Has my tank cycled?

[Utkarsh]

Doing a fishless cycle, with pellet food and seachem stability. It has been 10 days now and almost all of my rocks have turned light brown in colour. Have been testing my water for 2 days and it reads
Ammonia- 0.25ppm
Nitrites- 0ppm
Nitrates- 20ppm
Ph- 8.4

Using API Saltwater Master kit
Has my tank cycled? If no, what should i do? Should i add more pellet food, since i threw a good amount only once and dosed the tank with stability afterwards.

[kevin21]

No, it is not complete yet because there is ammonia present. However, if you are seeing brown algae, that test reading may not be accurate. I would test again in two days. If you get the same reading, I would perform a 15% water change, and start looking into adding a small clean up crew. See how they do for a couple of weeks. If all is well, you can look into adding your first fish or fish hardy coral. Don't rush and take your time for sure. No need to add any more pellet food.

[Utkarsh]

Thanks for the info.
If ill do water change can i use that dt water in my qt? Looking to setup a 60g qt. So since this water might be already cycled can i use this water in my qt?

[kevin21]

I would not use it no...use fresh saltwater for your quarantine. I believe Sk8r has a thread on non cycled quarantines. Look up her username, and click the number under her picture.

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by kevin21

I would not use it no...use fresh saltwater for your quarantine. I believe Sk8r has a thread on non cycled quarantines. Look up her username, and click the number under her picture.

Thank you

[mcgyvr]

In those 10 days did you test your water?
If so please post those results..
Without knowing if you had an initial ammonia spike followed by a nitrite spike and then saw both those numbers decline we have no idea if you experienced a cycle...

If you have yet to setup a QT there is really no reason to care if your display tank has cycled or not.. By the time you setup and QT any inhabitants your display tank will have cycled already..

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

In those 10 days did you test your water?
If so please post those results..
Without knowing if you had an initial ammonia spike followed by a nitrite spike and then saw both those numbers decline we have no idea if you experienced a cycle...

If you have yet to setup a QT there is really no reason to care if your display tank has cycled or not.. By the time you setup and QT any inhabitants your display tank will have cycled already..

I only tested the water yesterday and today, and the results i got i shared in the thread. I'll wait for 2 more days and will test again and will post the result in here.

As far as qt is concerned i do not know what water to use in it, cycled dt water or uncycled water. If i use uncycled water won't my fish die from new tank syndrome? Thats why i posted this thread to know if my tank is cycled or not ill do a 100 litre water change and use that water in qt. Hence using cycled water.

I am new to this hobby so i want to be very precise and particular with my tank by taking advice and guidance from the community.

[nereefpat]

No such thing as "cycled water." The tank cycles, not the water. Most of the bacteria that processes ammonia is on the surfaces, not in the water.

If you want a cycled qt, you will have to cycle it...or put in some cured rock...I wouldn't cycle a qt, but just watch the ammonia and change water or add Prime as needed.

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by nereefpat

No such thing as "cycled water." The tank cycles, not the water. Most of the bacteria that processes ammonia is on the surfaces, not in the water.

If you want a cycled qt, you will have to cycle it...or put in some cured rock...I wouldn't cycle a qt, but just watch the ammonia and change water or add Prime as needed.

Is it safe to use prime with medications like prazipro and cupramine? If not then how to prophyactically treat the fish and also to keep ammonia and nitrites in check.

[mcgyvr]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1031074
See the quarantine/acclimation section..
There is also a sticky post here on the tank transfer method which some find useful..

Water changes are the easiest way to keep ammonia in check in a quarantine tank..

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

In those 10 days did you test your water?
If so please post those results..
Without knowing if you had an initial ammonia spike followed by a nitrite spike and then saw both those numbers decline we have no idea if you experienced a cycle...

If you have yet to setup a QT there is really no reason to care if your display tank has cycled or not.. By the time you setup and QT any inhabitants your display tank will have cycled already..

Testing my water and the readings are
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5ppm

I am confused if my tank has cycled if yes, then how come it has cycled within 12 days. And as far as i read nitrate levels only drop by doing WC, i have not done any WC just topping up evaporated water i.e. 3-4 gallon everyday.

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh

Testing my water and the readings are
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5ppm

I am confused if my tank has cycled if yes, then how come it has cycled within 12 days. And as far as i read nitrate levels only drop by doing WC, i have not done any WC just topping up evaporated water i.e. 3-4 gallon everyday.

So...
First.. you used a product specifically intended to shorten the typical cycle by jumpstarting it by providing sufficient "bacteria in a bottle"..
water changes are not the only way that nitrates can be removed from a system..
I haven't done a water change in over a year now and my nitrates are below 3ppm...

Its likely that your tank is ready to start adding critters.. As always its a good idea to go slow as to avoid an excessive bioload greater than the current bacterial population can quickly process.. So just don't go out and buy 10 fish and not expect that to cause problems..

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

So...
First.. you used a product specifically intended to shorten the typical cycle by jumpstarting it by providing sufficient "bacteria in a bottle"..
water changes are not the only way that nitrates can be removed from a system..
I haven't done a water change in over a year now and my nitrates are below 3ppm...

Its likely that your tank is ready to start adding critters.. As always its a good idea to go slow as to avoid an excessive bioload greater than the current bacterial population can quickly process.. So just don't go out and buy 10 fish and not expect that to cause problems..

That's true that adding more fishes at once has lots of drawbacks and i am well aware of it. But actually in India, marine hobby is at its nascent stage, there is great demand for FW fish and tanks. And not for marine so LFS dont deal in Marine and those who do(which are quite few) charge 25-30$ more than the actual price of fish. And on that too you don't have a wide variety to pick from, cause mostly in India all are wild caught rather than bred.
So basically the real Marine suppliers and its hub is in South India, with very good prices lots to choose from( all tangs around 30$) so including freight charges and all for 4 tangs would cost me much cheaper than buying 2 tangs in my area.
So introducing one fish at a time would be very very costly for me.

[mcgyvr]

Sometimes the best decision isn't the cheapest one..
Or wait a while to allow your bacterial population to continue growing..

[Utkarsh]

yes, they'll be in quarantine for a month. Till then i believe there will be suffcient BB. The problem is the quarantine part, though i have 60G qt and my first fish will be some blue green chromis and pair of true percula clowns. I think they'll do ok in 60G

[AboutToBeReefin]

tisbe pods will eat every last bit of that "brown algae" if its diatoms. i would add them now and let them clean everything for you. it will let them bloom up and seed the tank. they love and can consume copious amounts of it compared to some other algaes.

[sirclintler]

Grab a better ammonia test kit if only for ammonia, the api ammonia test is not very accurate in my experience. You can dose your tank with an ammonia source and if the ammonia is gone the next day then your good to add a cuc

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by sirclintler

Grab a better ammonia test kit if only for ammonia, the api ammonia test is not very accurate in my experience. You can dose your tank with an ammonia source and if the ammonia is gone the next day then your good to add a cuc

Have been checking for ammonia nitrate nitrites for the past 3 days, now the result is constant.
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 5ppm

so i think the tank has cycled, although the tank will not have any fish for a month as i'll quarantine them first.

[mcgyvr]

Tank is cycled and will certainly be so in a month too..
No need to do anything but top off with fresh water to replace whats evaporating..

Don't waste your money on another ammonia kit.. You really don't need to measure ammonia ever again..

[sirclintler]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh

Have been checking for ammonia nitrate nitrites for the past 3 days, now the result is constant.
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 5ppm



so i think the tank has cycled, although the tank will not have any fish for a month as i'll quarantine them first.

Great job

[Utkarsh]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Tank is cycled and will certainly be so in a month too..
No need to do anything but top off with fresh water to replace whats evaporating..

Don't waste your money on another ammonia kit.. You really don't need to measure ammonia ever again..

Much thanks mcgyvr you've helped me alot removing my doubts. What salinity do u suggest, my salinity is 1.023, should i keep it there or increase it to 1.025? will be developing this tank to softy lps tank.

[kevin21]

Keep it at 1.025-1.026. That is ideal for a reef.