Jimbo’s CDA 250

[Jimbo327]

Yup. Took awhile to get the salinity up. I have a new problem. My refractometer says 42 ppt. But my APEX salinity probe says 33.5 ppt. I don't have a way to calibrate either...so I'm not sure which one is right. I might have to bring my refractometer to the LFS, and confirm tomorrow.

I'm going to try the fishless ammonia cycle using Dr. Tim's Ammonia Chloride solution to get the ammonia up. The plan is to add a couple different brands of bacteria like BIO-Spira, MB StartXLM, PNS, etc.

Any local reefers (near Orange) can scrape off some coralline algae for me to seed my tank? I will dip and sprinkle into my tank to get it going.

 

[Jimbo327]

Fishless Cycle Start Day 0:

I turned off all of the pumps, skimmer and filter.

I had an expired bottle of Microbacter StartXLM and PNS Probio bottle (from 1 year ago when I thought I'll be getting the tank wet easily), so I poured those into the tank. The PNS stinks, so maybe it is already bad. Then I poured in a bottle of Instant Ocean BioSpira. Waited for about 30 minutes for the bacteria to settle. Then I took a stick and stirred the sand, I figured this might help mix some of the bacteria into the sandbed.

Then I added 2oz of the Dr. Tim's Ammonia Chloride solution, and I figured this will get me to about 2-3 ppm of ammonia in the tank.

Hopefully, adding the MB and PNS doesn't screw up the cycle. That's the fun part about this hobby, always try something new and fun, but at least we learn something. Going to bed. I better not wake up to a tank of bacteria snot.

 

[Jimbo327]

Tested for ammonia this morning, it’s 0.25 ppm or less. Nitrite is 1-2 ppm. This is unexpected. So the takeaway is probably don’t add too many types of bacteria to start the cycle.

So I’ll add some more ammonia tonight, and see what happens.

 

[Jimbo327]

Added another 2 oz of the ammonia chloride, and tested with Salifert. I think it is close to 1.5 ppm ammonia.

Picture to show the test color and I’m interpreting it right.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Added another 2 oz of the ammonia chloride, and tested with Salifert. I think it is close to 1.5 ppm ammonia.

Picture to show the test color and I’m interpreting it right.

View attachment 111464

it helps set the test tube vertical with the color chart underneath then view downward through the tube. Also check the purity of the ammonia. most ammonias sold are only 8-10% pure (though I have never used Dr. Tims since industrial ammonia is like $4 a gallon). This should be taken into account when dosing the ammonia. The last batch of ammonia I purchased was 10% and taking that into account the proper amount to get my 20g tank to 2.0ppm was 40ml(1.35oz.) maybe my math is alittle off I cant remember the exact numbers but in the end having over 2.0 will only push the bacteria colony growth harder. I do a 100% water change afterwards anyways to eliminate the elevated nitrates before adding critters. This helps to eliminate algea before ut becomes an issue.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Yup. Took awhile to get the salinity up. I have a new problem. My refractometer says 42 ppt. But my APEX salinity probe says 33.5 ppt. I don't have a way to calibrate either...so I'm not sure which one is right. I might have to bring my refractometer to the LFS, and confirm tomorrow.

I'm going to try the fishless ammonia cycle using Dr. Tim's Ammonia Chloride solution to get the ammonia up. The plan is to add a couple different brands of bacteria like BIO-Spira, MB StartXLM, PNS, etc.

Any local reefers (near Orange) can scrape off some coralline algae for me to seed my tank? I will dip and sprinkle into my tank to get it going.

All you need to do to calibrate the refractometer is test distilled or di water and turn the adjustment screw until the sample reads 0 bingo its calibrated. Refractometers are temp sensitive too. So make sure you are testing in the correct temperature range. Usually the temp is listed on the scale. My sister is a marine biologist and tells me that refractometers are rarely used in the lab for this reason. The prefered means for accuracy is still the float hydrometer I dont use any electronic monitors but if I were to verify the accuracy of one I think this woud be my prefered method.

As far as coraline goes I had luck using the coraline in the bottle. I was skeptical at first but it did seem to work in my 50g display. I also bought some hermits with some very crusty shells from the LFS they drag that stuff everywere. I used both the pink and purple bottles and have coraline now growing everywhere.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo327]

Good to know about using distilled water to calibrate the refractometer, as I have some around in the garage. I actually found a Hanna tester in my pile of stuff, and my salinity is around 34ppt.

Day 2 Fishless Cycle:

Ammonia: 1.5ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

I was surprised to see Nitrates already, but I must have added too much bacteria on the 1st day. I'm going to keep my filter, lights, and skimmer off.

I looked at Dr. Tim's ammonia chloride solution, and the concentration is 4%.

Interesting about the coralline algae in a bottle. Will definitely look into that.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

the coraline in the bottle has like 7-8 strains per bottle some do better than others in different enviroments and they also say that they have nitrifying bactieria as well.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo327]

Let me see if my LFS carries these bottles. I don't think they carry this brand.

Day 3 Fishless Cycle:

Ammonia: 0.5 ppm
Nitrite: 2 ppm
Nitrate: 6.2 ppm

 

[DanK.Reefer]

They usually don't carry them because they contain live spores that are only viable for 10-12 days. When you order from Amazon or BRS they are drop shipped directly from the distributor who ships them within 24 hours of bottling. I was skeptical when they showed up because they look like bottle of straight salt water. After about 2 months though the coraline started to grow like crazy.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Smite]

Looking great Jimbo!

I really like my Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer. Ali at Amazing Aquariums & Reefs recommended it to me and it takes the guess work out of calibrating. Lines up well with my ATI ICP also.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/high-precision-hydrometer-tropic-marin.html

Pair it up with a cheap 500ml graduated cylinder from amazon. Fill to 420-450 and float the hydrometer. My tank is around 77-78 in the morning so it works out really well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Measuring-Cy...-8-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

Anyway, something to consider if you run into issues with your refractometer in the future.

I've done several tanks fishless with ammonia, it works great. Just don't OD or it can stall up your cycle. Fritz Turbo Start is a little pricey but has done the basic cycle on tanks for me really fast compared to Tims and a few others I've tried.

 

[Jimbo327]

Haha, I’m not sure what is going on with my cycle. I’ve heard good things about Fritz, maybe next time. I might have OD on the bottled bacteria. I’m just riding it out and going with it. I can definitely see filmy bacteria building up in my skimmer section of the sump. I had to turn on the skimmer to break up some of that bacteria.

 

[Jimbo327]

Day 4 Fishless Cycle:

Ammonia: 0.5 ppm (salifert)
Nitrite: 0.5 ppm (salifert)
Nitrate: 9.1 ppm (hanna)

I added another 2 oz of ammonia chloride into the tank.

 

[Jimbo327]

Day 5 cycle:

Ammonia: 1.5ppm
Nitrite: 0.4 ppm
Nitrate: Didn’t test

I really hate these color test results. In certain light, it looks like 1 color, in another light…it’s another.

This is the same ammonia sample under 2 different lights. First is with natural light near a window. Second is under LED in my kitchen.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

set the tube on the paper straight up and down then look through the top of the liquid that way the light saturation wont have as much effect and the color saturation should be fairly identical between the sample and the scale.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[DanK.Reefer]

like this. I used a quick PH test just for example

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Jimbo327]

Salifert test kits are a bit different. On the ammonia, they said to look from side of the sample, not top down. For the Nitrite, if I look from the side of the sample, I actually have to divide the value by 10. Confusing as heck.

 

[bakbay]

Salifert test kits are a bit different. On the ammonia, they said to look from side of the sample, not top down. For the Nitrite, if I look from the side of the sample, I actually have to divide the value by 10. Confusing as heck.

I’ve used to do this but honestly I’ve just been “playing by ear” to cycle the tank: dump a bottle of bacteria (Fritz), wait a week, test for nitrate and boom - done!

 

[Jimbo327]

Yes, I'm starting to feel the same way and play it by ear (or eyes in this case). I'm just going to go by the color of my rocks. When I first started...all of the rocks were bleach bright white. Now, some of the rocks are light tan. Only a few big plate rocks are still quite white, so I'm going to just wait for all of my rocks to turn into this light tan color.

I'm not really in a hurry either.

I got to knock out a few of the "honey-do" list, so need to head on over to HD and Harbor Freight to pick up some wood and tools to do the job. That should keep me busy for a bit.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Salifert test kits are a bit different. On the ammonia, they said to look from side of the sample, not top down. For the Nitrite, if I look from the side of the sample, I actually have to divide the value by 10. Confusing as heck.

All of these color charts and chemistry experiments, and then how your eye, my eye, his eye interperets the color....This is why I am switching to the Hanna colorimeters. I have been using the copper one for fish quarantine and have just recently purchased the phosphate and magnesium testers. They are expensive but they are precise. No more head scratch just precise numbers.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk