Where I am now with my saltwater cycle. Four weeks + 2 days

[oro50]

So

I did not add anymore pure ammonia to my tank as suggested.

I did get the RO/DI unit.

I am letting the fish food I added in last night, just sit in my tank, and be eaten up by bacteria.

Tests I did tonight.

Ammonia level, maybe light green, very light green/yellow, so close to 0 now ammonia, after 24 hours of doing last test.
I did a nitrite test, either 2ppm or 5ppm.

Nitrate test: This is comparing the one done approximately 24 hours or so earlier, last night's test looked to be about 80ppm,

Tonight's test seems to be 40ppm

 

[oro50]

So my main question right now is.

Should I just cycle the tank for a few more days. Now don't add any more pure ammonia, and just watch the fish food I already added last night seemingly get dissolved?
Then I should at this point in a another day or two get a reading of 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite?

As for any new nitrate buildup, I can just take care of that I think at this point with one more last water change, this time with almost or entirely filled up with new RO/DI water?

Then just get a fish and watch how this new guy adapts to my new cycled tank?

By this saturday it will be five weeks since I started the cycling process.

 

[oro50]

Yeah I got a RO/DI unit that that can make 90 gallons of RO/DI water a day too.

 

[oh207]

Looks like you are off to a good start. And I say this by recognizing your patience in allowing time for the cycle to complete and also testing to ensure it is complete. Patience and testing are two very important steps in reef-keeping.

Since you've been dosing pure ammonia plus ghost feeding, I think your cycle should be complete by now and you should definitely add a clean-up-crew if you haven't already. A variety of snails will do the job. You should also be able to add a small fish or two. Just be sure to take your time with stocking. You need to allow enough time for the biological filtration (bacteria) to catch up with the newly added load before you can add any additional livestock.

Good luck and create a tank thread and post some pictures if you haven't already done so.

BTW, here is a good chart on the cycle process that I just found.

 

[oro50]

Yeah, almost forgot about the cleanup crew. Though i think i will do a 80% water change with ro di water or maybe 90% water change before i put my new fish in? This shouldnt effect the biological filter because the bacteria are in the rocks and live argonite sand i have?
I was concerned i killed my bacteria when i had a overload of ammonia but that was already a week or so ago. Anyway, for bacteria that use ammonia for a energy source, i dont know how too much could kill it anyway?

 

[oro50]

So
I did another ammonia test tonight. 4 weeks 3 days now. I did not add anymore pure ammonia. I'm currently watching the fish food I added three days or so ago now, get eaten by bacteria?
Ammonia level was yellowish/green. I think just around .25 ammonia
Nitrite test might have been around 2pmm, but I realized too late I put a little less water from the aquarium I was suppose to, so maybe there is less in there now?
I'm wondering now since it is now 4 weeks and 3 days, with just two water changes so far, the latest which was done last sunday I think or last saturday?
Well I'm wondering, by the end of the week which will make it close to five weeks now, will this tank be ready for a fish?

I expect the nitrite level to decrease over the next few days? Even if it isn't before I put in a fish, I plan on doing one last major water change?

Maybe remove 80% of the water? Then replace it with RO/DI water?

I think then that should be enough at this point, for me to feel safe for the time being to add one fish into the tank at this point, say a day after this?

I'm wondering, because even when you do water changes and reduce the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, the same level of bacteria you've been growing over say several weeks now, is still in the sand and the rocks?
What I'm asking is, when you do a water change, it's not like bacteria is removed from the water, just the different nitrogen types that they produce are mostly or completely removed at the moment?

Right I will get a clean up crew too, when I get the fish.

 

[Jlavine]

Where are your nitrates and phosphates?

 

[fredro]

What kind of salt are you using and what are you keeping the salinity at?

 

[oro50]

I am using instant ocean. Last time i checked, salinity was 1.023

 

[oro50]

Yeah i didnt test nitrates today. Though yesterday they were about 40ppm i think, down from 80 i think the day before.

 

[oro50]

The salinity reading is from a few days ago. This aquarium is just meant for one fish right now though. Corals will be added later.

 

[oro50]

I just did another ammonia test. 2am this morning I added a little bit more of pure ammonia. Just a little bit.
As of 2:18pm today Wednesday, I tested the ammonia level. I didn't get yellow per/se. It was a shade of green but I believe no higher than .25

Thus since I added a bit of pure ammonia, plus the continuing to be dissolved fish food, I'm just going to leave the tank alone, but I expect the nitrite level to rise.

With this said, as of today that means that my tank has undergone through the cycling process for 4 weeks and half.

Furthermore, my tank has already undergone during this time two water changes. The latest was last saturday or friday, where I removed 80% or so of the water.

My main question now is, how much longer should I actually wait before adding a fish.
Somehow I believe that my biological filtration is well developed enough now to support at least one fish?

I won't add anymore pure ammonia, or any fish food, (at least until I see complete yellow again)

yet with this said, I'm wondering if I do one more major water change, around say 80 or 85% of the water in it, and replace that lost content with complete RO/DI water, this should be good enough now to place a fish in?

What I'm wondering is by removing the water now, am I disturbing the cycling process that still might be underway a little bit, or at this point, it's been so much time, my tank should be cycled at this point?

I'm also wondering since by removing so much water, any built up nitrates at least for the time being should be wiped away, and new RO/DI water should at this point be pure enough combined with what I believe is a established biological filter to handle any access ammonia that now comes from a living fish?

I have had 10 pounds of live rock in my 20 gallon for this entire time, 4.5 weeks, plus now 15 pounds of live rock for say close to 1.5 or 2 weeks.

 

[oro50]

this is how my ro di unit looks like to help you decide what faucet adapter i need

I provided some pictures of my spectrapure 90 gallon ro di unit.

 

[SI REEF]

I would not do such a drastic water change. There is also bacteria in the water that you are removing. wait until your nitrate level comes up before your water change.

 

[lrasser]

DO NOT add anymore ammonia. Let the tank level out for now. If your cycle is complete you should see the ammonia and nitrite zero out within 24hrs. There is no need to continue to add anything. The more ammonia you keep adding the higher your nitrate will get. Until your sand/rock becomes more "alive" you don't have a process for removing nitrate except for manualy (water changes) Once your more established (app 3-4 months) this will occur on it's own. STOP! you've completed where you should be and once you see both amm and Nit go to zero do a 50% water change since you didn't use RODI to start with. SLOWLY add fish about 1 every 2-3 weeks to allow the bioload to catch up. If you add too fast you will crash the system and cause a ammonia spike then death to all. fish can handle Nitrate about 40 and under. inverts i would keep it under 10. Zero preferefed. This is usually why you head some fish, coral, inverts are recommended no sooner then 6 months. By then your live rock should be most of your filter and your levels stay more constant. At this stage a QT would be highly recommended.

Also start with weekly 10% water changes. If you don't remove the rest of the non RODI water you will get nasty algae blooms.

 

[oro50]

A QT?

Yeah I also read up on the things (called inverts?) that represent a clean up crew. They do some nice things, but I also read up that they can also cause other issues in the tank.

Yeah my last test as of yesterday for nitrates was

Color Blood Red, so approximately 160 ppm. This was yesterday morning.

Ammonia was barely existent. Greenish/yellow .025

Nitrites was about 2ppm to 5ppm.

These test results were from 9:30 am YESTERDAY.

Meaning, though I haven't tested the water again since then. It has already been more than 24 hours since it is 12:30pm today.

I didn't add anything else to the tank.

I will just leave it be.

I plan on getting the faucet adapter today.

 

[oro50]

One last question about my RO/DI unit.

SO I believe I installed the tubing correctly.

The instructions say though

Attach the black tubing and elbows to the membrane housing caps? This already seems like it was done?

2. After I get this faucet adapter and attach the garden hose adapter to my cold water source, I'm suppose to remove the DI filter cartridge from the right hand filter housing?

I'm suppose to use that tennis racket looking device to do this?

Then I'm suppose to reconnect the housing to it's threaded cap?

Why should I do this, if it looks like it is already been fully placed in?


Then after I'm suppose to let both the waste tubing and blue purified water tubing run water down the drain for a hour?

Isn't this just wasting blue purified water?

Then after I do this for an hour

Ok wait I think I get it, then I reinstall the DI cartridge into the DI housing?

Oh is this to like test the two main filters first?

When it says open the cold water supply valve, what is this referring to?

The pressure on the pressure gauge is never suppose to exceed 80 psi?

Finally

It's ok upon startup for air to be trapped in the DI cartridge (housing may not appear full) This as the book states is a normal condition?

When I set the meter to out, and run the system, I'm suppose to wait until the meter reads zero? This is the total dissolved solids meter?

When it says I can set the meter to read either probe at any time, what does this probe mean?

Then it says close the cold water supply valve? They mean the faucet?

 

[oro50]

Lastly as SI REEF says, when I do a water change, I am removing some of the bacteria I helped grow?

So maybe I shouldn't drastically remove most of the water I currently have (which some has already evaporated btw), to keep the bacteria, and just replace maybe 45% of the water with new RO/DI water, when I have successfully made it?

 

[oro50]

Yet with that said, I was going to do one last big water change, to also reduce the nitrates in my water which as of YESTERDAY MORNING 9:30am approximately within the range of 160 ppm

 

[ReefWreak]

You will waste water when setting up an RO/DI unit. You want to flush any manufacturing residue or dust in the carbon/charcoal filters down the drain and not into your tank (even though it's not really a problem in your tank).

Yes, you will lose some bacteria when you do a waterchange. But your rocks are FILLED with bacteria (probably most of it is in the rocks) and since they'll remain wet (don't leave them out for 3 days in the sun to airdry, or that will finally kill most of the bacteria). Your tank will be fine with some exposure to air.

Do as big a water change as you can. Also, you mentioned RO/DI water, but I just want to confirm that you mean RO/DI water WITH SALT. Just double-checking!

And yea, 190ppm nitrates is off the chart, Get that crap out of there. As much as possible. I would be fine with you doing a 90% or 100% water change (so long as you're absolutely sure that your new water is up to spec, correct salinity, good pH, good other stats). You'll have plenty of bacteria left, and you'll still be getting nitrates after that as well from whatever ammonia, nitrite, food, etc are left in the sand and rocks.