Cycling issues

[Moorin]

Hi everyone,

I have had a big break from the hobby and now trying to setup a new tank along with a QT.

I'm trying to get the QT cycled ready for the displays first fish and unlike previously many years ago I have decided to fishless cycle the tank.

My QT is a 94 litre Kent bioreef

I started by having a large shrimp from the deli counter in the tank to kick things off, left it in there for about a week but my ammonia never went past 0.5ppm After a lot of research many people only leave it in the tank for a few days or so??

So anyways I have bought fish food, both pellet and frozen and have been alternating feeding the tank every 12 hours but two weeks down the line and my ammonia is still 0.5ppm?

My nitrites and nitrates have always read zero.

I was hoping that the decaying food would of caused an ammonia spike by now and kicked things off but it looks like things have stalled at the first hurdle or the tank is kind of cycled.

The water is very cloudy which I thought would be a good sign of bacteria blooming but I am now wondering if I need to do a large water change to tidy things up and start over with a liquid kit of some sort?

Any ideas would be great. Thanks


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[mcgyvr]

Whats in the QT tank? Live rock or just a tank/water?
If live rock the tank may have sufficient bacterial colonies and won't have a full cycle as there is bacteria already...

You sure your test kit is accurate?

 

[Moorin]

Whats in the QT tank? Live rock or just a tank/water?
If live rock the tank may have sufficient bacterial colonies and won't have a full cycle as there is bacteria already...

You sure your test kit is accurate?

It is just a bare tank with sponges and bio balls for filtration.

I am using a brand new salifert ammonia test kit as well as a seachem ammonia alert badge inside the tank which is reading ammonia also but not the same degree as the salifert.

I am using a brand new red sea nitrite/nitrate test kit also so would presume they would be accurate.


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[mcgyvr]

I've heard many say the badges are horrible...no personal experience with them..

Was the shrimp breaking down?
In general it sounds like you just need to wait longer..
It can take a month or more to cycle a new tank..
Patience is very important in this hobby..

 

[Moorin]

Yeh although I have posted in the "œnew to the hobby" section I've been reefing for on and off ten years but had a long break, back in the day I use to fish cycle and not use a QT so this is all new to me and was hoping to see a higher ammonia reading within 2/3 weeks of cycling as the nitrite section usually takes the time.

The shrimp was breaking down, the water was going cloudy and my tests were reading 1.5ppm ammonia but I took it out due to the mess and carried on with fish food every 12 hours but still not seeing any nitrite.

Guess I will continue and see what happens, I didn't want to over feed and then suffer high ammonia which is worse for the cycle.


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[lapin]

If you have ammonia and bacteria you will get nitrite and nitrate. Maybe think about throwing in a bottle of the liquid bacteria to jump start the process.
Weird that you had 1.5 ammonia and now its at .5 with no increase in nitrite / nitrate.

 

[mcgyvr]

The shrimp was breaking down, the water was going cloudy and my tests were reading 1.5ppm ammonia but I took it out due to the mess and carried on with fish food every 12 hours but still not seeing any nitrite.

All you needed to do is remove shrimp when ammonia hit 1.5ppm as you did and now you just wait.. There is no need to continue feeding..

 

[Moorin]

If you have ammonia and bacteria you will get nitrite and nitrate. Maybe think about throwing in a bottle of the liquid bacteria to jump start the process.
Weird that you had 1.5 ammonia and now its at .5 with no increase in nitrite / nitrate.

Exactly I thought I would of seen it drop off more dramatically hence why I have carried on feeding to try and raise ammonia enough to "œshock" it into turning to nitrite but I hunk I will have to sit and wait it out which is fine I'm in no rush but was just confused more then anything


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[Moorin]

All you needed to do is remove shrimp when ammonia hit 1.5ppm as you did and now you just wait.. There is no need to continue feeding..

Ok that's great I'll give it a miss with feeding the tank and see what happens


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