alter40 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 My Biocube 29 has been cycling for 2 weeks now. I used Dr Tim's and their ammonia drops. My ammonia looks to be 0, nitrites at 0, and nitrates 20. I don't have any algae yet but have been cycling with no lights on. Am I ready to add anything to the tank? I know I want to get a clown but didn't know if I should add that or start with a clean up crew. Quote Link to comment
D.Capion Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Has your sand bed and rock gassed out yet? Most cycles you have a huge hit in trates, we do a 50% WC, then another high hit, then a 15% WC. Then a final tamper downward as the biofilter takes off. I would say you've tackled the first hurtle, your almost there. Now is the time to do a 50% water change. Check your nitrates, and write it down Then ghost feed in some food, 24hrs later, test for ammonia,trites,trates. If the biofilter is there, you should see No Trites or ammonia, and your trates should have risen. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 When you dose 2ppm ammonia, does it 0 out after 24hrs? 1 Quote Link to comment
alter40 Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 I'm not sure what you mean by the sand bed and rock gassing out. I dosed 2ppm of ammonia last night and I will check it tonight and see where it is sitting. Hopefully it will 0 out. 1 Quote Link to comment
D.Capion Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Bacteria in a tank converts the nitrates into nitrogen. (bubbles) Its a good indicator that the bio filter(bacteria) has or is being established Quote Link to comment
Jesterrace Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 On 1/27/2019 at 8:14 PM, alter40 said: My Biocube 29 has been cycling for 2 weeks now. I used Dr Tim's and their ammonia drops. My ammonia looks to be 0, nitrites at 0, and nitrates 20. I don't have any algae yet but have been cycling with no lights on. Am I ready to add anything to the tank? I know I want to get a clown but didn't know if I should add that or start with a clean up crew. The first thing I would do is get a more reliable test kit (ie Red Sea, Salifert). API is known for occasional false positives for ammonia and being almost worthless for nitrates (ie can't tell the difference between 10-20, 40-80, etc.) That said it looks like it's getting near the end, but I would want confirmation from a more reliable kit before I would say for sure. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 3 hours ago, Jesterrace said: The first thing I would do is get a more reliable test kit (ie Red Sea, Salifert). API is known for occasional false positives for ammonia and being almost worthless for nitrates (ie can't tell the difference between 10-20, 40-80, etc.) That said it looks like it's getting near the end, but I would want confirmation from a more reliable kit before I would say for sure. It's not that Api is unreliable, it's a very sensitive test kit. Quote Link to comment
alter40 Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 On 1/28/2019 at 2:35 AM, Clown79 said: When you dose 2ppm ammonia, does it 0 out after 24hrs? It looks like it went to about 1ppm after 24 hours. I will let it keep cycling another week or two I guess. 8 hours ago, D.Capion said: Bacteria in a tank converts the nitrates into nitrogen. (bubbles) Its a good indicator that the bio filter(bacteria) has or is being established I hadn't really noticed because I have been keeping the lights out while it cycles. I've had them on the last couple of days and have noticed some bubbles coming up every now and then. 4 hours ago, Jesterrace said: The first thing I would do is get a more reliable test kit (ie Red Sea, Salifert). API is known for occasional false positives for ammonia and being almost worthless for nitrates (ie can't tell the difference between 10-20, 40-80, etc.) That said it looks like it's getting near the end, but I would want confirmation from a more reliable kit before I would say for sure. I am definitely going to be upgrading my test kit. I figured the API one would be good enough to test my cycling. Once I get livestock in there I'm going to make sure I have a more accurate test kit. I just need to figure exactly what all I need to test for. This is my first saltwater tank and I'm going to be adding coral too. It seems like there are test kits for so many different things so I just need to figure out which ones I will need. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Tests that are important when keeping corals(stony corals in particular) Alk Ca Mag Nitrate Phos 41 minutes ago, alter40 said: It looks like it went to about 1ppm after 24 hours. I will let it keep cycling another week or two I guess. I hadn't really noticed because I have been keeping the lights out while it cycles. I've had them on the last couple of days and have noticed some bubbles coming up every now and then. I am definitely going to be upgrading my test kit. I figured the API one would be good enough to test my cycling. Once I get livestock in there I'm going to make sure I have a more accurate test kit. I just need to figure exactly what all I need to test for. This is my first saltwater tank and I'm going to be adding coral too. It seems like there are test kits for so many different things so I just need to figure out which ones I will need. 1 Quote Link to comment
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