125 Gallon Cycle

CindiL

On January 13, 2018 I finished setup of my 125 gallon freshwater tank running 2 SunSun 304B canisters, using pool sand substrate and natural rock. When I filled the tank I treated with Seachem Prime and 24 hours later did my recommended dose of Seachem Stability. My tap water readings are 1 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrites, 5 ppm Nitrates

January 14 - added the recommended dose of stability (6 capfuls)
January 15 - added the recommended dose of Stability (6 capfuls)
- added clear ammonia to bring my ammonia to 2 ppm
January 16 - API readings = 8.2 PH, 2 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, 5 ppm Nitrates

Link to google photos January 16 water test -

I plan to continue adding Stability but wonder if I should just dump a bunch in or follow Seachems recommendation on the bottle. At what point do I add more ammonia? I want to be sure not to stall the cycle. Also would like to know when you recommend to do a water change.

Thank you!

 

HI there.

So you will wait until your ammonia drops to 0 before dosing again.

You can add more than recommended of the Stability, but it doesn’t make it work any faster. You can’t overdose, but it does waste the product. Costing more money. Totally up to you though. I personally just followed the dosing instructions and it cycled my tank in 12 days. Although I did add it the entire time. Didn’t stop on day 7, like it says to do.

I haven’t seen CindI on the forums in quite some time. So not sure she will respond.

 

Thank you AllieSten

I am considering cycling each canister in a 5 gallon bucket instead of in a 125 tank. This would greatly reduce the amount of Stability needed to get me through this cycle. Thoughts?

 

It would definitely work. I’ve heard of other people doing the same thing. It makes sense.

 

Seems like a person could just build up the bacteria to process 4ppm ammonia and once there move them over to the big tank.

 

Tonight:

PH 8.1 ppm
Ammonia - .5 ppm
Nitrites - .25 ppm
Nitrates - 20 ppm

Will now watch for ammonia to drop to 0 and then dose back up to 2 ppm. Once Nitrites get to 2 ppm I will give it 24 hours and then dose ammonia back to 2 ppm with ammonia. Progressing as planned.

 

It is going well already. I would worry that since you are only using a 5 gallon bucket, dosing up to 4ppm would overwhelm the “tank”. It could be too toxic in that small amount of water. You could try going up to 3ppm to see if you could do at least that much, but you may not be successful and you may stall.

If your nitrites or nitrates get too high, it could stall, also. So I would do a large water change if the Nitrites get above 2ppm and/or the nitrates get above 80.

 

I decided against the 5 gallon cycle once I saw the readings from last night. This morning I woke up to 0 ppm ammonia and 0 ppm Nitrites. I then dosed the 125 gallon tank to 4 ppm. Below is a link to my test from 5 mins ago.

Ammonia - 4+ ppm
Nitrites - .25 ppm
Nitrates - 40-80 ppm (I don't see much of a difference on the color chart)

Do you recommend that I keep dosing ammonia until Nitrites don't show up in a test? I have just been dumping in ammonia with no measurement but would like to dose to 125 gallons. The part on this calculator () that I am unsure of is "% of ammonia in solution". What should that number be? All the bottle says is "Clear Ammonia". I am thinking that a water change is in order for tomorrow evening.

1/18/18 morning test -
1/18/18 evening test after dosing ammonia -

 

I would definitely do a large water change after you drop down to 0 again. It is up to you if you do a change before that or not. You will just have to redose your Ammonia.

You need to keep dosing ammonia until 24 hours before you add fish to the tank. So even after you are cycled, you need to feed your bacteria with Ammonia. The bacteria can only survive a day or two without food. Once you are converting 4ppm (which is your goal) straight to nitrates in 24 hours, with no Nitrites showing, you will be cycled. I would make sure that this happens for 3-4 days in a row, before you would be considered cycled.

What brand of Ammonia do you have? It should say on the back what the percentage is. Where the ingredients are listed. I believe the standard is 10%. So I would use that as the default if you can’t find the percentage.

 

The ammonia is Austins Clear Ammonia. I spoke with the company today and they said it is 2%. My water tests from this morning and this evening are below. I am doing a 60% change right now and will keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites over the next 2-3 days without adding more ammonia. Cycle is progressing nicely.

1/19/18 morning test -
1/19/18 - evening test -

 

You are making excellent progress. Just keep plugging along. You are doing great!

 

This mornings test after a 50% water change last night. Looks like I could probably do another water change today to help bring down those Nitrates?

1/20/18 morning test -

Did a 75% water change to bring the nitrates down...will test again in the morning.

Water change -

 

I had done a 50% water change yesterday. The first link below was from this morning. Just did a 75% water change after the below test. The 2nd link below shows that it brought Nitrates down to around 5ppm. My tap water has 1ppm ammonia so I am going to give it 24 hours to see if Ammonia and Nitrites get to 0 and see where nitrates are. I will check it tomorrow at lunch and if all is good I am placing an order for 10-20 fish.

1/21/18 - morning test after a 50% water change yesterday -

1/21/18 - after my 1pm 75% water change today -

 

Wow! That was really quick! Good job and congrats on being cycled!