The cycle

[amertz03]

I put 40 lbs of lr into my 30 g tank and let it begin to cycle about 2 weeks ago...i continually checked parameters and my ammonia never spiked. It started at 0 and remained zero, maybe because my rock was already partially cured??? Anyways, my question is...my trites were really high at first but now they are beginning to lower so can i begin to add fish once these have hit 0, or did I not properly cycle my tank because I never got an ammonia spike?

 

[rcoultas]

I would have to question your ammonia test. You can not get the trites without first getting the ammonia. Take a sample to your LFS and verify your test results. If the ammonia is 0, trites are 0 and trates are reasonably low then you still need to wait. Be patient. Give it at least a couple of weeks to stabilize. In all likelihood your trates will jump and require water changes to settle down. Nitrates are not deadly to fish but they do cause unnecessary stress - so it's best to wait until they are below 20 and even lower if you are going to get inverts or corals.

 

[amertz03]

Or should I add a raw shrimp so that my ammonia spikes and then wait until it drops along with my trites and trates?

 

[amertz03]

I apologize on my original post. I should have said I didn't check my ammonia levels until the end of the second week and I got a reading of 0, so they may have spiked but not to my knowledge. And my trites are starting to go down. Are daily 5% water changes a good idea at this point or should I give it a few days or a week until doing my water changes? Thanks for the help

 

[sepulatian]

Wait until the nitrites are at zero, then do a water change. If you want to be certain that the tank is cycled then add a small raw shrimp and test your ammonia daily. When the ammonia reaches .25 pull the shrimp out and let it finish cycling through. It is possible that you had a small ammonia spike before but the bacteria on the rock broke it down before you saw it. Nitrite takes longer to convert to nitrate.

 

[amertz03]

Thanks for the info...but do you think a raw shrimp is necessary since my ammonia reads 0 right now?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by AMertz03
Thanks for the info...but do you think a raw shrimp is necessary since my ammonia reads 0 right now?
I would just to be certain. That is why I said just to let it spike to .25 then pull it back out. If it drops right back (within a day) to zero then it is cycled. If it takes awhile to break down then it is better that there are no fish in there, but it will cycle from there.