Why wont my cycle start?

[rocksanchez]

Hi all,

 

I recently purchased my red sea max nano and have finally managed to get it wet - I followed my original plan as listed here 

 

 

Thanks to those that replied.

 

Heres my problem, I added my very clean mined dry rock into the tank and filled with RO/DI, heated to 27 degrees C then mixed my salt (aquaforest reef salt) in the tank to 1.025 sg, I figured this was fine since its void of life right now. Added my "live" sand the following day and left it to settle down after the inevitable dust cloud, I did have quite a lot of brown foam during this time that I noticed as soon as I began adding the sand so I switched on the skimmer which took care of it. As soon as I had clear water I switched off skimmer and began to follow Dr Tims fishless cycle instructions.

 

Dosed ammonium chloride to get ammonia to 2ppm left it for about an hour then added Dr TIms one and only. That was a week ago today. I have NOT dosed anymore ammonia since

 

I have tested twice daily, morning and evening, yet my ammonia still reads 2ppm and I have 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. Again I have NOT added anymore ammonia since the initial dose.

 

Whats going on? Whilst I didn't expect an instant cycle I thought Dr Tims was supposed to at least get it started pretty fast. Am I expecting things to happen too fast? Did I have a duff bottle of Dr Tims? What else could be causing my water to just sit as an ammonia soup seemingly still void of any life?  

[Elephant999]

Have you seen this article? May help

 

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

[rocksanchez]

Those are the instructions I have been following. I'm concerned that my ammonia has not dropped at all nor am I seeing any nitrites or nitrates. Is this normal? Should I just give it more time? I know I need to be patient but the general consensus on Dr Tims fishless cycling is the cycle begins within one or two days. Mine hasn't budged after a week

[Elephant999]

After a week you should see some decrease as the nitrosonamas bacteria start to build.  

 

Have a a look at this.  When I cycled my FW, I used this guide. My nano was already cycled and populated so didn’t need to do it.

 

http://spec-tanks.com/how-to-fishless-cycle-a-new-aquarium/

[rocksanchez]

OK so the general rule seems to be give it two weeks? Dr Tims is completely useless then and I could have achieved the same thing be just adding an ammonia source? 

 

Why do so many people claim to cycle a tank so quickly with bottled bacteria?

[Clown79]

15 minutes ago, rocksanchez said:

OK so the general rule seems to be give it two weeks? Dr Tims is completely useless then and I could have achieved the same thing be just adding an ammonia source? 

 

Why do so many people claim to cycle a tank so quickly with bottled bacteria?

A cycle normally takes 4 - 6 weeks with dry rock and ammonia dosing.

 

The fastest cycle is using liverock.

 

No cycle when using cured liverock.

 

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

 

 

There are other methods of cycling like adding food, a deli shrimp, but they are not always accurate ways as you have no control over the amount of ammonia you produce and they are dirty methods(adding a lot of unnecessary nutrients in the tank leading to future issues)

[rocksanchez]

Thanks Clown,

I understand that the cycle will take more time due to the rock starting dry however wouldn't using Dr Tims one and only decrease this by a significant amount?

[Ratvan]

It is the Saltwater version right?

[Thrassian Atoll]

I like to get my ammonia up a little higher to start around 3-4.  My qt/transfer tank took 55 days to cycle, my new display tank took 2 weeks.  

 

Also, are you dosing bacteria daily?  I know the microbacter7 your suppose to dose so much per day for the first 2 weeks.

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, rocksanchez said:

Thanks Clown,

I understand that the cycle will take more time due to the rock starting dry however wouldn't using Dr Tims one and only decrease this by a significant amount?

No, not really. 

 

Bacteria supplements are often advertised to give you a fast cycle but honestly most cycles even with these products, simply take time.

 

A lot of threads on here with cycling tanks using ammonia dosing and bacteria supplements and I'd say the average time has been 4-6 weeks.

[mcarroll]

On 9/19/2019 at 10:07 AM, rocksanchez said:

OK so the general rule seems to be give it two weeks? Dr Tims is completely useless then and I could have achieved the same thing be just adding an ammonia source? 

 

Why do so many people claim to cycle a tank so quickly with bottled bacteria?

It could be worth noting that not even Dr. Tim recommends fishless cycling.

 

If you look at the FAQ for the product he says fishless is not necessary.  It's merely possible.

 

Ideally a product like this (eg BioSpira) gets added with the animals it is intended to support.

 

That said it is not impossible to get a bad bottle. Maybe contact the company?

 

I would also consider using live rock next time to avoid this issue.

 

 

[Gravity]

I think you should have seen some decrease in ammonia with just the live sand. However, the problem could have been running the skimmer and taking out all the suspended bacteria during your startup. 

[Natereef]

If you want an instant cycle for your tank buy biospira. They often stock those at Petco. biospira is the only true instant cycle bacteria in a bottle. You can literally test 5ppm ammonia in the morning add the Bacteria and test 0 ppm in the afternoon. The ironic thing is Dr Tims made the original strain of bacteria for biospira he owns the patent for them I believe and I think its the same strain of bacteria in his one and only product but for some reason it doesnt work as well as biospira. I really have no idea why, it took weeks for my cycle with his one and only and it literally took 5 hours to cycle with biospira.