cycle done?

[lazuruskfp]

Just curious if my cycle is complete at this point... or if I should wait a few days to be sure...
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
ph: 8.2
calcium: 350
alk: 9.8
the nitrate is at a false low level due to the suggested water changes to lower my ammonia a few days ago. The entirety of the cycle has been running 7-8 days at this point, and while I think that is fast I'm using alot of cured live rock live sand... and my ammonia spike was quick which lead me to believe that everything was on track and not just a false reading

.
If you guys agree that my cycle is complete should i wait for another days of readings to confirm this, or should I do the 20-50% water change now to lower my nitrates and start shopping for a clean up crew sometime this weekend? :notsure:
once again thanks from the wall of text

 

[hot883]

What size of tank? How much live rock? IMO, 7-8 days is not a good cycle. If you start adding fish and inverts you risk of having another spike. trates do not harm fish, ammonia at any level can be deadly. If you are confident that it is cycled, add a few crabs which you will have to feed a little and see if your levels fluctuate. A large water change is not necessary at this point I am thinking. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[saltfreak4]

How did you start the cycle? Here's the deal with a 7 day cycle. There isn't enough in the tank to feed the crew. I have this problem currently. I have another tank to throw the crew into if this doesn't look good. I don't think you need to do a water change as trates are not high enough. It's been years since I have had a tank and all of the four tanks I have had, all cycled in 7-10 days. You want to keep the cycle contining while you get enough food in there to feed a clean-up crew. I am moving my crew (just 6 hermits) to my other tank. To keep the cycle continuing so that the crew has something to eat, I am going to spike the tank again with a shrimp and keep the lights on 24 hours. My trates are really high though. They are up at 40. And my ammonia spike really high when it spiked. You are at a difficult bypass (IMO) you don't want to stall and yet don't have anything to feed a crew. I would "test" the bioload by placing a shrimp in and wait for a week to see what happens.
It's difficult when a tank cycles so fast. I had a really hard time with this just two days ago. Asking the same questions. I think the tank cycled, so congrats on that part. But, I would test it, just to see.

 

[lazuruskfp]

when you say put a shrimp in... are you referring to a peeled raw shrimp or a live shrimp as in a tank inhabitant?
to answer your question on how i cycled it:
I cycled by using a LARGE amount of LR/LS for my tank size... I have 50 Lbs of LR and 20+ Lbs of LS in a 29 gallon tank. Both were purchased 'cured' from this website and have been in the tank 7-8 days now. I currently have a pretty large diatom bloom in my tank (brown algae on rocks & sand) and apparently if my eyes serve me correctly a small feather duster that likes to pop in and out of a rock... so it can't be too poisonous in there.
I don't want to kill anything so your saying I should put in a raw shrimp (could i just feed the tank flakes?) and let it decay? What should happen? I'm not even sure what would be normal...

 

[renogaw]

many people use a raw, uncooked shrimp just to let it decay in the tank. if you got brown algae that is a good sign actually. my 80lbs of rock in my 75 cycled in 5 days with a shrimp after being in water for a week and a half of curing, even though there was no die off that i could tell.
so, since a shrimp is about 75 cents, and fish are a lot more, it wouldn't hurt to put the shrimp in and see if you get an ammonia spike/cycle. if you don't then you can be pretty sure you already cycled and you're just adding more food for the bacteria in your rock.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by hot883
What size of tank? How much live rock? IMO, 7-8 days is not a good cycle. If you start adding fish and inverts you risk of having another spike. trates do not harm fish, ammonia at any level can be deadly. If you are confident that it is cycled, add a few crabs which you will have to feed a little and see if your levels fluctuate. A large water change is not necessary at this point I am thinking. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

i'd say a little water change just cause he's got the algae going... s/he may have phosphates or way too much light going.
one or 2 snails and a couple hermits might not hurt with the algae, and if they die it would be a couple dollars lost instead of an expensive fish.

 

[saltfreak4]

She's got it! I don't think the hermits are a good idea, tho. But the rest is exactly what I was getting at. I just don't like taking the chance of killing anything, that's the only reason for me personally. I do need to clarify something about hots post nitrates will hurt both fish and inverts at high levels. It does damage to corals at lower levels. I am planning on keeping mine in control with plants.