No-fish cycling

[ecophilia]

Hi guys,

I have had my tank up with water, dry rock, and one scampi shrimp since February 2. On Feb 3 I got some live sand from my LFS, and on Feb 6 I got some live rock from the same place.

On Feb 9 my parameters were PH 8, ammonia 8 ppm, nitrite 1.0 ppm, nitrate between 20 - 40 ppm.

I then had to leave the country, and I got back yesterday Feb 14. Yesterday, my parameters were ammonia between 0 and .25 ppm, nitrite 0.50 ppm, nitrate 20 - 40 ppm.

Today Feb 15, my ammonia looks closer to 0 ppm, my nitrite is 0 ppm, and my nitrate looks closer to 40 ppm. :bdaysmile:

My question is, should I do a water change now? Another question I have is, can I test my bacteria by giving the tank some food to see what happens with the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? How long should I wait before I add fish?

Cheers and thanks for all replies.

 

[JUNBUG361]

Imo i would do a water change in the 3rd week of the cycle, then wait another week & test the water parameters prior to adding fish. Just to make sure levels are okay. Nitrates are bit high

 

[ecophilia]

Thanks, JUNBUG361.

 

[SirToadie]

good information here, was wondering the same.

 

[thegrun]

What test kit are you using? API is notorious for showing a false 0.25 ammonia reading when no ammonia is present. Your cycle is complete and personally I would not add any additional ammonia source to your tank, doing so will only increase your nitrates, but if you absolutely HAVE to be sure I would dose the tank with ammonia to the 2ppm level. If your cycle is complete the ammonia should drop bact to zero within 24 hours, if it isn't complete simply wait for the ammonia and nitrites to drop back to zero and then you can start adding livestock. Use pure ammonia without surfactants (available at most hardware stores, I got mine at Ace Hardware) or perfumes. To be sure the ammonia does not contain surfactants shake the bottle and if it bubbles up like dish soap it has surfactants in it, pure ammonia will not have bubbles. To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 2 ppm ammonia you would need to add 0.8 grams (8 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia.
Your nitrates are high so to avoid algae issues I would make a very large water change, at least 50% and 100% if possible. With a new tank you are likely to see algae, diatom and even bacteria blooms during the first few months; high nitrates will only make them worse.
Best of luck!

 

[Knighthawk]

Imo i would do a water change in the 3rd week of the cycle, then wait another week & test the water parameters prior to adding fish. Just to make sure levels are okay. Nitrates are bit high

+1 to this


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[MG98]

I'm about to cycle rock using ammonia and noticed my bottle has surfactants in it. Just curious what they would do vs pure ammonia?

 

[miPapareef]

You don't want surfactants in your tank. They are there to reduce the water surface tension and make that ammonia cleaner dry without spots. But basically surfactants like to surround non-water things and make them float, suspend, ...

Ace Hardware has a pure ammonia source, locally available and cheep. I recommend you get that.

Also amazon has an ammonia chloride.

Either of these work, but only add a couple drops or pinch of the powder and test. Better to go slow than skyrocket your ammonia.

I used the ammonia chloride and added 10 grains in 20 gallons to get 2ppm.


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[MG98]

Sounds good. Thank you.