Tank Cycle Numbers

The snip tool is the best way I know of. In Excel you may want to use the slider in the bottom right corner to increase the size of the table before you snip it though.

Are those Mag numbers accurate? I'm not sure what could possibly have used up 1040 Mag in one day or how a 1% water change could have added 2040 Mag back into the system. That part seams a bit strange to me. The rest looks to be in line for 3 days in. Krazie

Do you have your lights for the tank on and setup? Mag is generally only affected by organisms (read that corals or coraline) using it up. I really doubt that there is anything in there using it up in thst amount yet. Did you mix the salt water and then pour it into the tank or fill with RO/DI and then add salt to the sump? Mixing in the tank will cause some weird numbers and may cause your salinity to creep up for the next few days. Krazie

Sounds to me like I might start pointing the finger at the test kit or the operator. The Red Sea mag kit works good for me but you do have to be very precise with it. I generally do that test first before my patience for counting drops and swirling has already reached it's limit. lol Krazie

Keep taking your time with the Mag test. Remember that an exact number at this stage is not as important as being able to repeat a pattern. Your Mag is well within range so I wouldn't worry about it yet.

Keep feeding something to the tank until you see that the Ammonia level is able to stay at zero even with a bio load (uneaten food). Keep in mind that fish food generally has Nitrates in it already so if the food is not consumed you will get a double dose of nitrates. I'm guessing that might be why you have added the macro already? Are you going to add phosphates to your testing as well?

BTW, what spreadsheet are you using to track this? Do you mind sharing it? Krazie

I'm not sure I would blend the shrimp. I just put it in a mesh bag and put it in the tank. That way I can remove the nasty part later.

No water changes, carbon or skimming until the cycle settles. Once your ammonia stays zero, even with a bio load, then you can start adding filtration. Remember that we are trying to get the system to be able to handle a load without the toxic chemicals (ammonia and Nitrite) getting high enough to harm our fish or corals. So the more load we put on the system (within reason) up front the more robust the setup later on. Also keep in mind that once you cycle it you don't want to leave it with no load as the bacteria that you just worked to build up will die back if there is no food for them.

You probably already know this but I thought I'd add it just in case.

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look at the spreadsheet.

Phosphate tests later or are you not going to test for them? Krazie

Just that the water change is not only going to remove Nitrates, it's going to lower your Ammonia and Nitrite levels as well. So the bacteria will be in their growth and expanding mode and then you take away a portion of their food. This MAY reduce the peak number of bacteria in the system generated by the cycle. I prefer your idea of macro to reduce the level during the cycle and then a large water change after the cycle is complete and just before the algae phase starts to restrict it's growth. That's just what has worked well for me. You already know there are a thousand different ways to cycle a tank. Krazie

Im thrown off by some of your test numbers, if your chart says 0.2ppm of ammonia your going to want to bump that up to 2 or 3ppm (not a % of a ppm) to get started on your cycle. I personally would not be testing alk, calcium, mag, nitrates 4 days in unless you are just wanting experience with testing. Do not blend up a shrimp, go with crazys recommendation.

Edited by Bryce - December 23 2014 at 9:17am

Well nitrates of 10 are no concern at all, in fact at the end of my cycle they were so high the test was beyond what test chart could measure but that was 3 to 4 weeks in. You need to get to where the tank can get ammonia of 2 to 3ppm along with nitrites down to zero in 24 hours, then worry about the nitrates.