Cycling with established live rock

[Jollyg97]

Hey guys i have a 20 gallon tall with 35 pounds of fiji live rock that was previously cycling in a tank for 4 months until I brought it in mine. The transport was in heated water (78f) and only for 20 minutes. The rock has been in my tank for about 4 days and the ammonia went from .50 to .25 no nitrite and about 15ppm nitrate. Would you guys say this tank is safe enough for a CUC by Friday? :fish1:

 

[thegrun]

If you still have any ammonia the tank is not cycled, however if you used an API test kit for ammonia it is likely a false positive, the API ammonia test kit is notorious for showing 0.25 when no ammonia is present. If in doubt have your local fish store test the water for you. If the ammonia is in fact zero then yes you can add your CUC, if not wait for it to drop to zero.

 

[Jollyg97]

Okay and if it does show up how long is the drop typically after the spike. Its already started to go down

 

[thegrun]

It usually drops quickly once it starts, a couple of days.