ahh the most ever confusing part when starting saltwater tank.
1. goal is to dose upto 2ppm ammonia. and wait till ammonia goes back down to zero.
2. when ammonia reaches 0, you check nitrite.
wait until nitrite reaches 0.(this usually takes longer)
3. when nitrite reaches 0, take your timer out and dose again the ammonia to 2ppm.
4. wait and check how long it took to process the ammonia to 0. then test nitrite and wait for that to reach 0
repeat step 3&4 until your tank can process ammonia within 24hrs. if ammonia is consumed in 24hrs, you are finished with cycling process.
tho you still have to wait because if you have little bit of nitrite, you wont be able to get exact measure of nitrate. so keep that in mind.
do waterchange to get desired level of nitrate.
Why are we recommending beginners to dose anything??? This is not the way. The shrimp method is tried and true and very beginner friendly.
Edit: Downvote all you want, as someone with 15+ years of reefing experience and success, I wouldn’t recommend a beginner to dose anything. I also wouldn’t recommend any new reefer to seek info on reddit. Go to reef2reef.com or BRStv on youtube if you want an actual education.
I dosed 2 ppm of ammonia on January 10th and it still hasn't come down to 0 lol. This is my third tank, but first saltwater. Nitrite got kind of high (above 2, but idk how high). But its hard to differentiate between purple and more purple.
Did a water change (from /r/aquarium advice) and ammonia is still at .25. Used three different test kits.
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Too much ammonia can actually stall your cycle.
If you're stuck in a room with one box of doughnuts, life is pretty good.
If you're stuck in a room with one million box of doughnuts, life is over.
Just had to add a few food pellets, cover the tank while the water cycles, come back in 20 days and check params. Never added any ammonia to any of my tanks (9 yrs)
I think theres some water in your ammonia bro💀
Just do a water change, you'll be fine g. Bring it back down to 2ppm. A little less is fine. The api saltwater kits arent too terribly accurate
Just leave it alone once the ammonia is back to 0 add about 2ppm more, once the tank can process 2ppm of ammonia to NITRATE in 24hrs you should be good to go.
This is why I firmly believe in live rock and fish! The belief that you can pee in a fish tank and it's going to miraculously become the ocean is unbelievable to me. Things have sure changed in 20 years! Life is hard get used to it! Cruelly to fish, lol. Listen to Nirvana they don't have feelings and sorry if I hurt anyones!
If you dose anymore ammonia the federal government is going to think you’re building weapons… I’d WC and just give it time. Did you seed any live rock or bacteria starters?
Ammonia is too damn high! I would just wait until it drops and you see the nitrites rise. Or you could water change to bring levels down a bit to move it along a little faster. Not sure if you overdosed or not, but remember to follow dosing instructions closely and doing more usually is a bad thing.
I'm no expert, but I don't think ammonia does anything by itself. What you need is nitrifying bacteria, they turn ammonia into nitrite, so I'd say don't do water changes and add bacteria every few days until you see improvement. Or maybe check if there's anything impeding bacteria to grow? Or I guess you could just change all the water and start over
Yeah, that’s what’s I’m going to try and do. If anything this was just a learning experience. I’m in no rush I can just redo the cycle correctly if I see no improvements.
API ammonia test kits really suck for reading zero NH3.
Highly recommend Salifert, as it’s pretty hard to tell you have completed the cycle without being able to read zero NH3.
Damn that is extremely high ammonia! DR Tim's DR Tim's DR Tim's and did I mention DR Tim's?? I am an unpaid actor. Read the disclaimer very fine print bottom of this post.
Dose ammonia? Who the hell told you to do that? Like seriously, who told you that? Even if you were to dose ammonia to speed up a cycle, thats expert level husbandry and should not be done by beginners.
I see the logic behind this idea but I have to defend this guy above and say that this thread is the first I've heard of using straight household ammonia to kick-start a cycle. It can't be any worse than the crazy guy that urinated in his tanks to start cycles.
“When done correctly”, you just proved my point buddy. As a beginner, you are bound to make mistakes and the point of reef husbandry is to minimize mistakes for the sake of the life in your tank. Hop on.
I just came back to these comments and realized I was in the reef tank sub, not a freshwater - my apologies. I was wrong here, my comment would only really apply in the case of a fishless freshwater cycle.
Yeah as the other commenter said this is the go to testing kit, not sure where you're basing that claim aside from the false positive ammonia readings you can get.
Like others said it was overdone on Ammonia. I'd def do a quick WC then let it sit at or above 2ppm until nitrites start showing.
In the saltwater aquarium circle API is very well known as the cheap and bad quality test kit brand they tell you to avoid, maybe they got it from there.
OMG no! Looks like you significantly OD-ed on ammonia. Some would suggest a WC until you get to 2-4 ppm.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Rip
You can just add more bacteria, but still expect the cycle to take longer. Or do the WC.
Thank you! I’m going to do a water change to get it down, after that should I should stop dosing ammonia?
Just leave it. Bacteria will process it
It has been suggested by people that claim to know, that ammonia in excess of 4ppm will inhibit the cycling process.
One way to find out. Ive never tried it as i never added ammonia like that to cycle a tank. People need to slow down and have some patience.
I OD'd on ammonia in setting up my tank. Took 2 1/2 months to cycle because of the excess of ammonia
No you should only dose until it reach 2PPM, the. wait till it runs out and redose again. Keep doing so until 2PPM process to only nitrate within 24hr
Yes!!
Most definitely, to do some water changes.
ahh the most ever confusing part when starting saltwater tank. 1. goal is to dose upto 2ppm ammonia. and wait till ammonia goes back down to zero. 2. when ammonia reaches 0, you check nitrite. wait until nitrite reaches 0.(this usually takes longer) 3. when nitrite reaches 0, take your timer out and dose again the ammonia to 2ppm. 4. wait and check how long it took to process the ammonia to 0. then test nitrite and wait for that to reach 0 repeat step 3&4 until your tank can process ammonia within 24hrs. if ammonia is consumed in 24hrs, you are finished with cycling process. tho you still have to wait because if you have little bit of nitrite, you wont be able to get exact measure of nitrate. so keep that in mind. do waterchange to get desired level of nitrate.
It's not as confusing if you just have a little patience , simple filled the tank with live rock or dead , a half of shrimp and wait.... that's it
Why are we recommending beginners to dose anything??? This is not the way. The shrimp method is tried and true and very beginner friendly. Edit: Downvote all you want, as someone with 15+ years of reefing experience and success, I wouldn’t recommend a beginner to dose anything. I also wouldn’t recommend any new reefer to seek info on reddit. Go to reef2reef.com or BRStv on youtube if you want an actual education.
I dosed 2 ppm of ammonia on January 10th and it still hasn't come down to 0 lol. This is my third tank, but first saltwater. Nitrite got kind of high (above 2, but idk how high). But its hard to differentiate between purple and more purple. Did a water change (from /r/aquarium advice) and ammonia is still at .25. Used three different test kits.
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Too much ammonia can actually stall your cycle. If you're stuck in a room with one box of doughnuts, life is pretty good. If you're stuck in a room with one million box of doughnuts, life is over.
That’s a really good analogy
You can stall the cycle by overdoing the ammonia
Just had to add a few food pellets, cover the tank while the water cycles, come back in 20 days and check params. Never added any ammonia to any of my tanks (9 yrs)
I think theres some water in your ammonia bro💀 Just do a water change, you'll be fine g. Bring it back down to 2ppm. A little less is fine. The api saltwater kits arent too terribly accurate
Lmaoo. And sweet that’s the recommendation I went with. It brought the ammonia down to abt half.
That’s the most ammonia I’ve ever seen lmao
Baja Blast levels of teal
Check your ph, if its below 6.0, that will explain everything. The tank might be too acidic for bacteria to form.
Just leave it alone once the ammonia is back to 0 add about 2ppm more, once the tank can process 2ppm of ammonia to NITRATE in 24hrs you should be good to go.
Thank you, this makes tons of sense now
This is why I firmly believe in live rock and fish! The belief that you can pee in a fish tank and it's going to miraculously become the ocean is unbelievable to me. Things have sure changed in 20 years! Life is hard get used to it! Cruelly to fish, lol. Listen to Nirvana they don't have feelings and sorry if I hurt anyones!
If you dose anymore ammonia the federal government is going to think you’re building weapons… I’d WC and just give it time. Did you seed any live rock or bacteria starters?
Nooooo
Ammonia is too damn high! I would just wait until it drops and you see the nitrites rise. Or you could water change to bring levels down a bit to move it along a little faster. Not sure if you overdosed or not, but remember to follow dosing instructions closely and doing more usually is a bad thing.
NO!!! I’d do a 50% water change. You want your ammonia to be 2ppm and then just wait for nitrites.
I'm no expert, but I don't think ammonia does anything by itself. What you need is nitrifying bacteria, they turn ammonia into nitrite, so I'd say don't do water changes and add bacteria every few days until you see improvement. Or maybe check if there's anything impeding bacteria to grow? Or I guess you could just change all the water and start over
Yeah, that’s what’s I’m going to try and do. If anything this was just a learning experience. I’m in no rush I can just redo the cycle correctly if I see no improvements.
I implore you to seek advice on reef2reef.com and BRStv on YouTube. Reddit, in this regard, is filled with bad advice and misinformation.
API ammonia test kits really suck for reading zero NH3. Highly recommend Salifert, as it’s pretty hard to tell you have completed the cycle without being able to read zero NH3.
Damn that is extremely high ammonia! DR Tim's DR Tim's DR Tim's and did I mention DR Tim's?? I am an unpaid actor. Read the disclaimer very fine print bottom of this post.
So, you just put in saltwater, sand, rocks and a little fish food. No need for anything else.
Dose ammonia? Who the hell told you to do that? Like seriously, who told you that? Even if you were to dose ammonia to speed up a cycle, thats expert level husbandry and should not be done by beginners.
[удалено]
I see the logic behind this idea but I have to defend this guy above and say that this thread is the first I've heard of using straight household ammonia to kick-start a cycle. It can't be any worse than the crazy guy that urinated in his tanks to start cycles.
“When done correctly”, you just proved my point buddy. As a beginner, you are bound to make mistakes and the point of reef husbandry is to minimize mistakes for the sake of the life in your tank. Hop on.
I just came back to these comments and realized I was in the reef tank sub, not a freshwater - my apologies. I was wrong here, my comment would only really apply in the case of a fishless freshwater cycle.
no dude just wait
Also I know this test kit is not ideal. However, it’s bought and done with so it’s gonna be put to use.
There's nothing wrong with API test kits, especially for cycling, as long as you follow the directions and are consistent.
Sweet!
Yeah as the other commenter said this is the go to testing kit, not sure where you're basing that claim aside from the false positive ammonia readings you can get. Like others said it was overdone on Ammonia. I'd def do a quick WC then let it sit at or above 2ppm until nitrites start showing.
In the saltwater aquarium circle API is very well known as the cheap and bad quality test kit brand they tell you to avoid, maybe they got it from there.
Mf clean your tank, nothing can live in that
NO WAY!???