how high do nitrates get off after cycling?

[nietzsche]

I started my 10 on june 5th, and today i checked it and has
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0
nitrates: 20
i've checked it since i added ammonia and ammonia started off high, then nitrites were super high, and so on. i only have regular aragonite sand, i took a cup of sand from my established tank. my quarantine tank is still cycling, 0 ammonia, nitrites really high
is it safe to add some lr to my 10 that has 20 ppm? or is it still cycling? my first tank was already cycled, so i havent gone through the cycling process myself

 

[earlybird]

Nitrates will always be present at the end of a cycle. That's when you should do a large water change to bring them down. 20ppm sounds about right. It is safe to add some lr but depending on how long it is out of the water will determine if there will be die off and then possibly a mini cycle.

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by earlybird
Nitrates will always be present at the end of a cycle. That's when you should do a large water change to bring them down. 20ppm sounds about right. It is safe to add some lr but depending on how long it is out of the water will determine if there will be die off and then possibly a mini cycle.
thanks, im only going to add a small amout from my established tank, theyre in the same room so it should be out like less than 1 minute. both my quarantine and the other 10 started at the same time, but I'm thinking the bacteria attached to the sand, and since i dont have anything in the quarantine its takine longer since they they dont have anything to attached to. i added cloth filter to the hang on filter so they could at least attach to something

 

[earlybird]

I put some fluval sponges inside my pvc in my qt for added biofilter.

 

[murph]

Your initial ammonia source was higher than necessary to cycle the tank which ended up as a somewhat high nitrate reading for the tank after it cycled. The only way to bring it down now is a water change.
This is the reason I still advocate the use of damsels or chromis and ammonia detoxifiers to cycle tanks which IMO ends up with a far more stable water chemistry when more expensive species are introduced.
When done properly you are neither "torturing" fish or introducing unnecessarily high and unnatural ammonia levels to cycle the tank.

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by earlybird
I put some fluval sponges inside my pvc in my qt for added biofilter.
genius! i'm going to have to try that, thanks

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by Murph
Your initial ammonia source was higher than necessary to cycle the tank which ended up as a somewhat high nitrate reading for the tank after it cycled. The only way to bring it down now is a water change.
This is the reason I still advocate the use of damsels or chromis and ammonia detoxifiers to cycle tanks which IMO ends up with a far more stable water chemistry when more expensive species are introduced.
When done properly you are neither "torturing" fish or introducing unnecessarily high and unnatural ammonia levels to cycle the tank.
i honestly dont think 20ppm is high. my main tank has been at 20ppm forever, i'm trying macro algae to bring it down, but my LPS and softies have been doing great

 

[murph]

Originally Posted by nietzsche
i honestly dont think 20ppm is high. my main tank has been at 20ppm forever, i'm trying macro algae to bring it down, but my LPS and softies have been doing great
Good to hear. If it works dont fix it.