Hey all, about four five days ago I set up a 10 gal tank with caribsea life rock and caribsea sand. I've been dropping a normal amount of food for a 10 gal tank each day and have also used Fluval Cycle but I have not seen any sign on ammonia, nitrites, o nitrates. Granted I am using an API test kit which I have heard are not super accurate but I'm just wondering if I'm missing something as I have heard ammonia should show up once food starts to break down. Thanks in advance for the help.
No ammonia in cycling tank
- Thread starter loudou11
- Start date
OldReefGuy
Well-known member
It will show up soon....or take water sample to LFS for test (Petco does for free...)
brandon429
Active member
you inputted concentrated bacteria designed to oxidize ammonia, you wouldn't expect any here
your stated levels confirm the cycle worked out of the bottle, no need to test further.
driving ammonia levels above the control ability of the dosed bacteria isn't helpful, your system doesn't need testing or additives it needs counted to day ten to know it's done.
the amazing part is that your kit read zero at all, ever, as a non-digital reef test kit. when you get stocked with animals it's not likely to read zero/the heart of all stuck cycle posts. by rule (and by any cycling chart you can search) in about ten days wait your ammonia control will be locked in. you can simply wait that long, do a water change, and your tank will carry life if you've been cycling with a common set of rocks in the display this whole time, after using a booster designed to carry fish on day one (most common bottle bac accomplish this hence the thousands of searches for successful fish + bottle bac on day one setups)
additionally, heavy hitters like Dr. Reef who handle thousands of fish for prep/disease preps/sale to others also use common bottle bac to skip the initial cycle. by giving ten days + a water change at the end you've exceeded the tank's needs.
it's not that your arrangement might not cycle unless you do/verify something, it's that this mix of nutrient and bottle bacteria is already well-known in the hobby and entire articles and experiments are online that show deposition dates...day ten of the wait has you covered for sure. the first rule of updated reef tank cycling science is that we can get your tank ready by a specific date vs an open-ended wait. day 10
your stated levels confirm the cycle worked out of the bottle, no need to test further.
driving ammonia levels above the control ability of the dosed bacteria isn't helpful, your system doesn't need testing or additives it needs counted to day ten to know it's done.
the amazing part is that your kit read zero at all, ever, as a non-digital reef test kit. when you get stocked with animals it's not likely to read zero/the heart of all stuck cycle posts. by rule (and by any cycling chart you can search) in about ten days wait your ammonia control will be locked in. you can simply wait that long, do a water change, and your tank will carry life if you've been cycling with a common set of rocks in the display this whole time, after using a booster designed to carry fish on day one (most common bottle bac accomplish this hence the thousands of searches for successful fish + bottle bac on day one setups)
additionally, heavy hitters like Dr. Reef who handle thousands of fish for prep/disease preps/sale to others also use common bottle bac to skip the initial cycle. by giving ten days + a water change at the end you've exceeded the tank's needs.
it's not that your arrangement might not cycle unless you do/verify something, it's that this mix of nutrient and bottle bacteria is already well-known in the hobby and entire articles and experiments are online that show deposition dates...day ten of the wait has you covered for sure. the first rule of updated reef tank cycling science is that we can get your tank ready by a specific date vs an open-ended wait. day 10
So in 10 days I should be good to put fish in?
brandon429
Active member
ammonia won't kill them by then that's for sure.
have you seen the degree of disease outbreak posts in new fish tanks in the last 5 years from pet stores? it's shocking
if you want your fish to live, the cycle isn't what you need to detail. it's your acclimation/fallow/quarantine and biosecurity approach...the things that keep disease in check and how you cycle doesn't impact disease control. since this is a dry rock, dry sand, brand new system with no functioning biome and pet store fish are about to be added that's simply a near guarantee for fish loss in the first six months. anything you source out to read for fish disease preps shows careful stocking order, maturing of the system and how to prepare fish before they bring infection into your main display tank as the real challenge. the cycle was the easy easy part. if you're planning on just a couple clownfish, a lot of nano keepers set those systems up and if the fish are from decent stock you have a decent chance at keeping them alive a year if you are feeding well, keeping things clean...but once you get beyond common clowns you can see the disease forum on any reef board just awash in daily help threads when several species are in the system and no disease preps were ran.
must research exceptional feeding and system care in order to skip fish disease preps and still have a strong chance at success.
have you seen the degree of disease outbreak posts in new fish tanks in the last 5 years from pet stores? it's shocking
if you want your fish to live, the cycle isn't what you need to detail. it's your acclimation/fallow/quarantine and biosecurity approach...the things that keep disease in check and how you cycle doesn't impact disease control. since this is a dry rock, dry sand, brand new system with no functioning biome and pet store fish are about to be added that's simply a near guarantee for fish loss in the first six months. anything you source out to read for fish disease preps shows careful stocking order, maturing of the system and how to prepare fish before they bring infection into your main display tank as the real challenge. the cycle was the easy easy part. if you're planning on just a couple clownfish, a lot of nano keepers set those systems up and if the fish are from decent stock you have a decent chance at keeping them alive a year if you are feeding well, keeping things clean...but once you get beyond common clowns you can see the disease forum on any reef board just awash in daily help threads when several species are in the system and no disease preps were ran.
must research exceptional feeding and system care in order to skip fish disease preps and still have a strong chance at success.
Do you have a preferred way of making sure they are clean before putting them in the tank? I do plan on getting two clowns.
brandon429
Active member
do an online search for Humblefish quarantine and fallow protocols. that's the #1 way possible, it's the top mechanism in all of reefing to manage and prevent fish disease. it'll take about an hour's self-directed reading/searching to learn the basics/ too long to describe here.
you want to be able to discuss fallow, quarantine, treatments-while-in-holding options for fish to be able to make an informed decision about disease preps, HF's writings will detail those aspects.
a minimal way of managing the tank, the 10% effort compared to Humblefish's methods detailed online and across forums, would be to simply buy the clowns and run them in a separate holding tank for a month as you simply observe them for any latent disease. you want to catch it there before importing any disease into your main tank, some of them (such as uronema) can't be eradicated from the setup once imported. to buy and add any fish from a pet store without any disease protocols risks a high % chance of importing disease that will alter your ability to keep fish on the long term.
a second resource in 2x clowns in a nano fish disease tracking is the 20 years of info here at reefcentral's nano's forum *and* at nano-reef.com, you can peruse 20 years of threads where fish without disease preps were ran and try and copy some of those approaches. the risks are more elevated nowadays compared to any days past in the matter...something about today's pet store fish is really high % loss risk.
lastly, it's an option to buy already pre-quarantined fish that were observed and or pre treated prior to sale; one setback to that is your tank is new, destined to be stocked beyond just fish (you'll be adding corals and cuc most likely) and if any of those wet items aren't ran through fallow you risk undoing the $ you paid for quarantined fish. give it a good read to see what % risk you're comfortable with.
you want to be able to discuss fallow, quarantine, treatments-while-in-holding options for fish to be able to make an informed decision about disease preps, HF's writings will detail those aspects.
a minimal way of managing the tank, the 10% effort compared to Humblefish's methods detailed online and across forums, would be to simply buy the clowns and run them in a separate holding tank for a month as you simply observe them for any latent disease. you want to catch it there before importing any disease into your main tank, some of them (such as uronema) can't be eradicated from the setup once imported. to buy and add any fish from a pet store without any disease protocols risks a high % chance of importing disease that will alter your ability to keep fish on the long term.
a second resource in 2x clowns in a nano fish disease tracking is the 20 years of info here at reefcentral's nano's forum *and* at nano-reef.com, you can peruse 20 years of threads where fish without disease preps were ran and try and copy some of those approaches. the risks are more elevated nowadays compared to any days past in the matter...something about today's pet store fish is really high % loss risk.
lastly, it's an option to buy already pre-quarantined fish that were observed and or pre treated prior to sale; one setback to that is your tank is new, destined to be stocked beyond just fish (you'll be adding corals and cuc most likely) and if any of those wet items aren't ran through fallow you risk undoing the $ you paid for quarantined fish. give it a good read to see what % risk you're comfortable with.
