new tank is cycling fast!

[ShannyG]

I went from just a hint of ammonia readings last night to this this morning:

ammonia .25ppm
nitrite .25 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm

I added some water from my established tank to the new tank in the hopes it would aid in the cycling process. Could this be accelerating things? This seems like a big jump from very little going on 14 hours ago. I'm going to test again at the end of the day today and see how things are progressing.

Edited to add there is 10 lbs of fully cured live rock in a 25g tank. Water flow is about 500g/hr.

 

[W1ngz]

Water from an established tank doesn't really do much to affect the cycle a new tank. If anything, it messes up the tests and makes it hard to track the rise and fall of ammonia and nitrite in the tank you are trying to cycle. That's my guess for why you're setting nitrate. You'll want to test the established tank and make certain it's completely ammonia and nitrite free.

Where is the ammonia in the new tank coming from?

 

[ShannyG]

The established tank is zero across the board. I added maybe one liter of old tank water to the new tank. There's a cube of raw Mysis shrimp in the new tank.
Edited to add: My water is very 'alive'. It comes from a 500 foot deep well and isn't treated in any way. With my first tank I think I failed to add any kind of starter for at least a week and a half, just because I didn't know I needed to. That cycle took 3-4 weeks. I do remember there was a clear progression from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate though.
Of course this new tank has better everything. Better filtration, better water flow, even the live rock seems better (very open and coral-y looking, lots of water moving through it). It will be interesting to see what's cooking tonight.

 

[gone fishin]

The water from the other tank does not really do anything. The vast majority of the bacteria live on the surfaces of the tank.

I would speculate the 10lbs of LR has helped you out. What is the total amount of rock?

I would still stay the course though. You could always add some ammonia without surfacant to about 2ppm if it is all gone within 24 hours and nitrites are gone then you should be safe to do a WC and slowly add some CUC or a fish. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Clownfish Chris]

Gon Fishin has some great advice. I would be using established live rock out of your established system and put the new rock in the established tank. This will greatly reduce the cycle time.

I believe that all you did by using the water from the established system was to import nitrates.

 

[ShannyG]

Gon Fishin has some great advice. I would be using established live rock out of your established system and put the new rock in the established tank. This will greatly reduce the cycle time.

I believe that all you did by using the water from the established system was to import nitrates.

I would love to move my established live rock over, but my emerald crab lives in one and my goby in the other and they would never forgive me!

 

[NSimpkins]

As they say if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. I'd wait it out to be safe.

 

[ShannyG]

I took a few sand dollars and small bits of live rock out and moved them over to the new tank, as recommended. Thanks for the advice, I would not have thought of that.

 

[ShannyG]

Just tested again, about six hours after that first test.

Ammonia 0-.25 ppm
Nitrite 1 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm

I don't remember seeing the numbers change that quickly the last time I cycled a tank. I would go several days between testings and things wouldn't have changed much.