Cycling question

B

BryanCaruso

New member
Ok here is the deal started tank last Thursday night. Used RoDi water brand new spectrapure unit. I have about 80lbs of rock used to be live now is dead. I killed it. Vinegar and bleach baths separate of course. Rinsed in prime fresh then dried fully some in the sun when it was out otherwise a fan on it for a week. I used coral pro salt 1.026 86 degrees no livestock(just to help bacteria). 5lbs of rubble in the sump to seed the display and a bottle of smartstart. I have seen ammonia rise now and fall to zero. Nitrites are off the chart and has been for awhile now. My question is I just tested nitrates and they are about 20ppm maybe more which is expected but I thought the nitrites would go down as nitrates go up. I also have been ghost feeding flakes but yesterday first day with no ammonia and I will cut back to every 2 days a little ghost feeding. Brand new test yes I know API but for the basics I think it's ok. thoughts?
 
Oh the nitrates I followed the directions vigorously shave bottle 2 for 30 seconds add bottle one then two and shake for one minute. After looking again almost looks like 40ppm maybe?
 
I would stop feeding totally. Let the bacteria do their thing and not overload them with new stuff to convert. Just let it sit for a few days and test again.
 
The nitrite level probably is interfering with the nitrate test kit. That's very common. The nitrite level seems reasonable for a new tank. I'd probably just wait for now. I don't think that very light feeding will cause trouble, but it probably isn't need for a bit, either.
 
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