Cycling

zcdh21 · 02/11/2013, 03:48 PM

I am in the process of cycling my first tank (49 gal., 25 lbs live rock, 20 lbs marco rock, 35 lbs base rock, 80 lbs live sand). It has been 3 weeks since I put the sand and rock in and I have been checking my levels regularly. I have not seen any ammonia, or nitrites. I have had nitrates from day one (started at 5 and checked at 20 today). I've got three powerheads circulating the tank and keeping my temperature up at 84. Should I have seen some ammonia by this point? I thought I surely would have registered something. What are your opinions? Should I be doing anything different?

Thanks in advance for any help!

schatzi · 02/11/2013, 03:50 PM

What did you put in the tank to start the cycle? You should have ammonia showing up by now I would think.

zcdh21 · 02/11/2013, 03:54 PM

Just the sand and rock until thursday of last week. Since thursday I have been feeding the tank with pellets and frozen shrimp, but still no ammo or trites.

schatzi · 02/11/2013, 04:01 PM

Ok that should help. now that I've had a minute to think about it, the Nitrates are probably coming from the bacteria that was already present on the live rock and sand breaking down what organic matter they have available. Adding more organics to the mix will either cause an ammonia spike, the start of the cycle you're looking for, or if there is enough bacteria present to handle the load you're feeding you might not ever see ammonia.

does that make sense? In effect you might never have a "cycle". Go a few days ghost feeding and see what your levels tell you.

chirojosh · 02/11/2013, 04:05 PM

+1. My experience is you should get an ammonia spike in the 10-14 day region.

zcdh21 · 02/11/2013, 04:12 PM

What about pure ammonia? I have a bottle that is absolutely pure and was thinking about putting some in there.

wooden_reefer · 02/11/2013, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zcdh21

What about pure ammonia? I have a bottle that is absolutely pure and was thinking about putting some in there.

It is NOT pure ammonia. The problem with ammonia from a bottle is that the concentration is unknown. You can put in some and then test, but better is to add a source of animal protein and allow it to decay.

If you add most moist fresh protein by weight, dividing by 30 would be the nitrogen in the ammonia that it will yield. The ammonia from animal protein is more predictable.

solitude · 02/11/2013, 11:48 PM

Test kits can be bad of go bad. Ammonia should be the fist to appear. Take your water is a LFS and have them test it too.

02/11/2013, 03:48 PM	#1
zcdh21 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 35	Cycling I am in the process of cycling my first tank (49 gal., 25 lbs live rock, 20 lbs marco rock, 35 lbs base rock, 80 lbs live sand). It has been 3 weeks since I put the sand and rock in and I have been checking my levels regularly. I have not seen any ammonia, or nitrites. I have had nitrates from day one (started at 5 and checked at 20 today). I've got three powerheads circulating the tank and keeping my temperature up at 84. Should I have seen some ammonia by this point? I thought I surely would have registered something. What are your opinions? Should I be doing anything different? Thanks in advance for any help!

02/11/2013, 03:50 PM	#2
schatzi Professional amateur Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: JC, MO Posts: 513	What did you put in the tank to start the cycle? You should have ammonia showing up by now I would think. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef, 46g predator tank, 25g fuge, 39g frag/fuge, 70g sump, 29g clown tank.

02/11/2013, 04:01 PM	#4
schatzi Professional amateur Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: JC, MO Posts: 513	Ok that should help. now that I've had a minute to think about it, the Nitrates are probably coming from the bacteria that was already present on the live rock and sand breaking down what organic matter they have available. Adding more organics to the mix will either cause an ammonia spike, the start of the cycle you're looking for, or if there is enough bacteria present to handle the load you're feeding you might not ever see ammonia. does that make sense? In effect you might never have a "cycle". Go a few days ghost feeding and see what your levels tell you. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef, 46g predator tank, 25g fuge, 39g frag/fuge, 70g sump, 29g clown tank.

02/11/2013, 03:54 PM	#3
zcdh21 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 35	Just the sand and rock until thursday of last week. Since thursday I have been feeding the tank with pellets and frozen shrimp, but still no ammo or trites.

02/11/2013, 04:05 PM	#5
chirojosh Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 229	+1. My experience is you should get an ammonia spike in the 10-14 day region.

02/11/2013, 04:12 PM	#6
zcdh21 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 35	What about pure ammonia? I have a bottle that is absolutely pure and was thinking about putting some in there.

02/11/2013, 11:48 PM	#8
solitude Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: california Posts: 58	Test kits can be bad of go bad. Ammonia should be the fist to appear. Take your water is a LFS and have them test it too.