Cycle question

leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
I've had my 80G tank cycling for approx 10 days now. I've got approx 80lbs of live rock and a 2 inch live sand bed in it. 3 days ago my amonia, nitrates and nitrite which had been high started to drop and for the last 2 days they are all showing 0s. Has the tank really cycled this fast? Or is it just messing with me?
 
uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
Ten days isn't too far off the mark. Give it a few more days to be sure it's stable. You could consider feeding the tank some fish food to make sure it's actually processing organic material (i.e. give it some food and make sure the ammonia doesn't spike). I'd give her 'til next week, and then consider adding a cleanup crew and, after another week or two, a hardy fish or two, maybe a clown or the like.
You're not completely out of the woods. You'll have the brown slime stage, the what the heck are these things sprouting on the rocks stage, and so on. But you're getting there!
 
leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
Thanks Uber. I forgot to add that I did put some bio balls from my 12G nano into the filter to help speed it up. Maybe it worked. I hadn't planned on adding too much of a clean up crew if any at all as I'm planning on having a puffer as one of the first occupants of my tank.
 
leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
All signs are 0 again today. Should I still wait a few more days or is this tank cycled? I added some fish food lat night and have shwon no spikes yet.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Its cycled.
Make sure all your other parameters are in line and if so head to the LFS. Be sure to pic healthy livestock. Hang out in front of the tank and watch the fish you have in mind. Make sure he is behaving normally, has clear eyes and is not flashing on any rocks (attempting to scratch himself) and ask the LFS to feed the tank to make sure hes on his food and appears well nourished in general.
Good luck and have fun and try to figure out a way not to tell the wife just how much money you spent
 
leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
The wife knows how much I've spent. She gets to pick one of the fish that goes into the tank, provided its compatable with a puffer. :hilarious
 
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