tank not cycling?

[conk12301]

I have a FOWLR. Started with live sand five days ago and added live rock when I got it two days ago. I haven't seen any incrase or spike in my nitrites or ammonia at all, though? Is it too early to expect that or could something be wrong? Also, my alkalinity has been all over the place.

 

[sassafrass]

Give it some time if you want to speed it up you could add a little fish food to get the cycle started

 

[HappySkittles]

you have to add something to spike the ammonia sometimes
the die off of the live rock should be enough BUT if not then add some fish food
thats what i did
i also cycled with tap water
my tap water already has ammonia in it :X

so i gotta do a huge rodi water change before anything goes in...good thing its only 3 gallons
and my 3 gallons took over 4 weeks to cycle...i would think a bigger tank might take longer

 

[conk12301]

I will try that. Also, how about fishless cycling where you add ammonia to the water to get the cycle going faster? Is that something worth trying?

And what could be going with my alkalinity jumping all over the last few days? Is that a bad thing?

 

[geo6028]

HEY MAN CHECK THIS PAGE OUT I THINK IT WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND IT BETTER.


http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dy...://reefsources.itgo.com/guide/biological.html

 

[sassafrass]

Please DON'T use a fish to cycle your tank it is cruel and not needed . It is just a way for a LFS to sell you a damsel that will be a problem later (chances are)

 

[royaldude]

Hi, Where did you get your rock from? Perhaps it was already cured if you got it straight out of someone's tank then there would be very little die off, so no cycle? As for the Alk I don't know.