Question about my tank mid-cycle.

[Chris918]

Hello everyone I have a JBJ 45 gallon with the sump in the back. I have been cycling the tank for over a week now using Dr. Tim's fishless cycle and nitrifying bacteria.

My tank readings are as follows:
Ammonia: 0.50 ppm
Nitrite: Over 5 ppm
Nitrate: Around 40 ppm

Dr. Tim's instructs to do a water change if Ammonia or Nitrite ever get over 5 ppm. Is it a good idea to do a big change during the cycle?

I also want to start dosing Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium but should I wait until the cycle has finished?

Also it looks like there was a minor leak from my GFO reactor into the tank. Will this cause a problem?

Thanks!

 

[thegrun]

I would not do a water change until the cycle is complete unless as the instructions stated your ammonia or nitrites spike at over 5ppm. There is no need to worry about alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrates, pH or lighting until the cycle is complete. As long as gfo is not leaking into the tank a minor water leak will not cause a problem, although it should be fixed.

 

[Chris918]

It looks like one of the sponges let some of the GFO out of the reactor. Maybe I filled it too full and some slipped out. What course of action would you recommend?

As far as the Nitrite I would say it is at least at 5 ppm, but my test kit can't measure anything higher than that.

 

[anthonys51]

i would siphon out as much gfo as you can, but you can wait until after the cycle is complete

i would also stop dosing that dr tims. you already have nitrates. this means you have enough bacteria in the tank start with Also you still have ammonia and nitrite, this means you have more waste than the bacteria can handle right now. just wait a week and retest for ammonia and nitrite. if both read zero, i would do a large water change and you should be good to add cuc. dont add to mant at first

yes you can dose one more time to make sure, if you really want to, but why add more waste to the system at this point. plus little cuc wont overload the tank

after the cuc crew what do you plan on adding corals and fish ?
if so what kind ?

 

[Chris918]

Okay thank you. I did only dose the ammonia once. I did 4 drops per gallon like the bottle said. Maybe I added too much. I'll try and find a solution for getting the reactor to stop letting GFO out.

I wanted to add a clown for sure, but other than that I haven't really decided. I like Firefish, Dwarf Flame Angels look great, but other than that I haven't looked much since LFS doesn't do salt water. I did want to make this a softie coral tank. Any good suggestions on some?