Cycle Messed up???

[ChilledReefer]

Hello everyone, new to this site and returning to the hobby after about 8 years. Last time I cycled a tank I used a shrimp, but this time trying Dr. Tim’s. 
 

Tank is 10 gal Fiji cube AIO with three dry rocks, some sea matrix in back compartment. First mistake was I think I over did the ammonia drops that Dr Tim’s suggests. Instead of 40 (4 per/gal) I probably should have done 25-30. I used live sand and later saw a vid where he says this would already have some ammonia and bacteria. 
 

So I’m on day 10 and the ammonia at one point was 4 ppm and Nitrite 2. So this was past the point in the chart where I was supposed to be at the “add fish” point. 
 
Last night I did a 75% water change and the reading now is ammonia 1.0 but Nitrite is between 2 and 5 purple. 
 

Have I ruined this cycle???

[Sturgi_0225]

Nope give it time 

[brandon429]

From the small detail in your rock pic:

 

 

why does that rock have growth pigments, attachments on it coming off the surface…is it live rock brought home wet from a pet store, or was it dry when you brought it home

 

 

those colors are rare in dry rock starts

 

why this matters: wet rock is skip cycle rock. I’m even seeing what looks to be some algae pigmentation we’d see on wet rocks from a pet store. Those give every indication of being wet rocks when you brought them home, and that’s a different type of cycle than dry rock cycles, which use bottle bacteria and an ammonia source.

[brandon429]

Was the rock wet or dry when it was installed 

 

 

your api kit factors zero percent in determining your cycle status, for reasons easily searched regarding api ammonia. It’s not that the kits are bad, it’s that readers aren’t factoring the ten times lower reading (nh3) from the kit directions

 

 

 all they fixate on is the nh4 unconverted reading, which reefing doesn’t reference. We only need to know your rock history to discern cycle status here.

[ChilledReefer]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:06 PM, brandon429 said:

From the small detail in your rock pic:

 

 

why does that rock have growth pigments, attachments on it coming off the surface…is it live rock brought home wet from a pet store, or was it dry when you brought it home

 

 

those colors are rare in dry rock starts

 

why this matters: wet rock is skip cycle rock. I’m even seeing what looks to be some algae pigmentation we’d see on wet rocks from a pet store. Those give every indication of being wet rocks when you brought them home, and that’s a different type of cycle than dry rock cycles, which use bottle bacteria and an ammonia source.

Brandon thanks for the question.  That rock was in the aquarium of a guy I bought a tank from. I placed the rock in the window of my apt where it got full sun for a few weeks to dry it out and hopefully kill any bad stuff that might be on it.  I then dipped it in a warm bath of vinegar and citric acid for a day and scrubbed it off some, rinsed and let dry again before I aqua scaped with it in this tank.  

 

Today I did a test and the ammonia is now at 0.50 and the nitrite is at 1.0 ppm.  

[brandon429]

That explains the pigmentation on the rocks and the small attachments, rehydrated sloughs still coming off to small degree…coming out of the rock crevices / old attached items 

 

the rock is going through the common curing process 

 

Dr Tims is known to be functional by day ten wait time after dosing the bacteria and some feed as has been done

 

your tests aren’t much different than api tests ran across tanks they mean little compared to known wait times 

 

 

wait times are so accurate, cycling charts are built off them and day ten is the ammonia drop date across charts for a reason, it’s a very handy date / wait time in boosted cycle preps.

 

 

it doesn’t matter if you wait longer or add fish now they’ll live the same. Change the water for known clean water

 

The bottle bac is able to carry fish on day one as it works in suspension…yours has been given enough time to actually adhere into place and the big water change isn’t going to remove any it’ll be removing hydrated rock waste/ helps export during the curing process.

 

 

 

[ChilledReefer]

9 hours ago, brandon429 said:

That explains the pigmentation on the rocks and the small attachments, rehydrated sloughs still coming off to small degree…coming out of the rock crevices / old attached items 

 

the rock is going through the common curing process 

 

Dr Tims is known to be functional by day ten wait time after dosing the bacteria and some feed as has been done

 

your tests aren’t much different than api tests ran across tanks they mean little compared to known wait times 

 

 

wait times are so accurate, cycling charts are built off them and day ten is the ammonia drop date across charts for a reason, it’s a very handy date / wait time in boosted cycle preps.

 

 

it doesn’t matter if you wait longer or add fish now they’ll live the same. Change the water for known clean water

 

The bottle bac is able to carry fish on day one as it works in suspension…yours has been given enough time to actually adhere into place and the big water change isn’t going to remove any it’ll be removing hydrated rock waste/ helps export during the curing process.

 

 

 

Thanks for the assist! I was worried I had messed it up beyond fixing.  You have saved me lots of worry about adding anything. 

[ChilledReefer]

20 hours ago, brandon429 said:

That explains the pigmentation on the rocks and the small attachments, rehydrated sloughs still coming off to small degree…coming out of the rock crevices / old attached items 

 

the rock is going through the common curing process 

 

Dr Tims is known to be functional by day ten wait time after dosing the bacteria and some feed as has been done

 

your tests aren’t much different than api tests ran across tanks they mean little compared to known wait times 

 

 

wait times are so accurate, cycling charts are built off them and day ten is the ammonia drop date across charts for a reason, it’s a very handy date / wait time in boosted cycle preps.

 

 

it doesn’t matter if you wait longer or add fish now they’ll live the same. Change the water for known clean water

 

The bottle bac is able to carry fish on day one as it works in suspension…yours has been given enough time to actually adhere into place and the big water change isn’t going to remove any it’ll be removing hydrated rock waste/ helps export during the curing process.

 

 

 

Tested again to day and ammonia back to almost nothing. Guess it's the rocks like you said. I didnt clean them good enough it seems.  I'll keep changing the water ever few days to hopefully get the nitrite and nitrates down.