Cycle Done?

[Gagonzalez]

I had a quick question on cycling. I started with about 10lbs of Live Rock on 7/2 and added about another 20lbs of Live Rock on 7/10 all from my LFS. It is approx 45min away. I noticed that Diatoms started after the first batch of rock was added and lasted about 3 days and then it all dissappeared. Ammonia spiked to .25 the entire time. After the 2nd batch of rocks were added, the Ammonia has stayed at a steady .25 until yesterday 7/15. Now the Ammonia level reads 0??? Is the cycle done? If Ammonia stays at 0 for 5 days, is it ready for the CUC? Could it be because it was a quick trip from the LFS that it didn't take as long to cycle?

Thanks

 

[bluewater921]

no whats are your other tests coming out with .. between your rates and rites ?? amm will drop .. what size tank are your cycling too ??

 

[BigBarnacles]

Until your ammonia and nitrites hit 0.0 you're still cycling. My nitrites were off the chart a week after ammonia hit 0.0 and took another week and a half to hit 0.0. Keep an eye on both. My ammonia hit 0.0 early in the cycle then bounced back up to 0.25 for a few days. I was testing every other day and logging results just to be sure.

 

[mal7887]

Check your Nitrites and Nitrates. What are those readings?

 

[andrewarrington]

Usually when the ammonia levels remain at 0 I add the crew. They're pretty hardy and take a small respite pretty easily.

 

[Gagonzalez]

I will test again tonight and tomorrow and also test for Nitrates and Nitrites but last time I checked, they were both at 0. Had a small spike of the Nitrites up front but dropped to 0 a few days later and has stayed that way. I'll double check everything though just in case. Thanks

 

[mal7887]

Just remember Ammonia-> Nitrites-> Nitrates -> Water Change

 

[Gagonzalez]

Got it! Thanks

 

[Gagonzalez]

OK drum roll please.....................................And the final #'s are............

Temp = 79-81
Sal = 1.025
PH = 8.2-8.3
ALK = 7dkh
CA = 440
AMMONIA = 0
NITRITE = 0
NITRATE = 0
PHOS = 0

And this is with a piece of shrimp in the tank rotting away.:eek2:

Woohoo! Time to order my CUC! I AM EXCITED! Can u tell? :beer:

I am planning on mixing Kent Kalk mix with my water changes. Is this ok? No ATO yet but I do mix 3g of water overnight with a rio pump for water changes weekly. Would it be better to use something else?

What should I use to add Mag if I need it? I want Coralline to grow well in the tank.

By the way I use Reef Crystals for my salt FYI.

Thanks

 

[Toxic45]

Here's a nice graph that helps illustrate the traditional cycling process that uses uncured live rock. Once you see the nitrite levels go down as indicated you should be good to go. There may be mini-cycles like this after the initial 30 days but they shouldn't give you trouble.

 

[Michael]

good advice from everyone above, I will chip in and say though that if the rock was already cured and was kept damp from the store to your tank then the die off may be minimal and you may be done, if it dried at all and was not cured then your not done yet after 2 weeks, I think you may be though, the rock was cured?

 

[serion]

Have you never seen nitrates? I would think that you should be seeing some if your cycle was truly finished.