Ammonia cycling a new tank.

[Reef Swimmer]

Is ammonia cycling a new tank something I should look into or is it something I should avoid.

[Mike]

That is the first part of the cycle. Hopefully you do not have any livestock.

Ammonia turns into nitrites which turns into nitrates. Cycle is then complete. You want to make sure you are not showing any ammonia or nitrites before slowly beginning to add live stock. HTH

[footballdude2k3]

Depends on what you are talking about, it is the first part of the nitrogen cycle of getting a tank ready, however you do not want to add pure ammonia to a tank. Something as simple as ghost feeding the tank will get the ammonia high enough to get everything started.

[Reef Swimmer]

No I got no live stock, just a piece of coral that was on some live rock I got. I think it's either a zoa or a paly. There are around 4 to 6 heads that I can see. I only have about 2 lbs of live rock in my tank at the moment and I will be getting a sicce 3.5 or a 4. I'm also trying to find a way to keep the flasher wrasse's in the tank once I get them since they are jumpers. I think 60 to 80 lbs of live rock should be enough. I'm wanting to go with mostly tonga. Once I got all my live rock ill be dosing 6 ml of ammonia every other day as I was instructed.

[footballdude2k3]

Dosing the ammonia is as antiquated of a method as putting a damsel in the tank and hoping it doesn't die while everything cycles. How big is the tank? There is really no reason to put straight ammonia in, ghost feed the tank, when the food breaks down it turns into ammonia.

[ducati996]

Dosing the ammonia is as antiquated of a method as putting a damsel in the tank and hoping it doesn't die while everything cycles. How big is the tank? There is really no reason to put straight ammonia in, ghost feed the tank, when the food breaks down it turns into ammonia.+1

[allan]

Once I got all my live rock ill be dosing 6 ml of ammonia every other day as I was instructed.

Who instructed you to do that?

Cycling a tank is like a balancing act, sure you could dose something, and then when the bacteria grows to consume the ammonia they will in turn produce nitrites, which will be taken care of by your bacteria that produces nitrates.

But then you stop dosing ammonia, and the bacterial circle of life falters and you're left with an out of wack filtration. Or, you add precisely the right amount of livestock that will produce close to the 6ml of ammonia you had been dosing... Any idea how you calculate that? Not to mention that livestock will need to be fed, which means you have to calculate the expected breakdown of unbeaten food...

Let your tank cycle with a little food to ghost feed your tank. Once you start showing nitrates, you can add fish or what ever slowly.

The reason we don't put a bucket load of fish into a new tank is because the filtration isn't equipped to handle it, so you bump it up slowly. The bacterial response to each addition takes time.

Bottom line, dosing ammonia, IMO, isn't a good idea.


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[ramsey]

Dosing the ammonia is as antiquated of a method as putting a damsel in the tank and hoping it doesn't die while everything cycles. How big is the tank? There is really no reason to put straight ammonia in, ghost feed the tank, when the food breaks down it turns into ammonia.

Why do you say that? If you're starting with dry rock, I'd rather do this than use fish food. Dosing ammonia I can control how much of a cycle I have. I've done both, both give you the same end result, dosing ammonia just seems more precise. You do have to use the right ammonia (pure ammonia) which can be hard to find.

[ramsey]

But then you stop dosing ammonia, and the bacterial circle of life falters and you're left with an out of wack filtration.

Out of whack how? Sure, some bacteria may die off, but you still have the nitrifying bacteria you need in the tank. Also, what about cycling with live rock? That's how a lot of people still cycle their tank and it's FAR less precise than ammonia or fish food but it's also tried and true. Also, how much food should you put in?

[allan]

I agree, just how much should you put in?

I've never had to add anything to cycle a tank as its going to happen and a lesson in patience is one that will pay dividends later on.

And as you mentioned, there will be die off, and that's where you get a strong cycle with live rock that doesn't weather the transport or new tank well. If the rock and sand is sterile on the front end, any addition to the tank will get the process started. In fact if caution and patience is practiced you can start much earlier, adding that cuc or small fish. If there is nothing to die off, you won't get a cycle. It starts and filtration grows with the slow addition of livestock.




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[ramsey]

I do agree though, if you're using LR, you really don't need to dose ammonia. Either the LR is going to give you the ammonia you need to start the cycle, or the LR is going to be cured already and it'll likely have enough bacteria on it so you won't have much of a cycle. If you wanted to, you could dose just a small amount and see if it results in an ammonia reading or a nitrate reading. Like everyone else has said, you can also use fish food to do this.

[ramsey]

I agree, just how much should you put in?

I've never had to add anything to cycle a tank as its going to happen and a lesson in patience is one that will pay dividends later on.

And as you mentioned, there will be die off, and that's where you get a strong cycle with live rock that doesn't weather the transport or new tank well. If the rock and sand is sterile on the front end, any addition to the tank will get the process started. In fact if caution and patience is practiced you can start much earlier, adding that cuc or small fish. If there is nothing to die off, you won't get a cycle. It starts and filtration grows with the slow addition of livestock.

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I have some drops and it says on the label. I added what was on the label and got the 2 PPM of ammonia I was looking for.

I think all the methods work, and you're absolutely right about patience. In this hobby you're either going to have patience, learn patience or fail miserably. For me, being forced to be patient is something I like about this hobby. I felt like its made me a more patient person overall.

Back to ammonia dosing, I was just curious why everyone was hating on it. I guess for someone new, the fish food method is better if you need to cycle the tank. It's be a lot harder to mess up. However, if you need help, I'm an expert. I was testing an auto fish feeder the other night and dropped about 200 pellets in my 38g tank. Needless to say, I put a paper plate under the feeder for further testing. Nothing like siphoning out pellets and doing a water change at 2AM. :)

[allan]

Not hating, and I agree there are several paths to the end game.

There are quite a few folks on here that could set up a tank on Monday and start stocking by the weekend. But that isn't something I'd recommend for a new dude. That's all.

In fact, didn't he say he had a few pounds of rock, and that he would get another 40-50 lbs?

If so, now it's just a waiting game till he gets the rest of the rock. If its sterile, no prob, if its not...




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[ramsey]

Not hating, and I agree there are several paths to the end game.

There are quite a few folks on here that could set up a tank on Monday and start stocking by the weekend. But that isn't something I'd recommend for a new dude. That's all.

In fact, didn't he say he had a few pounds of rock, and that he would get another 40-50 lbs?

If so, now it's just a waiting game till he gets the rest of the rock. If its sterile, no prob, if its not...




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I see. Yeah, it's certainly one of the more advanced techniques for cycling. My first cycle ever was from LR. I think a newb should have to do that at least the first time as a right of passage! I remember staring into my tank everyday for weeks waiting for signs of life. Also, there's nothing like the rotten egg smell from new uncured LR in you're tank.

If you're still waiting on more LR, I wouldn't worry about trying to cycle your tank yet. With your water volume, I think any coral hitch hikers would be fine because a few lbs in a 90g is not going to spike ammonia (assuming the rock is uncured).

[Reef Swimmer]

The live rock is cured and of the 6 pieces I got 3 have coraline on them.

[KING]

Or just put fish in now an fast...

[Reef Swimmer]

No fish till I got 60 to 70 lbs of Tonga in my tank.

[footballdude2k3]

Since you're seeding it with cured rock, you really don't need ammonia

[Reef Swimmer]

I'm going to dose ammonia to my tank as well as add fritz 9. Once I get all my live rock.