3rd week cycling... Readings???

[kurtyboh]

I would advise against using chemicals that detoxify ammonia, you are trying to feed your bb, adding stuff like that removes the food source of your nitrogen cycle thereby setting your cycle back. Be patient, if you add two fish in the beginning wait 4 weeks until you consider adding more. Of course it's going to be best to have zeros but as long as you've initially cycled it will be ok, as they won't go very high nor very long. Many new tanks have a mini cycle, do an extra pwc, everything will be ok!
Those products have a use and I use ammolock regularly, but in my quarantine tank. I do not have anything in the tank and won't risk losing my rocks to run the tank. These products allow me to run zeros easily in my qt.

Ultimately it's your tank and your fish, so your decision but I wouldn't put that stuff in my dt

 

[neeker4]

I don't plan on use any chemicals in my system... The chemicals i was referring to were those of the test kits... Sorry for the confusion.. Also, for some clarification, i could add some small fish with these readings or i should wait longer? Kinda confused...

 

[kurtyboh]

I was referring to the suggestion of amquel, glad to hear you're doing it the smart way.
I would wait until trites read zero before adding fish

 

[neeker4]

Yeah i think if i dont test for something im putting in the tank, i shouldnt be putting it in there... Im going to wait for all the readings to be at 0 before adding fish...

 

[kurtyboh]

Just so there is no confusion nitrates may not read zero unless you are running a fuge or have a pretty mature tank. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, < 20 trates. I am sure you get it but just in case I want to alleviate any confusion.
Great attitude towards additives

 

[neeker4]

I didnt know about the trated being 20ppm but now i do. Thanks for the info!!!

 

[kurtyboh]

Quite a few places say 40 is safe, and really it's not that bad. However the higher you keep it especially in a new tank the greater the risk of an algae problem developing.
I have grape calerpa, sawblade calerpa and red Graciella in my dt to help control trates. They are slightly decorative. I truly enjoy the look of Graciella, plus I can get by without Feeding so much as those are a good food choice for many types of livestock. You may still have to trim grapes though. At least i do because they grow fast. I wish my Graciella grew as fast.

 

[neeker4]

40 seems a pretty high number to me... Id like to be closer to 0 for peace of mind... As far as all the plants(if u will) u listed, can those be kept in a 14g bare bottom tank???

 

[kurtyboh]

All of mine have rooted into lr. I agree with the 40 high as well, just stating that it's not as important as some of the others

 

[neeker4]

I will look into those post cycle completion then... Thanks for the idea...

 

[Tkey3425]

I was referring to the use of AmQuel, IF, when you added a fish you got an unsafe spike in your ammonia levels. Not in place of letting the tank properly cycle.

 

[kurtyboh]

Adding those types of things destroy your cycling process unless it spikes incredibly high it is not worth using it

 

[neeker4]

I didnt know any of that, but i also didnt intend on using and chemicals, other than testing purposes, in my tank... Id rather have less work to do ultimately, meaning less dosings etc., in the ling run. So if pwcs do the trick, i am ok w doing 10-20% changes weekly as opposed to putting chemicals in my tank... I appreciate the advice and info exchange!

 

[Tkey3425]

Double post sorry

 

[neeker4]

When should i start doing water changes, cleanings, and the while nine yards? Starting to see some color on the base rock, not much purple, but a light spot starting here and there, and some coloration, what looks like diatoms starting to die off...

 

[kurtyboh]

I wait for my cycle to end, that way your not messing with the food supply for your bacteria collection. Which is why you should do a large pwc before you add fish, cuz your trates are high after all that

 

[Tkey3425]

Adding those types of things destroy your cycling process unless it spikes incredibly high it is not worth using it

I'm not saying to use it in place of the cycle. And ive been using it for a long time on multiple tanks when they spike to unsafe levels. I dont think leaving a shrimp in the tank indefinitely until everything returns to zero is the best advice. I dont see anything good coming from a rotten piece of shrimp in someone's tank but I could be wrong on that one.

 

[carey]

If you have spike then something is amiss, and I mean in a cycled tank. In a cycling tank it's perfectly normal.

The idea behind the shrimp is to build a strong bb base so that you can add a couple fish without stressing it is gonna spike your parameters. I go to 8ppm of ammonia and after it gets gobbled up within 24 hours I know I am ready. I also dose with pure ammonia instead of the shrimp method, I feel it gives me more control of getting to that 8ppm.

 

[Tkey3425]

If you have spike then something is amiss, and I mean in a cycled tank. In a cycling tank it's perfectly normal.

The idea behind the shrimp is to build a strong bb base so that you can add a couple fish without stressing it is gonna spike your parameters. I go to 8ppm of ammonia and after it gets gobbled up within 24 hours I know I am ready. I also dose with pure ammonia instead of the shrimp method, I feel it gives me more control of getting to that 8ppm.

Its been my experience that small tanks will spike but thats just from helping other people out around town. I've never setup a tank personally smaller than a 55g. They "said" it was up and running for months before they added the fish but in reality it could have been up a week and i wouldnt have known the difference. I just like the method of saving the fish rather than let them suffer in toxic water. I help out with a local shop doing odd jobs in exchange for them letting me run my frag tank at their shop and sell my excess frags since they don't carry coral and it brings in more customers. I also do some service calls for them as well. My 180 gallon didn't spike, even when i added the Antennata lion fish a blue line trigger and a harlequin tusk, A little over a year ago. trigger and lion were about 8" in length and the tusk was 5-6" (they were a rescue from a 75 gallon and i rehomed them shortly after to a large public aquarium in Georgia). All i meant by the AmQuel was IF he thinks his tank is cycled and in fact it wasnt ready, INSTEAD of killing the fish with ammonia, dose it with AmQuel. thats all that was meant there. I used the ammonia dosing method as well.

 

[neeker4]

I think ive had my ammonia spike... Just realized that my test kits were/are expired... Bought new ones that should arrive tomorrow or wednesday and i can test from there out knowing the tests are reliable... I had 7 blue hermits in there but have lost 2 and i put a little turbo snail in there sunday and it appears to have died, has not moved since being in the tank... Am i still in the midst of my cycle or is that just rotten luck w the crabs and snail... Sorry i have no test parameters to include...