Is my CYCLE on the right track???

[shari2shop]

I have a 55 gallon that I set up the first of August. I have 40 pounds of live sand and 50 pounds of play sand. I have about 50 pounds of base rock. I want to add about 20 pounds of live rock but have not been able to find any I like and can afford.
So far my readings have been...
Aug 18... PH 8.2; Amm 6.0; nitrite .50; nitrate 10
Aug 25... Ph 8.0; Amm .25; nitrite 5.0; nitrate 10
Aug 31... Ph 8.2; Amm 0; nitrite 5.0; nitrate 10
I started the cycle with 3 raw shrimp 31 days ago. About 2 weeks ago I started to get a brown slimmy algae growing on everything. Well, 3 days ago the brown algae started to disappear. Today the tank is crystal clear. I tested the water hoping everything would be zero since everything looks great. I was very disappointed to see no change in the nitrite reading from last week. Since the ammonia is now zero does that mean my cycle is on the right track??
Also, I know that people add clean up crews sometimes before the cycle is completely over. When is it safe to do so?
Thanks,
Shari

 

[bbuck_camelback]

You had a high ammount of ammonia to start your cycle, the nitrite should start to decrease in the next week. I would wait until you get rid of the nitrite before adding a cleanup crew. I waited until about 2 months before I added any invert in my tank. Clean-up crews are a good thing to have but they are usually not that important in a newly established tank.

 

[escape2thewater]

I started my tank on the same day! It is almost at the exact same progress with nitrite still hanging in there. hopefully next week it will drop too & then I plan on adding a clean up crew also. I had same experience with brown diatom algae too, mine just went away a coouple days ago. Kinda neat how both tanks are almost exactly the same progress but mine started a little diffrent: 70lbs uncured LR, 60 lbs base rock, 260lbs aragonite, 60lbs LS in my 120gal w/fuge - no raw shrimp. Just goes to prove once again there are more ways to cycle a tank succesfully!
Kyle

 

[escape2thewater]

BTW, yes your cycle is definatley on the right track!

Kyle

 

[shari2shop]

Thanks so much for the help!!!!!
I was so disappointed and worried that something was not going right. I'm so glad to see that my tank is doing what it is suppose to be doing!
Thanks!!!
Shari