Quick Cycle ??

[adivedog]

I just started cycling a tank last week using live rock, and live sand and now in day six, the readings are ammonia 0, nitrite down to .2 and still not showing any nitrates.
Is this normal ? And if the ammonia and nitrites are 0 in only a week, should I add kind of livestock yet ?

 

[fshhub]

have you ben testing all along??
if hte ammonia and nitrites never rose, they may do so yet
if so and they have rose, your nitrites are not yet quite zero, adn i would do NOTHING until they are exactly zero
and yes it is very possible to be nearly complete in a week or so, using lr(if it is well cured), and ls, ours took about 2, but istil gave it another week, carefully watching the h2o quality until i was comfortable that all levels were stable, before adding anything
HTH

 

[adivedog]

Yes, I have tested everyday. The ammonia was high on day two, then dropped on day three and nitrites went up to .8, then have dropped down fairly quickly. Just wondered as I haven't seen any nitrates yet, but am seeing growth on the rocks.

 

[fshhub]

cool, sounds like you are on your way, hopefully now it will only be a couple more days til it is over,a dn sometimes the nitrAtes do not rise much if at all, the main thing is the ammonia and nitrite these are very toxic at any levels

 

[adivedog]

Thanks for your help.
What would you suggest as far as when it is time to add livestock. Put in one fish or add some crabs and snails ??

 

[javajoe]

My tank cycled ina week, as we used fully cured live rock and live sand--- however, when we did our first water change, we used distilled water that contained high levels of ammonia (we did not realize that they could bottle tap water and call it distilled) and forced anotehr cycle...

 

[fshhub]

i'd get a clean up crew of snails and crabs(if you want them), an din a couple of days i'd get an algae eater, maybe a lawnmower blenny to keep the nuance algae under control
and as for the ammonia spike, i test any water that i use for ammonia and trites and trates before i use it for this reason(nay source, not necessarily every gallon)
HTH and good luck