Tank Cycling question

[AmberLee]

I am currently cycling my 275 litre tank/curing the rock (in tank)
30kg of Live Rock and 30kg dry sand.
On day 6 of cycling now and my test results have been the same for the past 3 days. Even though I have been ghost feeding the tank daily, and did a 40litre water change (have a few critters in there) 2 days ago.
these are the results:

High Range PH- 8.2
Ammonia- 25ppm
Nitrites- 0ppm
Nitrates- 5.0ppm

Am I missing something? I was expecting higher ammonia and to see some nitrites?

[tomreefer]

Since you have Nitrates in your tank some of the Nitrites where converted. You have enough bacteria that its eating some of the ammonia.

[Frozenguy]

Is this API test?

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by Frozenguy

Is this API test?

Yes API, why's that?

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by tomreefer

Since you have Nitrates in your tank some of the Nitrites where converted. You have enough bacteria that its eating some of the ammonia.

That's what I thought
Thank you

[tomreefer]

it's very possible since you are using live rock you may have a small or no cycle at all. I would wait a week or so at least there is still some ammonia in your water. What test kit you using? I would take your water to your LFS and double check your findings

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by tomreefer

it's very possible since you are using live rock you may have a small or no cycle at all. I would wait a week or so at least there is still some ammonia in your water. What test kit you using? I would take your water to your LFS and double check your findings

API Saltwater Master Kit.

Lol my LFS is about nearly 4 hours away. There was two stores here at one stage but one closed down, the other stopped catering to marine.

[tomreefer]

Make sure the API kits are not expired. The expiration usually on the bottle

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by tomreefer

Make sure the API kits are not expired. The expiration usually on the bottle

I'll do that when I get home, though considering I bought it a few days ago I'd doubt it's expired. At least I'd hope not :P

[tomreefer]

don't assume that lol. I bought a kit from petsmart and I found out later it was expired. Bad thing was petsmart said I opened it cant be returned. Good thing API has very good customer service and will take care of you from my experience.

[tomreefer]

API are not very accurate but for Ammonia, nitrate and nitrites there close enough in my opinion. For other tests when you go down that road Calcium, phosphates better off with a better kits like salifert, red sea or hanna

Once you are 0 for your ammonia I would do a water change. Than you can add a small CUC and see what happens

[gone fishin]

I recall your other posts with the pics. With the live rock you got and the volume of hitchhikers that came in with them I would not expect to see much of a cycle. I assume your hitchhikers are doing OK. I would carry on like you are doing for a couple more weeks.

I would also assume you are testing your water before the WC. I always found the API test to be alright for higher levels but at the very low levels I thought it was a bit sketchy. just my 2 cents.

[Frozenguy]

How did you perform the test for nitrate?

Add 10 drops of bottle one, then cap and invert a few times.

Shake bottle 2 vigorously for 30 seconds, add 10 drops

Shake tube vigorously for 1 minute

and wait 1 minute?

API nitrate tests are very inaccurate if not performed this way.

Also make sure to 'wash' your test tubes in tank water prior to testing.

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by tomreefer

API are not very accurate but for Ammonia, nitrate and nitrites there close enough in my opinion. For other tests when you go down that road Calcium, phosphates better off with a better kits like salifert, red sea or hanna

Once you are 0 for your ammonia I would do a water change. Than you can add a small CUC and see what happens

Thanks, I was actually thinking salifert for the "reef" testing.

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by Frozenguy

How did you perform the test for nitrate?

Add 10 drops of bottle one, then cap and invert a few times.

Shake bottle 2 vigorously for 30 seconds, add 10 drops

Shake tube vigorously for 1 minute

and wait 1 minute?

API nitrate tests are very inaccurate if not performed this way.

Also make sure to 'wash' your test tubes in tank water prior to testing.

Thanks, I am actually following the instructions very strictly and doing exactly what you just said

[Azedenkae]

Originally Posted by AmberLee

I am currently cycling my 275 litre tank/curing the rock (in tank)
30kg of Live Rock and 30kg dry sand.
On day 6 of cycling now and my test results have been the same for the past 3 days. Even though I have been ghost feeding the tank daily, and did a 40litre water change (have a few critters in there) 2 days ago.
these are the results:

High Range PH- 8.2
Ammonia- 25ppm
Nitrites- 0ppm
Nitrates- 5.0ppm

Am I missing something? I was expecting higher ammonia and to see some nitrites?

You don't necessary have to see ammonia and nitrites, especially if your live rock is extremely fresh/pretty much cured. See here.

Especially if you have been ghostfeeding, that's a good sign. Does your filtration system has capacity for nitrate removal/sequestation/whatever?

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by Azedenkae

You don't necessary have to see ammonia and nitrites, especially if your live rock is extremely fresh/pretty much cured. See here.

Especially if you have been ghostfeeding, that's a good sign. Does your filtration system has capacity for nitrate removal/sequestation/whatever?

My filtration system is the sand, rock, skimmer, and bioballs in the sump. So, yes?

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by Azedenkae

You don't necessary have to see ammonia and nitrites, especially if your live rock is extremely fresh/pretty much cured. See here.

Especially if you have been ghostfeeding, that's a good sign. Does your filtration system has capacity for nitrate removal/sequestation/whatever?

That was actually helpful information, thanks

Though the water changes part during the cycle confuses me a litlle. Should I not do them, even though I'm doing them in attempts to avoid killing all my hitchhikers? Will that stop my tank from building a good amount of bacteria?

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by gone fishin

I recall your other posts with the pics. With the live rock you got and the volume of hitchhikers that came in with them I would not expect to see much of a cycle. I assume your hitchhikers are doing OK. I would carry on like you are doing for a couple more weeks.

I would also assume you are testing your water before the WC. I always found the API test to be alright for higher levels but at the very low levels I thought it was a bit sketchy. just my 2 cents.

Sorry, forgot to reply to your comment.

I think so, believe it or not I have a Linckia starfish thats still alive.

I am testing daily. And doing 40litre water changes every second day. Just not sure if that's too much.

[Azedenkae]

Originally Posted by AmberLee

My filtration system is the sand, rock, skimmer, and bioballs in the sump. So, yes?

Just wanted to doublecheck, as sometimes people have very similar products, but slight dissimilarities means that certain elements may not be in order.

For example, all live rock are not equal, and some may not be able to harbour nitrate-reducing bacteria.

[Azedenkae]

Originally Posted by AmberLee

That was actually helpful information, thanks

Though the water changes part during the cycle confuses me a litlle. Should I not do them, even though I'm doing them in attempts to avoid killing all my hitchhikers? Will that stop my tank from building a good amount of bacteria?

Good question. In this case in particular, since you already have life you want in the tank, then it may be necessary to keep lifeforms alive. Though limit it as much as possible, as otherwise it will really slow down the cycle. Unlike fish (that can grab the food as they come into the tank), bacteria has to take it from the water. And so doing water changes will limit the amount of nutrients available for the bacteria.

In essence in this case it is a balancing game. If your parameters are as is though, there's really no need for water changes.

[AmberLee]

Hmm, well in that case I am not sure.
My skimmer is aqua one brand, as are the bioballs. I know very little about the live rock, just that it came full of creepy crawlies, and the fish store purchases it from Cairns (Australia)
My sand is Coral Sand Aroganite (dry), seems to be seeded from my live rock already as there is little worms tracks in it that you can see where the sand meets the glass.

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by Azedenkae

Good question. In this case in particular, since you already have life you want in the tank, then it may be necessary to keep lifeforms alive. Though limit it as much as possible, as otherwise it will really slow down the cycle. Unlike fish (that can grab the food as they come into the tank), bacteria has to take it from the water. And so doing water changes will limit the amount of nutrients available for the bacteria.

In essence in this case it is a balancing game. If your parameters are as is though, there's really no need for water changes.

Thats fair enough, thanks.

So if I see a higher level of ammonia, should I do a smallish water change then? And if so, how much?

[tomreefer]

get rid of the bio balls!!! If you want to keep things alive any ammonia present is bad. You have to do a water chamge every time u see any ammonia. How much depends how much your level is at. Probably at least 15% of the water or so. Keep in mind doing so increases the cycle time

[AmberLee]

Originally Posted by tomreefer

get rid of the bio balls!!!

They came with the tank (bought a brand new "reef ready" setup) we were thinking of replacing them with a filer sock.

Why do you recommend getting rid of them?