Cycling QT

[kms]

I have been cycling my 10G QT eclipse set-up for about a month now. There is nothing in it and never has been (no LR, no PVC, nothing). checked water after 30% change today, params are: pH - 8.2, amm - 0.0, NO3 - 15.0, and NO2 - 1.5. before change amm was spiked. I know that it is normal for these levels to "spike", but what is the order that they spike? Is what I am observing with my levels normal?

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by KMS
but what is the order that they spike? Is what I am observing with my levels normal?
Ammonia should spike first. (This assumes that you put something in the tank that can rot, e.g. a dead shrimp). The spike in ammonia encourages bacteria to grow which convert ammonia to nitrItes. NitrItes then will be broken down by another species of bacteria to NitrAtes. It sounds like your cycle is going fine. Try not to use the tank until your nitrItes are undetectable.
Congrats on making the decision to have a QT setup. You won't regret it.

 

[kms]

elf doc,
thanks for the reply! You have been very helpful in the past with my black ich thread and you have kept up with your reputation. Since then I have purchased seaweed and a clip, feeding my YT regularly. I am also in the process of buliding a custom hood to include a 175W MH and 2x96W actinics for my anemone and reef tank dreams. I am looking at the MH ballast special at URL=http://www.hellolights.com/17methalretk1.html ]http://www.hellolights.com/17methalretk1.html[/URL] with the 10000K Ushio bulb, pulse start. Any comments? The QT will be for my existing fish so I can make the ich parasite go through its lifecycle with hopes to rid it from my display and to QT new and sick fish from this point on. I did not add anything before now, but is there something I can add at this time to increase the NitrItes to NitrAtes? Thanks again!
Kevin
how are we lookin?[

 

[kms]

sorry about the link here it is http://www.hellolights.com/17methalretk1.html

 

[elfdoctors]

Your tang looks much better. The spots seem gone and it certainly looks plumper then the last picture! Keep up the veggies.
I forget how large your tank is. The light setup looks like a good one for a smallish tank. You should consider a second one for a tank large enough for an adult tang. The price looks good to me. I do not have metal halides on my tank so take my comments with that in mind.
There are products commercially available which claim to speed up the cycle. They have different strains of bacteria which break down waste products. Intuitively these "Bacteria in a Bottle" products make a lot of sense. However, they don't seem to be popular on the boards, including the moderators of this forum. The biggest concern is the shelf life of the products. The bottle has to be fresh and not have been exposed to excessively hot or cold temperatures. The beneficial bacteria are not usually spore formers so they cannot go truly dormant even though some products state this. As far as I know, they don't seem to have any apparent harm. I would consider using these products if I ever had to use an uncycled tank again.