Help!

[Ivanbmwe46]

Hey guys I started cycling my fish tank 2 weeks ago. I have live rock and live sand in it. I test the levels with my kit every 2 days but I haven't seen a change in anything. Amonia has remaind at zero since day 1 and so has the nitrite. What am I doing wrong? Someone please help. TIA

[jason142]

So you started with live rock and sand or was it all dry?

[Ivanbmwe46]

I started off with 50 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of live sand.

[jason142]

What size tank?

[Ivanbmwe46]

It's a 55 gallon tank.

[ZaxSaid]

It could have been an instant cycle since he started with live rock and sand , do you have any pictures of the tank?


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[jason142]

Throw about 4 or 5 chromis in there and see if your ammonia or nitrite levels change. Have you tested nitrate?

[Ivanbmwe46]

I have tested and it was between 10ppm and 20ppm and nitrite it's always been at 0ppm, ph 8.2 and ammonia it's between 0.25ppm and 0.50ppm

[ZaxSaid]

Are you using the API test kit?


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[jason142]

ZaxSaid is right, you might have already had your cycle. I would still throw in some chromis before you really start stocking your tank to make sure.

[Ivanbmwe46]

It could have been an instant cycle since he started with live rock and sand , do you have any pictures of the tank?


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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160723/54f241f95b257df817ffc31d2716904c.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160723/587aacf0d80e1f7ba66cea99a34dfa34.jpg

Here are some pictures of my rock. They do have coralline growing


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[Ivanbmwe46]

@zaxsaid yes


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[ZaxSaid]

You could try ammonia drops instead of adding the chromis wait 24 hours and see where your ammonia levels are though not 100% sure on the ammonia drops @Jason what are your thoughts on that idea
@Ivanbmwe46 if you're reading ammonia levels of .25 with API test kit 9/10 you're probably getting s false positive went through that as well


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[Ivanbmwe46]

You could try ammonia drops instead of adding the chromis wait 24 hours and see where your ammonia levels are though not 100% sure on the ammonia drops @Jason what are your thoughts on that idea
@Ivanbmwe46 if you're reading ammonia levels of .25 with API test kit 9/10 you're probably getting s false positive went through that as well


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So if the kit is reading a false positive. What should I do? Would taking it to a fish store to check my levels be better?


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[jason142]

You could try ammonia drops instead of adding the chromis wait 24 hours and see where your ammonia levels are though not 100% sure on the ammonia drops @Jason what are your thoughts on that idea
@Ivanbmwe46 if you're reading ammonia levels of .25 with API test kit 9/10 you're probably getting s false positive went through that as well


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I personally would not add ammonia drops but that is just me. I have cycle both of my tanks with chromis. You could take you water in to get tested but the majority of LFS use API test kits. I know some people have done fishless cycle by putting a piece of shrimp in the tank.

[ZaxSaid]

You could do what Jason said drop a few chromis in there and see how they do, I want to say do the ammonia drops and see what happens after 24 hours if your ammonia reads along 0-.25 and nitrite is also reading around the same you should have a nitrate spike definitely you would know then then you would do a water change to remove nitrate both ways work it's all personal preference if you go with the ammonia drops You have to get pure ammonia with no additives


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[Ivanbmwe46]

I personally would not add ammonia drops but that is just me. I have cycle both of my tanks with chromis. You could take you water in to get tested but the majority of LFS use API test kits. I know some people have done fishless cycle by putting a piece of shrimp in the tank.

Sorry I should have added that since the beginning but I already added 1 week ago a raw piece of shrimp

[Ivanbmwe46]

You could do what Jason said drop a few chromis in there and see how they do, I want to say do the ammonia drops and see what happens after 24 hours if your ammonia reads along 0-.25 and nitrite is also reading around the same you should have a nitrate spike definitely you would know then then you would do a water change to remove nitrate both ways work it's all personal preference if you go with the ammonia drops You have to get pure ammonia with no additives


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Question on the water change. Should I be doing a 5% water change every week? Or wait until my tank is completely cycled?


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[ZaxSaid]

Don't do water changes until your cycle is complete though it might already be complete so I'll change what I said to don't do water changes until you are sure your tank is done cycling


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[Ivanbmwe46]

Ok. Thanks everyone for your time really appreciate your help. I will keep you all posted with any updates. 😀😄


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[ZaxSaid]

If you're adding chromis you should do a water change remember nitrate is harmless at low levels


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[jason142]

Since you added a piece of shrimp you are most likely on the down side of your cycle. I would say that you are safe to start adding livestock slowly. Your nitrates are good, although i would never recommend letting your nitrates get this high mine sometimes get to up around 80ppm. What are your plans as far as livestock goes?

[Ivanbmwe46]

Since you added a piece of shrimp you are most likely on the down side of your cycle. I would say that you are safe to start adding livestock slowly. Your nitrates are good, although i would never recommend letting your nitrates get this high mine sometimes get to up around 80ppm. What are your plans as far as livestock goes?

I plan on putting a couple clown fish and maybe some zoas


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[crabbysd]

The ammonia method is spelled out on the dr tims website. Live sand live rock it is cycling. Nitrate and nitrite are high because the cycle just started and is still weak and the bacteria has only had a couple weeks to start eating and coming up to strength, you'll notice algae and cyano probably soon because of this ( ugly phase).
A ten percent water change every two weeks is fine. Maybe a slightly larger one a week before you add fish. Add some clean up crew now butt not too much. The ugly phase should be coming soon and they'll help process it. Too many too soon and they'll starve.

In theory adding fish right now is fine. I'd go slow and get cheap ones for a bit as they may not like some of your higher number and depending on the health of the fish they may not acclimate well to that.

But over all. I'd say way to go. Healthy tank. Congratulations.