Cycle screwed up? new tank - Page 2

burrito · 04/14/2018, 11:26 AM

So everything is holding stable. Ammonia under .25, salinity 1.025, temp 78, ph 8.1

Nitrites won’t go under 5ppm. Dr Tim’s says when nitrites and ammonia go under 2ppm to does more ammonia. Should I leave it be still? It’s been about 3 days now with these parameters. Why won’t nitrite budge. Add more ammonia?

Ryan33 · 04/14/2018, 11:34 AM

I would just leave it alone. Wait for your nitrites to come down. Then I would add a little ammonia and test again the next day to make sure ammonia and nitrites are back to zero. The nitrite stage was the longest for me. It hung around 5.0 for what seemed like the longest time and then just dropped to 0.

burrito · 04/14/2018, 12:22 PM

Thanks. I heard about cycles stalling and not sure that’s a real thing or just impatient people like me.

Ryan33 · 04/14/2018, 12:31 PM

That's me also. I went through the same thing your going through now. I kept adding ammonia and testing everyday. At the end I had a bacteria outbreak and had white nasty stuff everywhere. I had to use a net to get it all out. I don't know for sure if it was from adding ammonia so often but that's my guess. If you feel like it's stalled I guess you could do a small water change I don't think it would hurt.

bnumair · 04/14/2018, 03:25 PM

Your tank is 1 week old and you are expecting nitrogen cycle to be done or thinking it's stalled..... It takes almost a month to get it right.
When I cycle tanks I let ammonia build up to 1.5ppm and then leave it alone till ammonia and nitrites come down to 0. I never cared what nitrites levels increase to. As long as they go up and come down to 0 I am happy.
Another thing nitrites take twice to three times as long to come down than ammonia.
Like everyone has told you leave it alone and wait till ammonia and nitrites levels are 0 then do a water change or two and you are good to go. At this point you probably still have 3 more weeks to go.
Good luck happy reefing.

burrito · 04/15/2018, 09:56 PM

So I realized I may have screwed something up after all. I have a bag of purigen in my media basket. It just occurred to me to investigate and it seems split on usefulness during a cycle. Should I take it out or no point now?

Ryan33 · 04/15/2018, 10:08 PM

I think your good. I would just take it out and let it finish cycling.

burrito · 04/19/2018, 08:56 AM

i took it out and added some more dr tims, its been about 3 days now with ammonia coming back down to <.25 24 hours after dosing 2ppm of ammonia, nitrites finally came down and is about .25 with nitrates around 20

coming to an end?

sde1500 · 04/19/2018, 08:59 AM

Stop dosing ammonia, seriously, just stop. Let it run its course now. All you do by dosing is just pump up how much needs to be processed out, and in the end you'll have a massive nitrate number. Just test every other day or so.

mcgyvr · 04/19/2018, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burrito

coming to an end?

Yes.. So stop adding anything but freshwater to make up for evaporation and in 1 week you can start adding critters to the tank..

Ryan33 · 04/19/2018, 09:34 AM

Your probably getting close but adding ammonia so often is probably stalling your own cycle. I started my 60 gallon probably around the same time you started with dry rock and dry sand then added a couple of rocks from my already established tank. I added ammonia to 4ppm it's the only time I added it and today my nitrites are at zero. I'll add a little ammonia and hopefully ammonia and nitrites will be zero tomorrow. Let it finish it's cycle I wouldn't add anything else to it.

burrito · 04/19/2018, 09:49 AM

ill leave it alone, i was following the steps of dr tims fishless which says to add ammonia when dipping under 2.

j.falk · 04/19/2018, 05:25 PM

I would add a burrito to the tank. If it fully dissolves in 24 hours or less you could probably go ahead and add a fish or two.

04/14/2018, 03:25 PM	#30
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	Your tank is 1 week old and you are expecting nitrogen cycle to be done or thinking it's stalled..... It takes almost a month to get it right. When I cycle tanks I let ammonia build up to 1.5ppm and then leave it alone till ammonia and nitrites come down to 0. I never cared what nitrites levels increase to. As long as they go up and come down to 0 I am happy. Another thing nitrites take twice to three times as long to come down than ammonia. Like everyone has told you leave it alone and wait till ammonia and nitrites levels are 0 then do a water change or two and you are good to go. At this point you probably still have 3 more weeks to go. Good luck happy reefing. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

04/19/2018, 08:59 AM	#34
sde1500 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Glocester, RI Posts: 3,336	Stop dosing ammonia, seriously, just stop. Let it run its course now. All you do by dosing is just pump up how much needs to be processed out, and in the end you'll have a massive nitrate number. Just test every other day or so. __________________ My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.

04/14/2018, 11:26 AM	#26
burrito Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 08876 Posts: 224	So everything is holding stable. Ammonia under .25, salinity 1.025, temp 78, ph 8.1 Nitrites won’t go under 5ppm. Dr Tim’s says when nitrites and ammonia go under 2ppm to does more ammonia. Should I leave it be still? It’s been about 3 days now with these parameters. Why won’t nitrite budge. Add more ammonia?

04/14/2018, 11:34 AM	#27
Ryan33 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 53	I would just leave it alone. Wait for your nitrites to come down. Then I would add a little ammonia and test again the next day to make sure ammonia and nitrites are back to zero. The nitrite stage was the longest for me. It hung around 5.0 for what seemed like the longest time and then just dropped to 0.

04/14/2018, 12:22 PM	#28
burrito Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 08876 Posts: 224	Thanks. I heard about cycles stalling and not sure that’s a real thing or just impatient people like me.

04/14/2018, 12:31 PM	#29
Ryan33 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 53	That's me also. I went through the same thing your going through now. I kept adding ammonia and testing everyday. At the end I had a bacteria outbreak and had white nasty stuff everywhere. I had to use a net to get it all out. I don't know for sure if it was from adding ammonia so often but that's my guess. If you feel like it's stalled I guess you could do a small water change I don't think it would hurt.

04/15/2018, 09:56 PM	#31
burrito Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 08876 Posts: 224	So I realized I may have screwed something up after all. I have a bag of purigen in my media basket. It just occurred to me to investigate and it seems split on usefulness during a cycle. Should I take it out or no point now?

04/15/2018, 10:08 PM	#32
Ryan33 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 53	I think your good. I would just take it out and let it finish cycling.

04/19/2018, 08:56 AM	#33
burrito Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 08876 Posts: 224	i took it out and added some more dr tims, its been about 3 days now with ammonia coming back down to <.25 24 hours after dosing 2ppm of ammonia, nitrites finally came down and is about .25 with nitrates around 20 coming to an end?

04/19/2018, 09:34 AM	#36
Ryan33 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 53	Your probably getting close but adding ammonia so often is probably stalling your own cycle. I started my 60 gallon probably around the same time you started with dry rock and dry sand then added a couple of rocks from my already established tank. I added ammonia to 4ppm it's the only time I added it and today my nitrites are at zero. I'll add a little ammonia and hopefully ammonia and nitrites will be zero tomorrow. Let it finish it's cycle I wouldn't add anything else to it.

04/19/2018, 09:49 AM	#37
burrito Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 08876 Posts: 224	ill leave it alone, i was following the steps of dr tims fishless which says to add ammonia when dipping under 2.

04/19/2018, 05:25 PM	#38
j.falk Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 632	I would add a burrito to the tank. If it fully dissolves in 24 hours or less you could probably go ahead and add a fish or two.