Cycle Question

S

SaphosBro

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I have a cycle question that I am hoping someone smarter than me can chime in on...I have a 40 breeder I setup as a qt, it has no sand, no rock but it does have an aquaclear 70 with a foam pad and bio media and some PVC in the bottom of the tank.I dosed 20ish drops of Dr tims Ammonium Chloride back on 8/4 - I tested and my ammonia was at 1ppm on 8/5. Since that time Ammonia has remained at 1ppm and no2 -0 no3-0. I am sure I am testing correctly and have compared results to my other tanks for color sanity check. I also have an ammonia alert bade in the tank that agrees with my daily test results.This is the first tank i have ever cycled with no rock and no sand so I am not sure why the cycle does not seem to be kicking off. Over all results are as follows.Ammonia - 1No2 -0no3- 0PH-8.2temp 77-78I have marine pure cubes in my other tanks and i could take one for this tank but i really want the bacteria to grow i the aquaclear 70 filter and not the marine cube. Anyone have any suggestions? I feel like i should have seen some movement by this point its been most of a month.
 
I set up another tank recently and was testing using an old ammonia test kit. It showed readings of ~2ppm consistently. I never caught the nitrite or nitrate spike with my current salifert kit, the nitrates only read 0 on every test. I recommend taking a sample to an LFS or picking up a 2nd ammonia kit. API will do but it won't last to use it again. After a month though, I think you would be able to see the cycle occur. One thing I have done in the past to expedite the process is do a WC. Instead of adding freshly mixed salt water, add the exports of the water change from another tank. Then test it for nitrates and see if you've got enough bacteria to drop nitrates to 0.If you have undetectable nitrates in the other tank by means of badass macro algae export, carbon dosing or biopellets, then I am not sure what else to do other than wait a little further for the spike to happen or to just get a 2nd test kit to confirm the 1st kit is incorrect.Maybe adding RO water will work by introducing phosphate and nitrate to the QT tank, then testing for nitrates to drop over time. I'd say only do this if you're looking at putting fish in after the next two weeks. Then I'd do the water change from the other tank into this one. Sorry if I'm not much help in your situation, just giving some ideas of what I'd do. Edit: You could put in some marine pure cubes to keep the system alive for some time, but you'd have to be sure before you pull them out that you've got sufficient bacteria in the filter alone, to maintain the tank.
 
Did you put a source of bacteria in the tank like Dr. Tim's One and Only? The ammonia is the food for the bacteria but you need a starter source of bacteria to get the cycle going.
 
I have actually tested with 3 kits, I have both API and RedSea plus the tank has an ammonia alert badge and all match 1.0 ammonia. Also when i use the kits on my other tanks they read correctly so i dont think its a bad test ket. Regardless next time i go to the city i can have the water tested as a LFS but I am sure I am testing correctly, this is not my first rodeo with 5 tanks, however, its the first time iv cycled a tank with no LiveRock and no sand maybe it just tanks significantly longer, im not sure.I did add a bottle of Dr. Tims one and Only the day after I dosed ammonia. I have another so i could add more but if im not mistake Dr Tim's have bacteria for Nitrates and Nitrites but not ammonia but maybe im wrong there.Thanks for the pointers ill keep trying things until i figure something out.
 
With an empty tank, it is difficult to get the bacteria to grow... I would introduce some rock to get the cycle done and then remove. I normally add some live rock from my display, cycle the tank and then move the rock back to my display tank.
 
Hey Steve,Nice pointer. I was thinking something along these lines to but hate pulling rock from my DT's. I had an extra 8x8x4 Marine Pure cube i just dropped in and will see if that does the trick. Honestly i have had it for over a year and not used it so maybe ill leave it in the QT and just bleach it and let it dry for a week or two between uses or something like that.Anyhow thanks for the pointers and lets see what happens!
 
I don’t see this done much now, but a few years ago we used to put sand from our DT or borrow from a friend and place  in a filter sock to seed a QT tank and once cycled toss it. 
 
Thanks! The sand is something good to try too.I also threw some filter pads in sump of a DT too to have ready for next time, i read from Bobby AKA HumbleFish on R2R https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-and-biofilm.292878/ i need to break my QT down every 2-3 months and sterilize it to deal with the build up of heterotrophic bacteria that will make prazi and Chloroquine phosphate non-effective. I plan to treat prophylactic so hopefully if i soak some foam pads for the aquaclear in the dt for a few weeks it will speed the cycle up drastically as i dont want to spend a month cycling if i only get another 1-2 months use out of the QT, i am wanting to start QTing fish non stop for about the next year to stock up my new reef.Anyhow thanks again for the advice i am putting it to the test tonight!
 
One quick update, the tank has finally cycled! I made two changes and it cycled almost over night, one i increded the flow, i change my power from an MJ110 to a Cobalt MJ1200. I suspect this is what fixed the problem but I also dosed another bottle of Bio-Spira, i had used Dr. Tim's the previous time. Regardless maybe it was luck, time or the change or a combo of all but the tank is ready to start QTing now.[]
 
I suspect you finally had enough bacteria buildup, or finally cleared enough decomposing organics from the system.  While I have no doubt that an increase in flow helped, it shouldn't make a tank suddenly cycle.
 
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