Help with cycling BioCube??

[Madison989]

I have my BioCube 32 set up and about a week ago I used dr tims one and only nitrifying bacteria along with dosing the tank with ammonium chloride. The ammonia was at around 3 ppm. Now it’s a week later and it hasn’t gone down much at all (2 ppm). My nitrites are also currently around 2 ppm. I have the heater around 84 and I have an air stone in the tank.

 

Any suggestions on how to speed up the process? Am I doing it right? How long is it supposed to take? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

From what I’ve researched, I’m supposed to wait until the ammonia has reached 0 ppm and then I dose the tank with some more? And then I keep doing that until it can go back to 0 within 12-24 hours?

 

Also, I am wondering how soon I can get invertebrates- after the tank is cycled, or can I get them sooner? There is no algae in my tank yet. 

 

Thanks so much! I am new to this!

[Nano Nano Boo Boo]

You’re well on your way, some tanks take a month or more to cycle. With your levels I think you will be done sooner. I would turn the head down a touch, and play the waiting game. You will see diatoms (brown patches) form on the sand when your cycle is nearing completion. When you see those you’re close to being able to add some clean up crews. 

 

Be as as patient as possible, I know it’s not easy. Cycling right will ensure a long and successful salt water journey. 

[Madison989]

6 minutes ago, Nano Nano Boo Boo said:

You’re well on your way, some tanks take a month or more to cycle. With your levels I think you will be done sooner. I would turn the head down a touch, and play the waiting game. You will see diatoms (brown patches) form on the sand when your cycle is nearing completion. When you see those you’re close to being able to add some clean up crews. 

 

Be as as patient as possible, I know it’s not easy. Cycling right will ensure a long and successful salt water journey. 

My LFS said I could put fish in a week after getting the tank set up- what would happen if I were to (not that I would) put a fish in before the tank was fully cycled? Would it just die?

 

Also, I thought dr Tims was supposed to be able to cycle a tank within a week, or is that just for some people?

[ajkochev]

I don't think I'd put anything in the tank right now if ammonia is still high.  I'm not sure how much I trust bacteria in a bottle.  I always used the tried and true method of getting some live sand and live rock from a established tank/LFS to start cycling.

[Daniel91]

1 minute ago, Madison989 said:

My LFS said I could put fish in a week after getting the tank set up- what would happen if I were to (not that I would) put a fish in before the tank was fully cycled? Would it just die?

 

Also, I thought dr Tims was supposed to be able to cycle a tank within a week, or is that just for some people?

Don’t do it. Either your LFS is a dumbass or maybe he miscommunicated. Lol. I have heard of speedy cycling but a week is meh, perhaps with already established live rock and a settled filter from another tank.

 

Yes, cycling with fish as an ammonia source is not completely uncommon but it is unnecessary and cruel imo, especially when you already have an ammonia source.

 

Wait it out, follow the instructions of the fishless cycle and ensure your cycle is complete before adding anything.

[FISHnChix]

Yea you shouldn’t add anything until the tank is fully cycled . So ammonia and nitrites at zero.. once that happens you should have some nitates in your tank do a water change then to get your nitrates to under 5 and add a small clean up crew or a small fish. It’s hard not to wait but if you don’t you will most likely kill stuff and waste money. Set yourself up for success in the mean time. To pass the time maybe start a build thread and tell us your plans of what your goals are fish and coral wise. List equipment you have and want to kinda to bounce your ideas off of everyone so they might suggest things that could work better or confirm your on the right track. Like for instance why are you running an air stone in your tank now? You will want some good water movement in the tank but air stones usually cause more harm than good by leading to salt creep and what not.

 

happy reefing!!

[specore]

I'm assuming you used dry rock?  You could throw a chunk of live rock in to help speed up the cycle.  Other than that there is no way to really speed up the cycle (although the higher temp is said to help).  It should start coming down soon enough, best to be patient in the meantime. 

 

BTW, you got bad advise from your local fish store.  Frankly they don't care if you add a fish and it dies because they will always be ready to sell you another 

[Clown79]

What rock did you use? If dry rock, then yes it can take up to 6 weeks to cycle.

 

Your tank is in mid cycle.

 

If you used Liverock- no ammonia should be added as it can kill off beneficial critters and some of the good bacteria.

 

I would stop listening to your lfs, they already gave you bad and out dated advice.

 

Ammonia can kill your fish and if they do make it through the cycle, it can effect their long term health.

 

Patience is very important in this hobby and so is going slow.

 

Unfortunately dry rock cycling is not a slow process.

 

The quickest cycling is with liverock and often there is no cycle if the rock is cured.

 

You could add a small piece of liverock but that may or may not speed up the process

[specore]

3 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

 

Unfortunately dry rock cycling is not a slow process.

 

 

I'm 100% sure this is a typo 🙂

[1891Bro]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

 

 

[roll_the_dice]

This saying is old for a reason..."Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank."  Best course of action is to get some live rock, not dry rock.  Just be patient.  I know it takes time, but enjoy the process and learn....while you wait, read read read all you can about tanks and get an idea of what you want to do in the tank.  Good luck.

[Clown79]

16 hours ago, specore said:

I'm 100% sure this is a typo 🙂

100% a typo. Lol.

 

It's a slow process.

[Madison989]

So now I checked today and the ammonia is at 0 and the nitrite is at around 5. What is the next step? I’ve read that I add more ammonia and wait again, and then keep doing that until it can drop to 0 in less than 24 hours. Or is my tank cycled once the nitrite drops to 0? (Btw I have live sand but no live rock) @Weikel @Clown79 @specore 

[specore]

Everyone does it a little different.  I personally would do a series of 50% water changes to get nitrites to a manageable level (say .5 or so), then add ammonia back to 2ppm and see what happens. That 5ppm could be 10-20ppm and the color probably wouldn't look any different, and if it is 10-20 ppm you could be waiting a very long time for it to go to 0.   

[Madison989]

5 minutes ago, specore said:

Everyone does it a little different.  I personally would do a series of 50% water changes to get nitrites to a manageable level (say .5 or so), then add ammonia back to 2ppm and see what happens. That 5ppm could be 10-20ppm and the color probably wouldn't look any different, and if it is 10-20 ppm you could be waiting a very long time for it to go to 0.   

Thanks! Are water changes the only way to get rid of nitrite? Once it’s at 0 is the tank cycled?

[specore]

10 minutes ago, Madison989 said:

Thanks! Are water changes the only way to get rid of nitrite? Once it’s at 0 is the tank cycled?

No, bacteria will break it down eventually.  Seems most people agree if your bio filter can process 2ppm ammonia within 24 hours your tank is cycled.  This means the 2ppm of ammonia should break down from ammonia to nitrite and from nitrite to nitrate in 24 hours.  The issue you have is unless you get the nitrites down (either by water changes or waiting it out) you will have noway of  knowing if your biofilter is able to process 2ppm of ammonia in 24 hours, as there is all this excess nitrite hanging around.  If you add ammonia and your biofilter breaks the new nutrients down completely, you will still read 5ppm+ on your test kit and and not actually be able to confirm your cycle is complete.  

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Madison989 said:

So now I checked today and the ammonia is at 0 and the nitrite is at around 5. What is the next step? I’ve read that I add more ammonia and wait again, and then keep doing that until it can drop to 0 in less than 24 hours. Or is my tank cycled once the nitrite drops to 0? (Btw I have live sand but no live rock) @Weikel @Clown79 @specore 

Do you have any rock in the tank?

[Madison989]

On 8/20/2018 at 5:38 PM, Clown79 said:

Do you have any rock in the tank?

Yes, I have around 15 pounds of dry rock in the tank right now (I haven’t added all of it yet).

[Clown79]

18 minutes ago, Madison989 said:

Yes, I have around 15 pounds of dry rock in the tank right now (I haven’t added all of it yet).

If you add any more dry rock once the cycle has begun, you may have another spike as some dry rock has organics in it.