Cycling confusion

kottok.motors · 02/24/2015, 10:21 PM

About a week ago i added 30lbs of LR to my cycling 55g. Dosing ammonia up to 2.0 each day, and progressively dropping more each 24hr period until today it was down to 0 after dosing up to 2 last night. Never saw any nitrites? Nitrates read 5.0. Is it possible to have cycled without seeing nitrites? Shouldn't I have more nitrates after a week of dosing that much ammo? Is it time to finally order my CUC???

worm5406 · 02/24/2015, 10:34 PM

How long has it been cycling?

It is possible you have matched the bacteria and the ammonia. You will most likely see it increase over the next week if you continue dosing.

Have you tried a shrimp or ghost feeding?

kottok.motors · 02/24/2015, 10:40 PM

Cycling about 2 weeks total, first week with 'dead' LR and one week with fresh LR.
No ghost feeding, I figured the gross decay from the old LR would be good enough for some ammo, and with adding pure ammo it's not needed.
Also, I checked my nitrates too soon, it's closer to 20.

worm5406 · 02/24/2015, 10:49 PM

Yeah... it will come up. It is still fresh. It will get there. This is the slow time. When I did this I started running everything and made sure water levels were good for power outage.

Azedenkae · 02/24/2015, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kottok.motors

About a week ago i added 30lbs of LR to my cycling 55g. Dosing ammonia up to 2.0 each day, and progressively dropping more each 24hr period until today it was down to 0 after dosing up to 2 last night. Never saw any nitrites? Nitrates read 5.0. Is it possible to have cycled without seeing nitrites? Shouldn't I have more nitrates after a week of dosing that much ammo? Is it time to finally order my CUC???

You don't *have* to see nitrites during a cycle.

It seems like your tank has cycled. Did you do any water change during this time? If not, would seem like you already have all the bacteria necessary from the getgo - well, you did use live rock after all.

kottok.motors · 02/25/2015, 12:41 AM

No water changes done. I figured if the bb wasn't there, I would see nitrites.

02/24/2015, 10:21 PM	#1
kottok.motors Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 66	Cycling confusion About a week ago i added 30lbs of LR to my cycling 55g. Dosing ammonia up to 2.0 each day, and progressively dropping more each 24hr period until today it was down to 0 after dosing up to 2 last night. Never saw any nitrites? Nitrates read 5.0. Is it possible to have cycled without seeing nitrites? Shouldn't I have more nitrates after a week of dosing that much ammo? Is it time to finally order my CUC???

02/24/2015, 10:34 PM	#2
worm5406 Not afriad to admit wrong Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South of WashDC in Maryland Posts: 7,774	How long has it been cycling? It is possible you have matched the bacteria and the ammonia. You will most likely see it increase over the next week if you continue dosing. Have you tried a shrimp or ghost feeding? __________________ Stock:LPS/SPS\|1 hippo\|4 OC Clown\|4 Pepp shrimp\|2 Brittle Star\|3000+ Copepods\|10+ MiniBrittle\|8+ Bristle Worm\|2 Anemone\|100+ mini-feather\|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR\|4" LS\|5x MP40W\|75g fuge\|5x RadionPRO\|RO DB250 skimmer\|Apex

02/24/2015, 10:49 PM	#4
worm5406 Not afriad to admit wrong Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South of WashDC in Maryland Posts: 7,774	Yeah... it will come up. It is still fresh. It will get there. This is the slow time. When I did this I started running everything and made sure water levels were good for power outage. __________________ Stock:LPS/SPS\|1 hippo\|4 OC Clown\|4 Pepp shrimp\|2 Brittle Star\|3000+ Copepods\|10+ MiniBrittle\|8+ Bristle Worm\|2 Anemone\|100+ mini-feather\|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR\|4" LS\|5x MP40W\|75g fuge\|5x RadionPRO\|RO DB250 skimmer\|Apex

02/24/2015, 10:40 PM	#3
kottok.motors Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 66	Cycling about 2 weeks total, first week with 'dead' LR and one week with fresh LR. No ghost feeding, I figured the gross decay from the old LR would be good enough for some ammo, and with adding pure ammo it's not needed. Also, I checked my nitrates too soon, it's closer to 20.

02/25/2015, 12:41 AM	#6
kottok.motors Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 66	No water changes done. I figured if the bb wasn't there, I would see nitrites.