Cycle Finished???

dacia

Active Member
I added 50 pounds of live rock to my 30 gallon tank on Wednesday of last week. On Friday I added some live sand on top of the Southdown and I put some macros in the filter side of my Bak Pak...
On Saturday, instead of adding a cocktail shrimp to kickstart the cycle, I dumped in some pure ammonia (no additives, same stuff I cycle FW tanks with). That day, the water tested 8.0 for ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates...
TODAY: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates, ph 8.2
After less than a freakin' week...false readings or should I add the cleaners???
 

danrw84

Active Member
i know it sucks waiting. but if you want to have an overall better system i suggest you let it cycle naturally for a month before doing anything.
 

dacia

Active Member
Maybe it cycled before I even added the LR and LS...here's part of the story that I didn't mention...
The tank was setup with Southdown for a couple of weeks before I added the LR and LS. I didn't test the water then because I was waiting for the rock and sand to arrive. Perhaps the tank cycled without me knowing it (because I didn't test during that time) and when I added the LR and LS it was nearing completion already. I have diatoms all over the rock now and I even see patches of algae on the glass and the sand. Maybe when I added the ammonia to simulate the bioload, the bacteria was already there and trudged through it...
I tested the water again today and still no ammonia or nitrites were present. Nitrates were around 10 again and the pH was 8.1 (a tad low, but I heard that it goes down slightly at night and I just turned the lights on a few minutes ago).
I just wish that I had tested before I added the LR and LS, I just really didn't see the need since there was nothing in there to start the cycle other than saltwater...I saw a ammonia spike last week, but because I have been so busy this past week I did not test until yesterday so maybe I just missed the nitrite spike? Heck I don't know.
Should I add a shrimp and see what happens?
If it stays at normal levels I will start recommending cycling in this way because it sure was fast... :cool:
 
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