Cycling

[teript]

I am starting my fifth week of cycling my tank. My Ammonia peeked on October 18th and has come down to .1. My nitrites went up to .1 on October 22 and have remained there. My nitrates are barely noticeable. How long should the rest of the process take. I have 3 damsels, 3 crabs, and 5 snails in my 70 gallon tank.

 

[nacl-man]

Did your trates peak at all? You may have missed testing the trate peak... give it another couple of days and retest... if all your levels are still around zero you may be finished.

 

[dacia]

There's really no way to now how long a cycle is going to take. Every system is unique, but typically the whole cycle takes around 6 weeks. Sometimes it is longer, sometimes shorter. Just have patience.
And next time I would cycle with a cocktail shrimp so you wouldn't stress out your fish and inverts. They live longer and healthier lives without having to survive a cycle, which many of them don't.

 

[nacl-man]

Originally posted by Dacia
time I would cycle with a cocktail shrimp so you wouldn't stress out your fish and inverts. They live longer and healthier lives without having to survive a cycle, which many of them don't.
Yeah I meant to mention something along those lines... you are very lucky if your livestock has survived the cycle.
By the way, what reading did your Ammonia peak at? Was it off the chart?

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by teript
I am starting my fifth week of cycling my tank. My Ammonia peeked on October 18th and has come down to .1. My nitrites went up to .1 on October 22 and have remained there. My nitrates are barely noticeable. How long should the rest of the process take. I have 3 damsels, 3 crabs, and 5 snails in my 70 gallon tank.
when cycling a tank I have found that nitrItes can stay up indefinely. Ammonia should have already dropped to 0.0. What I do is stop feeding the fish and nitrItes drop within a week. NitrAtes should start a slow rise but could remain low if you have a lot of plant life.
And don't worry about not feeding the fish. they have always survived not feeding for periods of up to two-three weeks. With only three damsels in a 70g tank the nitrItes should drop very quickly like in about three days or so.