Water parameters during cycle

[TheMikey]

Hey all,

Setting up my first saltwater tank after a massive amount of research on these internets. Anyway, I finally got all my testing kits together except for Calcium and Phosphates after having live rock in the tank for five days. Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: 0-0.5 (about halfway between colour bars on the chart)
Nitrates: 10
Nitrites: 0.2
KH: 180
PH: ~8

I'm really confused about these numbers as it looks like the tank might be nearing the end of the cycle. Is this at all normal for parameters this early in a nano?

Using RO/DI water and 15lbs of bagged live sand as well.

Our lone LFS in the area is one of the best though, and they keep all of the rock in a large heated rubbermaid container without any light and lots of flow. The guy at the store said that some of their customers have had rock cycle within 10 days. Regardless the incredulity of such a fast, I completely trust Colby and Gustavo - they're some of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met about this hobby and they've helped me out since I started researching in June. Incidently, I'll put a plug out for them anyway - hit Bayside Corals for all your reefing needs

 

[Flipper62]

Please post whats in the tank.

Is the rock in the tank ? How did you start the cycle.

Also, you should add all of your info under your profile settings. This way we can see your question, but can also see everything that you have.

1 - tank size
2 - fish / corals
3 - crabs / shails.
4 - everything

This will save you with posts & will help us get you faster answers

 

[SquidHC]

Your tank will go through several stages as it cycles, it may happen on a huge scale, or a slight one, but here are a few steps to watch for.

-The first week or so you probably wont see much of anything.
-Your first outbreak is typicaly a brown diatome algea explosion, it can cover everything. Just leave it be, it will go away in a few days to a week.
-After the diatomes are gone, your water should clear up, then you should expect to see a green/hair algea outbreak. This should suck whats left of the nutrients out of the water. This is a good sign that your tank is done cycling and its time to start checking your water.

 

[TheMikey]

My apologies for the lack of information

It's a 15G tank and I have 13lbs of live rock in it with 15 lbs of the argonite 'live sand'. There's no fish or corals or a cleanup crew yet as the tank was only started with live rock last week. I've got a 55W Power Compact bulb, aquaclear 30 filter (which is awaiting proper tank conditions for some chaeto plant - there's no filter media in it I just wanted more flow) a 100W heater, and a Koralia-1 powerhead.

All this is going in the subbies shortly!

I should also add that I haven't really done anything to "start" the cycle as I was fairly certain that the live rock would get it started on its own.

 

[tspors]

If I may make suggestion. You have done everything correct up to this point. Even your first post. You made it clear it was start up and what was in the tank. Like squid said you most likely will see nothing. My suggestion to anyone setting up saltwater is this is a long term hobby. I would wait out 2 months doing some 10% water changes every two weeks. Since you have LR in the tank that will begin and complete the cycle, you do not have to do anything to start a cycle. After 2 months start weekly 10% water changes and add clean up crew. Give it 2-3 weeks add coral if you like. 2-3 weeks fish. Be consistant with water changes if you do them weekly do not vary from that. Your tank will acclimate to what you do to it. Good Luck enjoy and do it with moderation.

 

[tapiana]

Que along the same lines

Que along the same lines

I am currently cycling my 29gal BioCube with some LR (maybe 10lbs).

It has been cycling now for about 3 weeks - water parameters are good

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
10 nitrates

For the past two weeks I have done 25% water changes

But I have no algae growth or anything in my water - crystal clear. Should I be concerned?

 

[TheMikey]

The water changes might be what's keeping your algae from growing. From what I've read, nitrates are principle for growth of algae and if you're taking out 25% of your water each week, the nitrates won't have too much of a chance to promote growth of your algae.

Please, though, take this with a grain of salt. I have not actually experience this, but it's a reasonable explanation based on the massive quantities of research I've done so far.

Also, for a nano, that's not a whole lot of live rock. As it's going to handle a decent amount of your filtration, you should be going for at least .75 lbs/Gallon instead of the .3 lbs/Gallon you have right now.

Again though, this is all opinion based on research, not hands on experience

 

[greenbean36191]

Mikey, you've done everything right so far. It looks like you're at the middle to end of the cycle. Since you're using partially cured LR it shouldn't take long to cycle at all. The bacteria is already established on the rock.

Tilapia, no you should not be concerned about the lack of algae. You should not expect to see them, though you shouldn't be surprised if you do. They can appear several weeks or even a few months after the actual cycle ends.

 

[lenmoore3]

Algae in new Tank

Algae in new Tank

New 90 gal, now 5 weeks since filled. Added live rock and 4 fish 2 weeks ago. the past few days algae in both brown and hair algae is concerning. Amonia is about 3 (high). Started 80w UV Sterilizer today, changed GFO and carbon. Sugestions, comments.