tank cycled , how much longer ?

radioactive

radioactive

Member
Just wondering about my tank . here are my readings
ammonia 0
nitrates 110 +
nitrite 0
the ammonia and nitrites have both went way up and come back down to 0 .
I am in no hurry to add fish yet , just wondering how long you think it will be before nitrates go back down far enough to add a fish ????
Thanks
 
luvnluk

luvnluk

Member
How long have you been cycling? What did you cycle with? What is your filtration? Sounds like you may want to do a water change. When the ammonia and nitrite is zero it usually indicates that your cycle is finished, however, you shouldn't add fish with nitrate so high. Give us a lil' more info. and we can be more helpful !:)
 
radioactive

radioactive

Member
I have been cycling for about 3 weeks . I cycled the tank with raw shrimp . filtration is , 2- protein skimmers w/maxi jet 600s and 2 maxi jet 600 powerheads . I hope that is what you mean by filtration ??? I will be putting together my tub for a water change tomorrow. what % of water change should i do on a 75g ??? Thank you
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
I would hold off a bit on the water change...and turn off the skimmer. From what I understand...a skimmer only slows down the cycle. And if you have removed the shrimp and haven't added anything that will produce ammonia...you should get a bacteria that will "remove" the nitrate...actually convert it...but what for some science from Broomer on that. A water change at this point will only slow things down.
 
radioactive

radioactive

Member
Sorry , but now i am confused ... I appreciate the suggestions , but still not sure what to do here ? I have had some say do a water change and others saying not to .... But thats what makes this forum great . both maybe right ? .. any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated ...... Thanks again
 
radioactive

radioactive

Member
jj , I removed the shrimp after about 4 days or so . The ammonia shot way up to a dark blue which was off the chart on my test kit . and now the ammonia is down to 0 .
the shrimp got to a point of opening up . looked like an alien ....
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
OKay...amm went up...now trates are high...very high...then you definitelt had your trites spike. Now more bacteria will grow that will process the trates. THen they will drop to almost zero. That is when your cycle is complete...until then...I wouldn't do a water change or run a skimmer.
 
dzhuo

dzhuo

New Member
Hi,
What exactly is the problem of running a skimmer during cycle? Afraid the skimmer will pull the bacteria out of the water? How much bacteria will be in the water verus those living the LR, DSB, glass, etc? I suppose only a tiny population of bacteria will be in the water (as free swimming form???) so the skimmer will not have much "destruction" to the bacteria bio-load in the tank. The skimmer should help to remove excess organic matters from the water during the cycle, not bacteria right?
I am sorry to ask so many questions but I am a little confused! I am almost ready to set up my own tank so I need to learn as much as possible :)
thanks!
david
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
IMO, water changes and running a skimmer pulls the garbage out of the water that does the work for the cycle, hta is why many of us hold off. But some do otherwise adn are successful, IMO it slows it down, by removing the junk which causes the spikes which is what you want.
So you ar right, but the thing is you want the decomposing junk(organic matter)
 
radioactive

radioactive

Member
If the nit are already at a high and it is coming back down , wouldn't protein skimmers help bring this level back down ? I am not sure about anything .. just checking .. trying to understand all of this good stuff . Thanks for the help
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
I prefer to let mine do it on its own, naturally. Hurrying it is only one more display of impatience, which we odn't need either.
The bacteria NEEDS to run its course.
 
radioactive

radioactive

Member
Do you think I should do a 20% water change ? I turned both my protein skimmers off like you suggested . I tested the water again today and nitrates are still at 110 + . nitrites and ammonia are both at 0 ..... Thanks
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
If all levels are 0, except the nitrate, and it has fallen and stabilized. Then I do a water change(about 20%) and wait 2 more weeks while testing, if all remains stable(since it is so high), then I do another and start adding fish, slowly. I would turn the skimmer on, just before stocking, personally.
 
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