JTL
New member
It has been a long time since I cycled a tank from scratch and never have I used this method so I am a little lost about where I am at in the cycle and what to do going forward.
I posted some of this in someone else's threat but decided to start fresh in this one. I started with 70 lbs of Reef Saver rock from BRS. I put this into a container with saltwater, some bacteria in a bottle from Instant Ocean and a dead shrimp along with a small power head. After 28 days I transferred the the rock to my DT and added a couple of bottles of Fritz Zyme (about 1/3 of what is recommended but all that I had on hand) and enough ammonia to bring the reading up to 3.0.
When I transferred the rock the old water in the holding tank registered zero ammonia and 2.0 phosphates.
The next day I added a couple of pieces of live rock. The ammonia is now .50 and a day later it dropped to .25 and the nitrate was 10 ppm and the nitrite was 3. The next day the ammonia was zero. I added some more ammonia, raising it to 3.0 within a day it dropped to .25 the nitrate was now 40 ppm and the nitrite was 5.0. Added more ammonia.
Today, which is 34 days from when I first started curing the Reef Saver rock and 6 days in the DT my reading are: Ammonia .50, Nitrate 80 and Phosphate zero. I need to get a test strip this morning to test for Nitrite.
I am not speaking from experience but I think I am nearing the end of the cycle. If the Nitrite is zero that would confirm it, correct. I am not adding any ammonia today to see if that goes to zero. I suspect that I am keeping it up by adding the 10% ammonium hydroxide. This is certainly more powerful than the waste of a couple of small fish even at 2-3 teaspoons in a 100g tank.
What do you people think? The guy who runs my lfs has a big attitude problem and has never liked me because I don't take everything he says as the only answer or solution. He refuses to even make a suggestion on this tank cycle, because (1) he told my not to try to cycle in a tub while I was getting the rest of my stuff finished. He said I was rushing things. (2) He wanted me to purchase the Red Sea kit to start the tank but I was too far into this to mess with it. He is a huge Red Sea fan boy so that irritated him. He does know corals and grows out most of what he has himself. Lot of very nice pieces.
I posted some of this in someone else's threat but decided to start fresh in this one. I started with 70 lbs of Reef Saver rock from BRS. I put this into a container with saltwater, some bacteria in a bottle from Instant Ocean and a dead shrimp along with a small power head. After 28 days I transferred the the rock to my DT and added a couple of bottles of Fritz Zyme (about 1/3 of what is recommended but all that I had on hand) and enough ammonia to bring the reading up to 3.0.
When I transferred the rock the old water in the holding tank registered zero ammonia and 2.0 phosphates.
The next day I added a couple of pieces of live rock. The ammonia is now .50 and a day later it dropped to .25 and the nitrate was 10 ppm and the nitrite was 3. The next day the ammonia was zero. I added some more ammonia, raising it to 3.0 within a day it dropped to .25 the nitrate was now 40 ppm and the nitrite was 5.0. Added more ammonia.
Today, which is 34 days from when I first started curing the Reef Saver rock and 6 days in the DT my reading are: Ammonia .50, Nitrate 80 and Phosphate zero. I need to get a test strip this morning to test for Nitrite.
I am not speaking from experience but I think I am nearing the end of the cycle. If the Nitrite is zero that would confirm it, correct. I am not adding any ammonia today to see if that goes to zero. I suspect that I am keeping it up by adding the 10% ammonium hydroxide. This is certainly more powerful than the waste of a couple of small fish even at 2-3 teaspoons in a 100g tank.
What do you people think? The guy who runs my lfs has a big attitude problem and has never liked me because I don't take everything he says as the only answer or solution. He refuses to even make a suggestion on this tank cycle, because (1) he told my not to try to cycle in a tub while I was getting the rest of my stuff finished. He said I was rushing things. (2) He wanted me to purchase the Red Sea kit to start the tank but I was too far into this to mess with it. He is a huge Red Sea fan boy so that irritated him. He does know corals and grows out most of what he has himself. Lot of very nice pieces.
