? about cycling

[braelynsNemo]

ok my tank was set up and running on 3/31 , i check my water every other day. well my test show that everything is still at zero except my ph and its at 8.4. when i was at my LFS they gave me some ammonia detox ... to take the chlorine and stuff out of my water. is it possible that it took the ammonia out and its keeping it from cycling? should i just wait and see what happens or is it not gonna cycle?

 

[got2envy]

do you have live rock in the tank? did u use natuaral sea water? salty tanks take about 3-4 weeks at least to cycle if ya start from scratch..if the live rock has any die off it will give u an ammonia spike..are u doing a fishless cycle or are u using fish? or a shrimp..u need something to start the ammonia and then your cycle will begin..def do not use ammonia neutralizer during this time..it will not let you get accurate readings

 

[salty420]

yes if you did not add ammonia your tank will not cycle. did you ever add pure ammonia or use a raw shrimp/prawn?

 

[Reefscape]

I would agree, you need to add an ammonia source to the tank to kick start the cycle...

 

[SchizotypalVamp]

Ammonia Detox doesn't dechlorinate usually?

 

[braelynsNemo]

ok the live rock i have has some die off on it , not much just some sponges and stuff. my ammonia was .25 last night when in i checked it. i do not have any fish in there . im gonna wait until at least june before i add anything. i was temped to put some frozen brine shrimp in there but i didn't . the ammonia detox says on the bottle it takes out chlorine and other stuff out of tap water. the guy at the pet store was like you can put fish in there if you do a 5% water change but i dont want to risk it. im gonna wait.

 

[Catpicklesdog]

To get a good cycle going, you need to get your ammonia up to about 4 that will enable it to handle a bioload without startting a new cycle each time you add a fish. Then let the nitrAtes and nitrItes build up and all readings to start falling. Once your ammonia and nitrItes are zero and your nitrAtes have been less than 10 (preferably zero) constantly for a week, then you can add fish. I used raw prawns to start my cycle but some use pure ammonia.

 

[Blossom112]

let your tapwater sit for 24 hours b4 putting in the tank ,i wouldnt put any conditioner in it untill you have cycled .thats what i did

 

[braelynsNemo]

if i used pure ammonia would it kill my live rock ? because i am allergic to shrimp so will use extra caution not to touch it with my hands or they will swell lol

 

[Reefscape]

Using pure ammonia will be fine, many have used this method with great effect....I even used not so long ago to test the cycle of my new reef...