Is it possible to cycle a tank in 6 days?

[Rabs2000]

I was in the hobby for about 2 years, 7 years ago. With all of this COVID19 and staying at home, I got bored and I decided to get back into it last week. I ordered a Red Sea Delux 250 and I decided to get started early by starting up an old bio nancube I had while I wait for my Red Sea tank to come in. In the old Bio nano, I put in about an inch of sand and 20 lbs of Rock. The sand and Rock I put in is from my old system 7 years ago and has sat dry in my basement since then. I Also put in a Damsel, a couple of small snails, a couple of blue hermit crabs, and a couple of zoas to see how they handled the cycle. I bought my own RO/DI machine for $375 and I am making my own salt water.

Since I am stuck home and nothing else to do, I have been monitoring my chemical readings throughout the day. I put in a full bottle of Bio Spira. I also am running Chemipure in the system. I'm on day 6 or 7 now, and using an API test kit, my Amonia readings are near zero, my Nitrites are near zero. My Nitrates spiked really high yesterday but I did two 5 gallon water changes on day 5 and 6 and they are back to under 10ppm. I'm going to keep monitoring the system daily. Is there anything else I should be checking or monitoring? I'm not dosing the system with ammonia but I figured the fish, snails, crabs, and fish food would take care of that.

Do you think my cycle is complete or do you think I could get another spike somewhere along the way. I don't have anything to consume the Nitrates so I know I will need to monitor and change water as needed. In the Red Sea 250 I will have refugium running.

Thoughts?

 

[Monkeyfish]

Did you ever get a spike in ammonia? To me, it seems unlikely that the tank is fully cycled, but the bio-spira may have quickened the pace of things. I'd wait at least another week (probably 2) before adding anything else. I don't think the the rock and sand are sufficiently colonized with beneficial bacteria yet.

 

[Rabs2000]

I didn't notice a spike in ammonia but I also added an entire bottle of Bio Spira to a 12 gallon system. Based on the Nitrates hitting 160, i would have to assume the bacteria processed it before there was a spike. The Nitrates are now low again after the water change I finished this mornign.

I think I get my Red Sea 250 on Friday. It will take me several days of making water to get the 250 operating. My thought is I could use some the bacteria I am establishing in the nano biocube to speed up the cycling process in the new tank. I was going to take some of the water out of the nano and put it in the 250. The Biocubes also have those bioballs and I was also going to take a couple of those and throw them in the new tank.

 

[Monkeyfish]

I'd ditch the bio-balls. They tend to become nitrate factories. Transferring rock/water to the 250 will help with cycling the new tank.

 

[Sk8r]

Do the fishfood test. Drop in a pinch of fishfood a day for 5 days. If it goes away and no ammonia spike, you're ok. You can get a surer result by adding a few chestnut snails (longlived and tip proof) and a couple of hermits to process the food and poo.

 

[zhangster]

Maybe possible. But why not just wait a few more days.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I was in the hobby for about 2 years, 7 years ago. With all of this COVID19 and staying at home, I got bored and I decided to get back into it last week. I ordered a Red Sea Delux 250 and I decided to get started early by starting up an old bio nancube I had while I wait for my Red Sea tank to come in. In the old Bio nano, I put in about an inch of sand and 20 lbs of Rock. The sand and Rock I put in is from my old system 7 years ago and has sat dry in my basement since then. I Also put in a Damsel, a couple of small snails, a couple of blue hermit crabs, and a couple of zoas to see how they handled the cycle. I bought my own RO/DI machine for $375 and I am making my own salt water.

Since I am stuck home and nothing else to do, I have been monitoring my chemical readings throughout the day. I put in a full bottle of Bio Spira. I also am running Chemipure in the system. I'm on day 6 or 7 now, and using an API test kit, my Amonia readings are near zero, my Nitrites are near zero. My Nitrates spiked really high yesterday but I did two 5 gallon water changes on day 5 and 6 and they are back to under 10ppm. I'm going to keep monitoring the system daily. Is there anything else I should be checking or monitoring? I'm not dosing the system with ammonia but I figured the fish, snails, crabs, and fish food would take care of that.

Do you think my cycle is complete or do you think I could get another spike somewhere along the way. I don't have anything to consume the Nitrates so I know I will need to monitor and change water as needed. In the Red Sea 250 I will have refugium running.

Thoughts?

From my experience if you go too soon you will have nitrite and ammonia spikes and you will need to test regularly but that will diminish in a few weeks.I honestly suggest waiting.I was put in a situation a couple years back where I had no alternative but try to cycle quickly with my set up(my old tank broke and the lfs was tired of baby sitting my stingray while my new aquarium cycled.).There were nitrite and ammonia spikes and in order to bring those level down I had to change volumes of water which prolonged the cycle overall.My fish survived but your better off doing it properly.

 

[dYno]

You are fine

You are fine

Buy what you want your good, just keep SeaChem Prime on hand and you are SAFE!