Cycled in 7 days? Is it possible?

[jag911]

I know it can't be possible, but what else would explain it?

Here's the synopsis:
46 gallon bow aquarium
192 watt current lunar light (satilite?2x98))
pro 75 wet/dry w/skimmer
2x100 watt heaters
600 powerhead with wave maker
60lbs caribsea argomaxx substrate

tank has been literally a box with water for about two weeks while i set things up and waited for parts/pieces. as of last monday (5/8) the last pieces came and the tank was completed. I started with SeaChem's stability per instructions that day. Two days later 46lbs of fiji LR arrives. I clean with Kent rock cleaner and add to the tank. Within a couple hours the skimmer pulls about 2 liters of gunk out of the tank. since that time it's pulled very little out.

temperature remains pretty steady between 77-79
salinity has remained 1.023
ph started at 7.8 but with seachem liquid buffer was raised to 8.2

testing daily (or twice daily) shows that ammonia levels peaked at around 1.0-1.5 ppm then dropped to 0. nitrite peaked at around 2.0ppm and then down to 0. nitrates hit a high of 80 ppm on friday, which was followed with a 25% water change. it is now down to 20 ppm.

the new LR still has a bit of a smell too it... as i would expect.

could it be that the tank had it's first cycle already? would this acceleration really be the use of the stability? is it a fluke due to the use of the stability? Help!

{and because i'm a fan... :strooper:}

 

[scottfarcuz]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

I wouldn't chance it. Let the tank mature on its own. Your livestock will be at much less risk by not rushing things now. Its still possible to have a secondary cycle from things that have not yet died.

If this is going to be a reef tank I would raise the SG to 1.025-1.026

I would also get a good (salifert/hach) test kits for cal/alk/mag and avoid using the buffer all toghter. If your alk is low it can cause low PH which you are raising both with the buffer, but by how much you don't know without the test kit. Other problems could be causing the low PH in which you will drive the alk way out of balance by adding buffer on a regular basis.

 

[jag911]

Thank you for the input...

for what it's worth, i plan to let the tank continue to sit in this mode for a full 3 weeks at a minimum, longer if a cycle is still in process. My daily tests are logged because i'm trying to understand in greater detail the cycle...

I do plan on having reef livestock eventually, but just FOWLR for now (until i get the hang of things, say 6-8 months min.). Should I go ahead and raise the SG now or wait until i start looking at invertabrites?

I should also add that the test kit i'm using is the standard Aquarium Pharm. 4 part test kit you see everywhere. I also purchased a Red Sea CA test kit that I used once (500ppm was the result) as well as some quick dip 5 part tests. The reason for the quick dips was I was having trouble getting the pH to rise and wanted a way to verify the validity of the Aqua Pharm test kit. This quick dip kit has a alk test which tested KH to 300ppm.

 

[scottfarcuz]

I assumed it was going to be a reef tank. For FOWLR a ph of 7.9 isn't going to cause any problems if it is fairly stable.

I would let the tank set several weeks to make sure you aren't going to have another ammonia spike. The only advantage to raising the SG would be slightly more effective skimming if you have a skimmer.

 

[fraggin]

i'd let it go for 3 months

 

[tkeracer619]

my display cycled almost instantly. Live rock and sand are your filters, some of the stuff dies off in transport. If you use enough live substrate and rock your 90% there. Still let it go for a bit and add fish slowly.

Since all of my stuff was purchased off of RC it was transported in buckets full of water. Had little die off, short cycle.

On the other end, my qt tank has been up for a month and still hasnt finished the cycle. It just all depends on what you start it with.

 

[burning2nd]

what was the status of your LR when you got it?, i have a 30gal, that was almost cycled right off after i put it together.
but my LR, had bin in a 250 gal reef tank that was astabelished, for well over 2 years, the water i also got out of his tank (change out water). new live sand, (water in the bag) gave me a little ammonia. but it has since droped down low,

im waiting on a refactormeter this week

 

[davidhughes85]

Yes mine cycled that fast i gradually started putting fish in the next week and I havent had a death yet