Nitrates at 12 Days

[mattyg18]

Hello All...

I'm at day 12 of cycling a 60 Gallon Cube with Sump. 50 lbs of dry rock which I cured and 5 lbs of live rock. 25 lbs live sand (bagged). Day 1 I added pure ammonia to start the cycle along with a bottle of Biospira. Ammonia came down pretty quick and my nitrites went sky high. Nitrites started to come down 2 days ago (Day 10) and today (Day 12) they are at zero. I tested Nitrates today and they are at around 30. Water is crystal clear and just a little bit of brown stuff on the one piece LR (from LFS) and a few pieces dry rock scattered around the tank which i'm assuming are seeding from the LR. Also tested PH and its at 8. Water temp is at 80 and salt is at 1.019. No lights so far.

Is it possible for this to be happening so fast? From what i've read it usually takes about a month or longer to get to this point. And if the Nitrites are at zero (which they are) am I supposed to do a large water change at this point?

Just not sure what to do at this point. I figured it would be a few more weeks before I got this far.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dowjones1221]

I would def wait at least a few more weeks, especially when using dry rock. Pretty much all start up tanks will experience an algae bloom within the first couple months and IME the longer you cycle the easier that algae will be to manage. Not saying cycle the tank for 6 months just more than 12 days. You will constantly see ppl saying that patience is the number 1 key in this hobby and they are absolutely correct! Good luck and post lots of pictures!

 

[mattyg18]

Thanks dowjones...Do you think I should do a water change now? or hold off a bit?

 

[Xxero]

The Bio Spira is why things cycled so fast.

You could go ahead and do a water change if you like. Certainly wouldn't do any harm.

1.019 Specific Gravity is pretty low. You might begin to raise the salt level now while there are no tank inhabitants.

GL! :bigeyes:

 

[mattyg18]

Xxero - so do you think i'm all cycled then? or should I wait a few more weeks. How much water should I change? Maybe half? Also what should the Spec Gravity be? The guy at the LFS said 1.019 for cycling. Thanks again!

 

[JoeBatt]

I would run it at what you intend to run it at. If your going to buy livestock from the same LFS set it at what they have then less shock to new inhabitants. I run mine at 1.025

If I were you I would give it another few weeks. Do a 20% water change and you could add maybe one damsel or the like now its getting there and that will also encourage the rest of the cycle.

 

[Xxero]

The question, "Am I all cycled then?" is a tricky one because of the Bio Spira.

I set-up a 20g a few weeks back. I used cured Live Rock from my LFS, bagged Live sand, and a bottle of Bio Spira. The tank was basically ready for inhabitants from day one. The Bio Spira gobbles up the Ammonia and converts it over to Nitrite then quickly to Nitrates. By day 6, I put in a juvenile Platinum Percula clownfish, 10 Nassarius snails, 1 Astraea snail, and 2 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs. Everything is alive and well.

If I were you, I would dose a little ammonia again and see if it zeros out within 24 hours. If so, I would do a 50% water change and maybe give things another week to stabilize. If everything seems right, you might slowly add a CUC, but I would suggest getting your Nitrates as close to zero as you possibly can.

1.019 SG for cycling would be fine, but most home aquarists keep their SG at 1.025-1.026. LFS's tend to keep their fish only tanks at lower salinities, which is fine, but mixed reefs are best kept around 1.026.

Hope this helps! :bigeyes:

 

[homer1475]

The best way to tell if your tank is cycled, is to stress test it.

Dump in ammonia to reach 2 or 3 PPM and see if the ammonia and nitrites clear in 24 hours(reach 0). If they do your all cycled and you can slowly(and I stress slowly) start adding your CUC and livestock. If the ammonia and Nitrites are processed in the 24 hour period, then do 100% water change to clear up the nitrates. Don't worry about killing the bacteria while you do the WC, the bacteria live on and in the surfaces of the tank, not the water. Then in a week or so after adding the CUC, start with 1 fish, then wait another week or 2 and add your second. The idea here is even though your tank is cycled, you don't have enough bacteria built up, so adding livestock slowly, it gives the bacteria time to grow and catch up to the demand.

Salinity is a little low for a reef tank(typically 1.024 to 1.026), but fine for a FOWLR tank(fish only).

 

[GimpyFin]

Biospira makes your tank usable almost instantly without having to wait through a normal cycle. However, what others have suggested for adding ammonia is a good test if you are unsure.

 

[mattyg18]

I just raised the ammonia to 3. Let's see what happens.

Great info here. Big thanks guys.

 

[mattyg18]

So yesterday morning I raised the ammonia to 3. Tested this morning and ammonia is a 0 and nitrites are at 3. I guess I feel a little better knowing it was just a false cycle or something along those lines after only 12 days. I'm going to let it run a few more weeks and do the ammonia test again.

 

[mattyg18]

I tested nitrites again late last night and sure enough they were down to zero along with ammonia. It too around 40 hours from the time ammonia was added to zero out nitrites.

Do you think that I'm cycled now or is the 24 hour timeframe the limit?