Tank Cycled and I'm Confused

meemmoo

meemmoo

Member
I have a 55g tank. 50lbs LR and 5 lbs LS on top of 45lb Aragonite. I have not seen an Ammonia Spike let alone any ammonia however for the first two days I did the Salifert test wrong and misread that I was supposed to add 1.0ml of the NH3 reagent and I only added .1ml. Yeah I know I was :confused: . But I did the test today and still no ammonia. My nitrites are .1 and my nitrates are 5.0. Did I miss the ammonia spike and the Nitrites spike. Does it mean that I am almost done cycling because My nitrites are going up and that is the last stage of the Nitrigen Cycle. Sooo many ?'s
 
sato

sato

Member
Your prolly near then end.
Ammonia ---> Nitrite ---> Nitrate
Basically your nitrites are going down and nitrates are rising so your near the end.
 
meemmoo

meemmoo

Member
Are you saying that because I am getting a Nitrates reading that my cycle is ending cause that's the only way it could go. And that you don't get nitrates at any other time? Like you do not get them in the beginning.
 
sato

sato

Member
That is the order in which the stuff is processed by the bacteria in the tank.
So if there is no ammonia then the Nitrite is going to be going up and if the nitrate is going up then nitrites mute be getting processed by the bacteria.
 
meemmoo

meemmoo

Member
Thanks for the clarification, I was under the impression this process would take longer than 5 days. I don't want to jump the gun before my tank is ready.
 
salty cheese

salty cheese

Active Member
How much time are we talking about here?
Was the LR cured?
With that amount of LR and LS you might not see a big Ammonia spike.
If the tank is empty except for the LR and LS IMO I would add a cocktail shrimp to start a cycle just to be sure.
 
sato

sato

Member

Originally posted by meemmoo
Thanks for the clarification, I was under the impression this process would take longer than 5 days. I don't want to jump the gun before my tank is ready.
The more live rock in the tank the less time it takes to cycle.
 
meemmoo

meemmoo

Member
Salty Cheese- 50 lbs. of Fully cured LR from LFS. I added it 5 days ago and I've had a shrimp in there for 3 days now.
 
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