Cycling tank question

[jonnyu]

So I'm cycling my tank. It's a 180 with that I started with dry sand, dry rock and home mixed saltwater. I have researched a lot in using different bacterias and after buying a microscope and looking at all different products I decided to go with fritz turbo start. Seems to be the only live bacteria out there. So first day I dosed ammonia (clear ammonia from Walmart ) till my test kit showed 3ppm. This took about 30ml. Then I dosed a bottle of fritz.
48hrs later I'm at .25 on API test kit
Then is dose 30ml again
36hr I'm at .25
I continued for the last seven days to dose 30ml every time I get a ready of .25.
I'm kind of at a stand still right now. As the last 2 days my tank processes the 30ml of ammonia in 12hrs and brings it down to .25. I have yet to see under .25. Should I keep dosing or should I leave tank alone and wait for 0? I am showing nitrates at 5 . Here is a pic of my test results from today





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[Vadafallon]

I am wondering these same questions.

[dreaddinit]

Leave it alone and only dose the starting bacteria as instructed on the bottle. Ammonia will spike and fall, then nirites, then nitrates. Only when you see ammonia and nitrites at zero and nitrates showing are the only ones left are you cycled.

I've never dosed ammonia before but I would say if your seeing nitrites, which you are. Stop dosing ammonia. I imagine it can only prolong your cycle process.

I used aquavitro seed and let it roll. Took two weeks to cycle fully.

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[thegrun]

The API ammonia test kits are notorious for showing a false 0.25 reading when in fact there is no ammonia. Get a better ammonia test kit, most likely your ammonia is zero. Whatever you do STOP dosing ammonia! All you are doing is building up nitrates in your tank (the end product of the cycle) which will feed algae. The bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates can live over a year without food (ammonia), so adding more is just going to cause you problems and could cause a large nitrite spike which will slow down the cycle, although it looks like they are under control from your test result.

[bertoni]

Ammonia test kits do seem to fail fairly frequently. You could try measuring some distilled water. It should measure zero if the kit is working.

[Vadafallon]

Tested zero nitrates, zero ammonia with distilled water. Used a different kit and in fact I think the other kit was right. I went back and tested again as was directed after adding ammonia. 2ppm.

[jackny]

Tested zero nitrates...great

[Vadafallon]

So since i have not seen Nitrites yet should i assume the cycle has not started yet? I am on day 4.

[jackny]

pls Vadafallon how big is your tank?

Originally Posted by Vadafallon

So since i have not seen Nitrites yet should i assume the cycle has not started yet? I am on day 4.

[Vadafallon]

75 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. So 68 gallons of water i think in total.

[bertoni]

The tank might never show any nitrite (or nitrate), although that's rare for a tank with only dry rock. I wouldn't worry. Bacteria show up when they show up, and even most dry rock has some debris on it, so cycling tends to be unpredictable.

[Vadafallon]

I used Dr. Tim's one and only bacteria. I also have about 1L of Seachem Matrix in the sump area for bacteria to bind too since i am only running about 50ishlbs of rock. I wanted more surface area for the bacteria.

[fishnugget]

I used Dr.tims. Showed ammonia. Then ammonia went to Zero. It has been 2 days and have not seen nitrates go above zero. Am I cycled? I have 150 gallon tank where i used 125lbs of live rock & live sand?

[blasterman789]

Why are you using a bacterial additive with live rock?

Full nitrate conversion from ammonia in an established tank takes at least a week when I've tested this. I've also found that even a small piece of live rock from an established tank works better/faster than bacteria in a bottle.

My opinion is you aren't cycled for coral until you start producing measurable nitrate. Fish safe happens much earlier when ammonia starts diving.

[bertoni]

You could test the biological filtration by feed some fish food, maybe ½ of what you intend to feed the first inhabitants. If that feeding doesn't produce an ammonia spike, the tank probably is ready to go, but I'd probably for a week of zero ammonia to make sure that the ammonia stays at zero. Sometimes, tanks experience secondary ammonia spikes, possibly due to die-off in the rock.

[fishnugget]

Added ammonia back in since both said zero. 24 hrs later shows ammonia. Wonder if I should add more bacteria

[bertoni]

How much ammonia did you add, in terms of ppm.