Am I cycled?

tjm9331 · 06/28/2016, 07:57 PM

My 75 gallon fowlr is not my first saltwater tank but it is my first time doing a fishless cycle using ACE hardware ammonia.

I started the tank off with Dr. Tim's one and only and dosed the tank up to 2ppm I did not does again until the ammonia was down to 0.5ppm I then dosed the same amount to bring the tank to 2ppm. After about a week my ammonia dropped to 0 and my nitrates were around 5ppm.

Long story short it took about 2 weeks more for my nitrates to reach 0, I should mention that it wasn't a sudden drop it was more of a gradual drop until it hit 0 in other words one day it was 5ppm the next day 2ppm the day after 0.5 then 0.

I dosed ammonia one more time to see if both ammonia and nitrite could be processed in 24 hours, in 12 hours the ammonia was 0 but it took between 36 and 48 hours for the nitrites to hit 0.

My question is am I cycled? Or should I continue to dose ammonia every other day until both can be processed in 24hrs?

For what it's worth my nitrates are 20ppm. Sorry for the long winded write up I just wanted to make sure you got all the info.

cougareyes · 06/28/2016, 08:26 PM

I would be comfortable to call it cycled. I use that method, most people cycled through about .5 ammonia once to nitrates and called it. My target is about 20 nitrates to feel comfortable I've cycled through enough ammonia.

tjm9331 · 06/28/2016, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cougareyes

I would be comfortable to call it cycled. I use that method, most people cycled through about .5 ammonia once to nitrates and called it. My target is about 20 nitrates to feel comfortable I've cycled through enough ammonia.

Awesome!

Now I just have to make a decision on my stock lol

cougareyes · 06/28/2016, 08:38 PM

Dr Tim's method is geared toward people planning on a large initial introduction. 2ppm of ammonia is a fairly large load. Most of us would not put that many fish at once. You can always do a half dose while you are waiting(just to make sure), only down side to continue dosing is that you are making more nitrates.

tjm9331 · 06/28/2016, 08:46 PM

I plan on making a decision this weekend should have first fish in QT by Saturday so yeah I'll probably do a half dose once a week. That should be enough to keep the bacteria feed right?

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civics14 · 06/29/2016, 06:47 AM

I would go ahead and get that first fish in QT while you're finishing up your cycle. It sounds like you're nearing the end of it, if not finished. It took less than 3 weeks for my cycle to complete. I used seachem stability and added my first pair of clowns (this was 1.5 years ago) and never lost a fish to this day.

06/28/2016, 07:57 PM	#1
tjm9331 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 340	Am I cycled? My 75 gallon fowlr is not my first saltwater tank but it is my first time doing a fishless cycle using ACE hardware ammonia. I started the tank off with Dr. Tim's one and only and dosed the tank up to 2ppm I did not does again until the ammonia was down to 0.5ppm I then dosed the same amount to bring the tank to 2ppm. After about a week my ammonia dropped to 0 and my nitrates were around 5ppm. Long story short it took about 2 weeks more for my nitrates to reach 0, I should mention that it wasn't a sudden drop it was more of a gradual drop until it hit 0 in other words one day it was 5ppm the next day 2ppm the day after 0.5 then 0. I dosed ammonia one more time to see if both ammonia and nitrite could be processed in 24 hours, in 12 hours the ammonia was 0 but it took between 36 and 48 hours for the nitrites to hit 0. My question is am I cycled? Or should I continue to dose ammonia every other day until both can be processed in 24hrs? For what it's worth my nitrates are 20ppm. Sorry for the long winded write up I just wanted to make sure you got all the info.

06/28/2016, 08:26 PM	#2
cougareyes Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 713	I would be comfortable to call it cycled. I use that method, most people cycled through about .5 ammonia once to nitrates and called it. My target is about 20 nitrates to feel comfortable I've cycled through enough ammonia.

06/28/2016, 08:38 PM	#4
cougareyes Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 713	Dr Tim's method is geared toward people planning on a large initial introduction. 2ppm of ammonia is a fairly large load. Most of us would not put that many fish at once. You can always do a half dose while you are waiting(just to make sure), only down side to continue dosing is that you are making more nitrates.

06/28/2016, 08:46 PM	#5
tjm9331 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 340	I plan on making a decision this weekend should have first fish in QT by Saturday so yeah I'll probably do a half dose once a week. That should be enough to keep the bacteria feed right? Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

06/29/2016, 06:47 AM	#6
civics14 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Lilburn, GA Posts: 201	I would go ahead and get that first fish in QT while you're finishing up your cycle. It sounds like you're nearing the end of it, if not finished. It took less than 3 weeks for my cycle to complete. I used seachem stability and added my first pair of clowns (this was 1.5 years ago) and never lost a fish to this day.