TESTING 3rd DAY

herefshyfishy

herefshyfishy

Member
Its my third day of cycling.
65gallon
50lbs LR
60lbs Aragonite sand
The second day my amm spiked from 2 to 8
the rest of my readings were..
Trite- 0
Trate - 0
SG - 1.024
Temp - 80.5
pH - 8
So i was told to do a small water change. I did that change this afternoon. now its 8:15pm, i just re-tested. my readings are:
Amm- 8 (Still at 8 with 10 gallon water change..hope it will go down) :thinking:
Trite - .5 (We Have trites, thats good right?...means the cycle is going?)

Trate - 0
SG - 1.024
Temp - 80.8
pH - 8
So does it look like everything is where it should be for the 3rd day of cycle?
Ill get some pics up later.. Thanks
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by Herefshyfishy
Its my third day of cycling.
65gallon
50lbs LR
60lbs Aragonite sand
The second day my amm spiked from 2 to 8
the rest of my readings were..
Trite- 0
Trate - 0
SG - 1.024
Temp - 80.5
pH - 8
So i was told to do a small water change. I did that change this afternoon. now its 8:15pm, i just re-tested. my readings are:
Amm- 8 (Still at 8 with 10 gallon water change..hope it will go down) :thinking:
Trite - .5 (We Have trites, thats good right?...means the cycle is going?)

Trate - 0
SG - 1.024
Temp - 80.8
pH - 8
So does it look like everything is where it should be for the 3rd day of cycle?
Ill get some pics up later.. Thanks
It's been a while since I cycled my tank, but I believe that you don't need to do a water change until everything zeros out except the 'trates. Then do water changes to bring the 'trates down.
I'm not 100% sure, and hopefully someone who knows for sure will respond, but doing water changes before this point is actually taking beneficial elements out of the water, and will only prolong the cycle.
Good luck with everything. I can't wait to see your pics!!
Lisa :happyfish
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
What did you use to start the cycle? IMO it should not be so high on day 3. Cycles usually take 4-6 WEEKS.
 
eaglewonj

eaglewonj

Member
When the 55 downstairs was cycled without live rock(just substrate and filters in place) it took a while. The 20 upstairs went though the chemical cycle (ammonia, trates, trites) in about a week with live rock. The diatom and algae blooms took a little longer. Chemically, live rock (was cured when we got it) handled the cycle in a few days. However, let the biological cycle components go for a few more weeks (diatoms, algae, cyanobacteria if you get it.)
Let me add this quote from one of our mods. (it was in another thread, but is applicable here)
Originally Posted by ophiura
Realistically, it is virtually impossible these days to come up with a typical cycle. Not with variations in the amount of LR, etc. In the old days, when damsel cycling was common...and LR was not typically added much, a cycle lasted about 6 weeks. These days it can be nonexistant...to 6 or more weeks, and still be normal.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
In my opinion the ammonia has probably killed most of the animals in your live rock.
I would never have let the ammonia get nearly that high. If you do some very large water changes you may be able to have some critters left in the rock.
The results I've seen after such a high ammonia level is a lot of hair algae growing on the rocks feeding off the nutrients from the dead animals in the rock.
Ammonia levels above 1.0ppm begin to be destructive. When I cycle a tank I will usually try to keep ammonia below 0.5ppm.
 
herefshyfishy

herefshyfishy

Member
thanks for all the info..
It went to 8 on my second day... i did a water change.... i hope tomorrow it goes down.
I was told by some people that it happened to them and it was fine.. I HOPE it will be.
Doesn't the apperance of trites mean that the ammonia should go down soon?
 
ejensen

ejensen

Member
When I cycled my tank with LR I just let my tank go threw the cycle with out me doing nothing except add water. I still had alot of pods, worms and some wierd mushroom things growing on the rock.
 
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