How is my cycle going?

[mattruggiero]

Hey guys,

First time cycling a tank and I believe all is going well. Just wanted to get your opinion on how things are going. My nitrates have skyrocketed in the last day. Should I do a water change?

All the readings are all based on the eye test. So they are just my best guess.

In case you're wondering. I removed the shrimp because my wife was complaining about the smell.

 

[Goldenshark14]

Looks good so far buddy, seems pretty smooth to me. Now you need to leave your tank, with the heater and protein skimmer on and continue to test the water every day until the nitrate starts to drop. Keep waiting until it drops very low and then perform a partial water change. Now test the water to make sure nitrites, ammonia and nitrates are on 0, and the pH is 8.2-8.5.

 

[mattruggiero]

Looks good so far buddy, seems pretty smooth to me. Now you need to leave your tank, with the heater and protein skimmer on and continue to test the water every day until the nitrate starts to drop. Keep waiting until it drops very low and then perform a partial water change. Now test the water to make sure nitrites, ammonia and nitrates are on 0, and the pH is 8.2-8.5.

Oh.. I thought the only way to drop nitrates was to do water changes. They lower by themselves? Also, should I stop adding ammonia? Thanks for the response!

 

[scelona]

I would do some good sized water changes, nitrate of 120 is really high but not surprising because of how much ammonia you have added. What you are really looking for is zero ammonia and nitrites. If your tank is able to process newly added ammonia (up to 1ppm or so) into nitrite then nitrate in a day or two then your cycle is pretty much done.

I wouldn't add any more ammonia for a while except maybe to do one final test like I spoke about above. The nitrates will not drop on their own in your system, water changes are your best bet.

 

[mattruggiero]

I would do some good sized water changes, nitrate of 120 is really high but not surprising because of how much ammonia you have added. What you are really looking for is zero ammonia and nitrites. If your tank is able to process newly added ammonia (up to 1ppm or so) into nitrite then nitrate in a day or two then your cycle is pretty much done.

I wouldn't add any more ammonia for a while except maybe to do one final test like I spoke about above. The nitrates will not drop on their own in your system, water changes are your best bet.

I only added the ammonia because I thought I was supposed to keep it at a certain level (3.0-4.0) until the bacteria processed it to nitrates in a night... which you just said but at 1ppm not 3-4. I guess I read it wrong.

So don't add any ammonia? Will this not starve the bacteria?

Again, thanks for the info! I'm new to this.

 

[scelona]

It doesn't take much to keep the bacteria fed but if you are worried about it then I would do some light ghost feeding (put a small amount of fish food in the tank even though there aren't any fish). The nitrogen cycle turns ammonia into nitrate so your nitrates will keep rising if you keep adding the ammonia. This isn't an issue since your tank is empty but will mean more water changes. Glad to help, Im pretty new to the hobby as well but I have learned so much through this site. Do a lot of reading while your tank is cycling, it'll go a long way.