Cycle Already!!

[vayapues]

I am in the process of cycling a 125 g, with 150 lbs of aragacret, and no live rock. I did add a couple peices of live rock a few days ago, to try and speed things up.
I am now on day 13, and still high amanoia, and low nitrites.
Because I used no LR (until a few days ago) to seed the tank, I am starting to wonder how long this is going to take.
Wondering if anyone else has cycled a tank with no LR, and how long it took. On my other tanks by now, the cycle was nearly done.
Here is a pic

 

[candycane]

Probably 4-8 weeks unless you are gonna spike it with a MASSIVE amount of tank water from somewhere else or using MUCH more LR or LS. I have known A LOT of people that used raw shrimp from the grocery store and that usually sends it through the roof within a short period of time. Problem is, that can also put some VERY unwanted algae in a system.

 

[peterpaul]

you can put a piece of raw shrimp to get it cycled a little quicker. I believe there is a cycle solution you can get at a LFS but I have never used it. I would take my time with it and go slow. Also, if you are going to cure live rock in your tank make sure you also do frequent water changes.

 

[vayapues]

Thanks. Actually, I already have the ammonia high via a dead fish. My frustration is that while the Amonia is high, nitrites are still low, and ammonia still high.
ugh!! By other tanks had completed a cycle by 15 days, I am still on the first phase...

 

[kevin34]

I am trying to cycle my QT now. I used the raw shrimp method and its taken over a month for the nitrites to spike. still cycling...

 

[vayapues]

Thanks Kevin34, lol. You can't hurry this hobby, but sometimes I wish it would speed up a bit.