Cycling. High nitrate very soon

[nikolamk]

Hi my friends.

I started new reef.
In my reef I added dry fiji rock and dry sand.

My tank is ~160 liters capacity(60x55x55) with build in sump, Tunze 9004 skimmer, chinese led light on 185w, jebao wave maker, return pump(max 2000l/h)

I started cycling process on 24.02.2017 with adding small dead shrimp (2cm long).
On 26.02.2017 I have added one amp of prodibio biodigest bacteria.
On 28.02.2017 i have added part of other small dead shrimp(1cm)
On 02.03.2017 I measure nitrates and level was 10 ppm.
Yesterday (04.03.2017) nitrate level was ~20ppm.
Today level is around <50ppm. here is picture

I don't have ammonia test(i have but usage date is expired)

I'm confused about​ this high level of nitrates. Can someone explain to me what should i expected in future?
How my nitrate level shoud be if future? it shoud be much higher or it shoud decrease? should i made WC? Is there necessary to add some fish food in future , or add fish?

I didn't see any algae in my reef yet.

New ammonia test kit I will get in about 2-3 days

Thanks in advantage.

 

[mcgyvr]

Well.... The whole trick to monitoring your tanks cycling process is to measure ammonia, nitrites and nitrates..
When your ammonia tests and nitrite tests come in then see what you get there..
The tank is basically cycled once the ammonia and nitrite levels are zero..
At that point nitrate (in various levels) will be present..

Then you do water changes to get nitrate down to an acceptable level..
What that level is depends on whats going to be in the tank..
A fish only tank (and some soft corals) can easily tolerate nitrate levels of 50+ppm without issue (but algae may be an issue)..

If you want harder corals then you will want to get nitrates much lower.. 10ppm or less on average..

Some tanks process nitrate on their own without any tricks from you while others may need to incorporate carbon dosing, skimming, more water changes, macro algae export,etc... Adapt as needed..
Water changes alone are sufficient but the "tricks" can sometimes help to extend the time between water changes (but they aren't for nitrate reduction only either and can replace trace elements, remove excessive DOC's, etc...)

Starting from dry rock/dry sand one could easily expect a 4 week cycling process to get sufficient bacteria.. (or course adding bacteria in a bottle can/should improve that.. but there is no guarantees there)

 

[nikolamk]

Thanks for you reply.
Today I get my ammonia test kid. I just tested ammonia level and it is 0. Nitrates are around 25ppm.

Now I have added fish food and tomorrow I will see if my ammonia level is higer than 0.
I guess that I need to see ammonia higer than 0?Is ok if ammonia is still 0 but nitrayltes are around 25ppm?

Tomorrow is day 14 from cycling process.

Thanks

 

[LX20000]

Well... if the ammonia is converted quickly, it may be hard to see. But if you have crap loads of nitrates, then you must have converted a bunch of nitrites, which means a bunch of ammonia.
If there is any dead shrimp in the tank, I would pull it out. You have proven you can convert a ton of ammonia... and nitrites. I would not add food either. If you really have 50 ppm nitrates, you are done cycling and need to do water changes.

 

[nikolamk]

Part of second shrimp was gone 3-5 days after I added to my tank.
At this moment I haven't any shrimp in my tank.
I add fish food because I'm afraid that it is very early for finished cycling process. and I want to check if ammonia will be converted to nitrates quickly.
Today nitrate level is ~25 ppm
Untill today I didn't see any algae in my tank

Thanks

 

[thegrun]

If your tank has nitrites you will not get an accurate nitrate test result.

 

[JUNBUG361]

Agreed to above comments(grun,lx20000 & mcgyvr)

 

[LX20000]

On a side note... are you rocks tied together somehow? I hope so.... if not, that looks like quite the balancing act.

 

[nikolamk]

On a side note... are you rocks tied together somehow? I hope so.... if not, that looks like quite the balancing act.

yes, I use AquaScape to glue my rocks together

What do you think about Salifert ammonia test kit? Today my ammonia is 0 again.
My nitrates ~25

Thanks

 

[LX20000]

Can you use this for coral frags too? I guess you never get them off if you use this.