The Seed & The Cycle - Phase 3

 Here comes the tough part, waiting. Cycling takes time anytime from 3 weeks to 4 months. The nitrogen cycle needs to kickstart and be stable before I can introduce any lifeform into the tank. It is the foundation of the 'ecosystem' for the tank. In a way I'm trying to play God, creating a world for my little fishes. 

Bing advised me to dose a small measuring cup full of Special Blend and Nite-Out 2 everyday. He told me that I should expect a spike in nitrates since ammonia in the tank is being consumed, converted into nitrites and then nitrates. Best case scenario would be that my ammonia hit a good 0, nitrates spike to 25ppm, those would be a good foothold to start off. 

I did an ammonia and nitrates test using Salifert test kits 4 days (13/02) after I kickstarted the cycle. Wow, 0 ammonia and 5ppm of nitrates. That was surprisingly fast that it almost felt like cheating. I decided to wait another week before adding stuff in. Just to be safe. 

Recalling that there will be an 'ugly stage' of cycling where diatoms and other algae will bloom, I wanted to skip that. According to brstv they advised to add some pathogenic bacteria that specifically targets algae which I did on a Monday (15/02). I used Vibrant for this, it has been my companion in algae battling for years, works like a charm.

A week's past and I did my tests again. Oh no... Ammonia has a rough 0.5ppm while the nitrates were still at 5ppm. Something is wrong.

I sounded it off to Bing and he advised to double the dosage of Nite-Out 2 since those are the bacteria that deals with ammonia, and conduct tests every 3 days. I started as advised and after 3 days, the result was the same. 

I found it rather puzzling as it shouldn't be that case. If ammonia was present and I practically doubled the dosage, it should have a noticeable reduction. I decided to get a 2nd opinion and purchased a new Salifert ammonia testkit. Tested the water and same thing, 0.5ppm. I was sitting on my chair, defeated, wondering what's going on? That's when I realized, maybe it is the light source. Using the daylight from my window, test cup against the color chart, I viewed it with the light coming from the side and from behind me. 

A world of difference. The side test showed clear white which meant 0 ppm of ammonia. The back test showed 0.5ppm of ammonia, milky yellow tinge. I did some research and saw some fellow reefers mentioned that it should be viewed from the side. So yes! It's done, cycling completed. I didn't bother with nitrites testing as I believed it should be cycled together with the ammonia values, hadn't had an issue with it before in my previous setups. Usually the bacteria does the nitrite conversion fast so I don't bother investing a good $20 to get a test kit for it. 

It felt great. Especially when the wait to see a nice tank again was a long one. I can finally get ready to stock up my tank. But first, some minor prep work needs to be done...