Cycling Questions

[Patryk P.]

Hey Guys, I’m new to reefing and I have a Reefer 250. I am having a troubling time with my cycle. I began my cycle with the Red Sea Reef Mature Kit and by day 21 was still not done. I was also dosing NOPOX as part of the program but stopped because I realized that this was not a good idea and did not do my research beforehand. After the Program ended I added Fritz to help the cycle continue. Today is week 4 of the cycle. I am using Hanna test kits. Also keep in mind that at the very beginning of my cycle my ammonia was 1.2. About 2 weeks ago here were my results:
Ammonia: 0.3
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 23.6

Half a week ago results:
Ammonia: .48
Nitrite: .059
Nitrate: 15.8

Today (week 4):
Ammonia: .48
Nitrite: .036
Nitrate: 16.4

Why is ammonia going up then being stable then going up again then staying the same? Now it has stayed the same for half a week. Nitrite has been going down slowly and nitrate up as you can see. I am just worried I somehow messed up the cycle and can someone give me some advice and clues on what to do next? How much longer should it be because it’s almost been a whole month? And my Seachem Ammonia Alert says safe?!?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Hi there, welcome to the hobby! I know it can seem frustrating chasing those numbers, I've done it and I can tell you the majority of us have.

There are a lot of variables that affect your cycle so we'll need more information about the contents of your tank. Substrate, live rock/dead rock? Temp would be helpful too because that matters. Once we have that informations we can help narrow down what's going on. In the mean time, hang in there. It can take 12 weeks or more to properly cycle a tank. The only thing that happens fast in this hobby is failure and dead livestock.

 

[Patryk P.]

Thank you for the reply. I used dead rock and live sand. Temp is 78 F. I have a protein skimmer.

 

[griss]

I’ve never used the bacteria to cycle a tank. I’m old school, in the hobby since the early 1980’s so, I’ve always cycled with either all live rock or a mix of dry and live rock.

That said, you could do a 10% water change and see what happens. Or, what I would do, is just wait it out. One of my mottos is, “nothing good happens fast in this hobby.”

Also, keep in mind, in this hobby there is no single correct way to be successful. What works for one person may not work for another. You just have to take your time and find out what works for you and your system.

 

[DjPhato]

Totally agree with the others, however few more things…I would not take in consideration the seachem test, very inaccurate as compared to hanna. Only dry rocks will take longer to cycle and fluctuating values could be just normal at the beginning, you just need to wait longer. Is the skimmer already on and does it produce skimmate?
In the past, people were sacrificing a fish (adding it very early when the tank was just started) in order to produce some ammonia and push the bacteria to grow. Nowadays you can buy ammonia and sometimes it helps adding it the first day, especially having only dry rocks. However at this point I would not use it and just wait longer…

 

[Patryk P.]

Totally agree with the others, however few more things…I would not take in consideration the seachem test, very inaccurate as compared to hanna. Only dry rocks will take longer to cycle and fluctuating values could be just normal at the beginning, you just need to wait longer. Is the skimmer already on and does it produce skimmate?
In the past, people were sacrificing a fish (adding it very early when the tank was just started) in order to produce some ammonia and push the bacteria to grow. Nowadays you can buy ammonia and sometimes it helps adding it the first day, especially having only dry rocks. However at this point I would not use it and just wait longer…

Hey man. This is an older post. The tank has cycled just fine and ammonia/nitrite have bottomed out. I already have 3 fish. I am for sure taking it slow. Thanks

 

[DjPhato]

Hey man. This is an older post. The tank has cycled just fine and ammonia/nitrite have bottomed out. I already have 3 fish. I am for sure taking it slow. Thanks

Good for you! I didn’t think was that old, good that in 3 weeks you solved the problem and add three fish! Good luck with the tank

 

[SantaMonica]

Is what I would have said too... don't change anything else and let it ride it's way out like it did.