help with cycling
- Thread starter mbutler
- Start date
aqua blue
Member
Welcome to the boad mbutler!
I am fairly new to this too. I started my tank on 6/23/02. It took 4-5 weeks for my tank to cycle.
Others with more experience will probably help you more. But to give more detailed help you will need to provide more details about your tank , substrate, filtering system, etc.
As far as water tests what is the nitrite reading that you are calling high. And what are the other levels? pH, Ammonia, Nitrate?
If I understand the cycle process correctly, once the bacteria begin to establish they convert the ammonia to nitrite and then convert the nitrite to nitrate. That is why it is helpful to know the other readings as well.
Again welcome to the board. You will find many knowledgeable people here that are a great help.
I am fairly new to this too. I started my tank on 6/23/02. It took 4-5 weeks for my tank to cycle.
Others with more experience will probably help you more. But to give more detailed help you will need to provide more details about your tank , substrate, filtering system, etc.
As far as water tests what is the nitrite reading that you are calling high. And what are the other levels? pH, Ammonia, Nitrate?
If I understand the cycle process correctly, once the bacteria begin to establish they convert the ammonia to nitrite and then convert the nitrite to nitrate. That is why it is helpful to know the other readings as well.
Again welcome to the board. You will find many knowledgeable people here that are a great help.
aqua blue
Member
Hello mbutler.
It looks like your tank is still cycling. Once the ammonia drops to 0 then watch the nitrite. It should soon follow and drop to 0. After that you may want to do a 25% water change to help with the nitrates.
You can do water changes during the cycle to help control some of the ammonia and nitrite levels but this may extend the time of the initial cycle.
As far as adding live rock. I would wait until the initial cycle is complete. I believe that as long as you add live rock that is fully cured it will not cause another cylce. I have only read about this as I do not have any actual experience with live rock (yet).
Hopefully others with working knowledge about adding live rock will offer their advice.
Good Luck
It looks like your tank is still cycling. Once the ammonia drops to 0 then watch the nitrite. It should soon follow and drop to 0. After that you may want to do a 25% water change to help with the nitrates.
You can do water changes during the cycle to help control some of the ammonia and nitrite levels but this may extend the time of the initial cycle.
As far as adding live rock. I would wait until the initial cycle is complete. I believe that as long as you add live rock that is fully cured it will not cause another cylce. I have only read about this as I do not have any actual experience with live rock (yet).
Hopefully others with working knowledge about adding live rock will offer their advice.
Good Luck
legion
Member
My readings were all over during my cycle. Your readings look pretty close to what mine were. I personally did water changes during my cycle, about 10% a week, to keep all the levels down and to limit the stress on my 3 damsels I used to cycle my tank. Some say it can stop or slow the cycle. My tank took about 6 weeks for all the levels to read normal. You can add lr during the cycle but you may add to the ammonia if it is not fully cured.