New tank readings.

[greymach]

I have set up a 14 biocube and it has been cycling for a week with LR and LS. I cured the LR that i bought online for over 2 weeks before i put it in the tank which was shipped from Los Angeles and i am in Monterey california. I am confused becuase my LFS said it is already cycled becuase my tank is growing diatoms, Ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is around 25ppm. I was under the impression that when Ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrate starts to rise the cycle is over. I added a damsel and a hermit crab. was this a good idea?

 

[ccg24]

possibly, I had cycled a 135g in a week.... just depends theres no actuall time that a tank cycles.... you can have 5 tanks side by side w/ the same amount of everthing they'll all cycle at different times.... but did you check it before and see the ammonia spike as well as the Nitrite?

 

[greymach]

yea i tested the ammonia and the nitrite every couple days thoughout the week. The readings came out with .25ppm ammonia one time and about .5 another. But i thought it was supposed to spike higher than that. And the nitrite was around .1ppm everytime i tested it. When i had the lfs test it a couple days later they said it was zero ammonia and zero nitrite. And i just tested nitrate and it is at about 25ppm. So it sounds like it its complete and diatoms are growing and my damsel seems healthy and is eating. Does it sound like its completely cycled?

 

[ccg24]

It still might... I had a real little spike at first all the way around and then went back down to 0 and i thought it had done that fast but then it did spike really high the next day for about 3 days before it dropped back down...... so just check it you'll know when its complete