought you signed up at Reefcentral not PETA.org central..

In general the using a fish to cycle a tank has become known as an outdated/inhumane process that really just isn't needed because there are other ways that can be used that don't involve subjecting Nemo to what could potentially be toxic environments.

So hey... Welcome to RC anyways... Enjoy.. :love1:

 

[burrito]

hey, thanks for the replies. i had a few small tanks many years ago but knew enough then and still do not to use fish as my guinea pigs.

would it be advisable to add more nitifying bacteria like bio-spira? or leave it. so hard to leave it alone lol

 

[mcgyvr]

hey, thanks for the replies. i had a few small tanks many years ago but knew enough then and still do not to use fish as my guinea pigs.

would it be advisable to add more nitifying bacteria like bio-spira? or leave it. so hard to leave it alone lol

You "can" if you want but it really should't be needed.. The bacteria will grow/increase on its own now.. There is clearly bacteria doing work already..

 

[thearsalan1]

Very informative guys, thanks for the info. As far as being inhumane, I think you should really reconsider the logic behind the hobby as a whole since we're essentially taking living creatures out of their natural habitats and putting them in glass cages for our own desires and benefits.
I also never said it's the right thing to do, so there's that.
I was suggesting an option which someone already agreed used to be a norm. People buying corals and fish to "œtry to see if they can keep them" is just as messed up, if not worse in my book.

Regardless of all that jazz, I agree with comments above, your cycle looks fine, just let it be for a couple more weeks or so.

* or add clownfish to speed it up. [emoji23][emoji23]


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[shrimpinator123]

Very informative guys, thanks for the info. As far as being inhumane, I think you should really reconsider the logic behind the hobby as a whole since we're essentially taking living creatures out of their natural habitats and putting them in glass cages for our own desires and benefits.
I also never said it's the right thing to do, so there's that.
I was suggesting an option which someone already agreed used to be a norm. People buying corals and fish to "œtry to see if they can keep them" is just as messed up, if not worse in my book.

Regardless of all that jazz, I agree with comments above, your cycle looks fine, just let it be for a couple more weeks or so.

* or add clownfish to speed it up. [emoji23][emoji23]


I am not trying to extend this any further, but I do not see putting fish in a cycled tank that is big enough for their adult size being the same as putting a fish in an uncycled tank that is essentially a poisonous environment. People that are going to try and keep a fish or coral are normally well prepared to take the animal in, and give it the right environment.

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[thearsalan1]

Okay okay, you're all right, I'm wrong.
Let's not waste each other's time anymore haha


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[j.falk]

People that are going to try and keep a fish or coral are normally well prepared to take the animal in, and give it the right environment.

From working at a local pet store for over 14 years of my life I can tell you without a doubt that most of the people who bought fish/corals from us didn't have a clue what they were doing. The majority would come in and buy stuff on a whim just because it "looked cool"...and if you would try to explain the care needed to take care of said livestock...then the people would look at you like you were stupid and ignore the advice given them thinking they already knew what it would take to take care of the fish/coral.

My absolute favorite saltwater story is when a lady came in and bought some yellow tail blue damsels because she liked the pretty colors. I specifically asked her if she had a saltwater aquarium and she immediately said, "yes". So she ended up buying 4 of them...took them home and came back an hour later with all four fish dead. We tested her water and it ended up that she didn't have a saltwater tank at all. Then she tried to say that I didn't tell her they were saltwater fish and she wanted her money refunded. Well, that didn't happen and from that day forth we had a no guarantee policy on our saltwater livestock all because of one person's stupidity.

Hopefully things are different these days (being that I haven't worked in a fish store in over 8 years) but back then most people were simply clueless and didn't care how to take care of the things they bought. They just wanted to spend some money and buy something "cool". Heh.

I was also taught how to keep saltwater aquariums from the days of when you cycled your tanks with damsels and clownfish...it can and has been done, but I would never stick any livestock in a tank during the middle of a tank cycling...that's not a smart idea.