Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

DIY 15 gals AIO in the middle of cycling. stalled maybe?


neyes_ice

Recommended Posts

hey guys, started cycling almost 2 months now. i used dr tims fishless method with dry rock and dry sand .

i may have overdosed ammonia on the 1st time and dosed too soon for the 2nd, misread the instructions. (my bad) .  (never got to measure my real water volume too)

got a nitrite spike. did a water change once or twice. after a couple of weeks added some marine pure spheres and added one more bottle of dr tims.

nitrites just kept sky high, even bought a second set of test kits just to be sure. (1st API then Salifert)

then i read i could do a almost 100%  water change and bacteria would still be there, which i did, and dosed a little bit less of the recommended ammonia dosage.

now im sure there is bacteria  present because tests detected presence of ammonia then none after a couple of days.

but now my nitrites are skyhigh again. should i just leave it be or do daily small water changes?

i'm also trying to break in my santa monica ats 22 hrs a day schedule.so far, a week or so later no algae growth. i also have my display lights on a schedule. no algae growth also.

any thoughts? thanks

 

Link to comment

I think you're over thinking it. If your tank can zero out 2ppm of ammonia in 24hrs it is cycled. Once it can process 2ppm in 24 hours just do water changes to get your levels right and carry on reefing. I didn't even test for nitrite when I cycled to be honest. Just out of curiosity why are you wanting to bring an algae scrubber online so soon in such a new tank with no bioload? You aren't scared you're going to strip it of nutrients and cause problems? In my 45g I have to dose phosphate and nitrate just to keep it detectable. I only run my skimmer at night also. Plus had to cut down on water changes. I know eventually when my tank matures I'll need to run it 247 and prolly buy something like you've got. But I'm not anticipating that until I'm fully stocked. We shall see though. Good luck

  • Like 1
Link to comment

When cycling with dry rock and adding ammonia, the process can stall if either ammonia OR nitrite reach 5 ppm.  If EITHER ammonia or nitrite reach 5 ppm, you must do a large enough water change to bring them BOTH below 5 ppm (then wait until they BOTH read 0.25 ppm or less before dosing any more ammonia.

 

It is important not to overdose ammonia (don't dose it any higher than 2 ppm or you may have problems).

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...