cycle again?

[newfishguy]

I turned a qt that was cycled (except for high nitrates - 180) into a full blow aquarium.
I added some cured live rock (from my own rubbermaid container) and Aragalive live sand and now the ammonia and nitrites have risen to low levels. Does this mean I am going through another cycle and have to wait another few weeks before it will drop to 0 again? Will a water change after the cycle lower the nitrates? They are still very high.

 

[acekjd83]

yes and yes.

the "nitrogen cycle" is actually a series of bacterial population booms and busts as they compete with each other for nutrients and space. if you take out the sand and rock, you will disrupt the population distributions and boundaries that the bacteria took a month to establish. you'll get bacteria needing oxygen that will suffocate in the bottom of the sand, anaerobic bacteria that are poisoned by oxygen on the surface, and they'll all have to reestablish their boundaries.

 

[airforceb2]

It should be an accelerated cycle though. The cured LR will help a lot.

 

[acekjd83]

you might want to do a water change though, to reduce those trates... i do know that levels above 100ppm are considered dangerous to livestock, but im not sure about the effect on the bacteria. :thinking:

 

[newfishguy]

Should I do the water change now?
Originally Posted by acekjd83
you might want to do a water change though, to reduce those trates... i do know that levels above 100ppm are considered dangerous to livestock, but im not sure about the effect on the bacteria. :thinking:

 

[acekjd83]

do it quick, b4 the bacteria die (if it's toxic) or become established with such whack nitrates