To Water Change or NOT to water change...

[alianated]

Ok.. here we are into the 2nd week with the 50 Gallon to be Reef Tank.
I tested my water 3 days ago and had:
Ammmonia .25
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 10
Today I retested my water and got this:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0 (It had a bit of color but >.25)
PH 8.0
Nitrate 10+ (more like 15 but not quite 20)
Now.. I heard Nitrates are supposed to spike, is this what we are talking about?
Also, I have heard that you should partial water change when Nitrates are high, but I have heard that its bad to change water during a cycle. So should I just leave it all be for 4 more weeks? Or should I do a low volume water change now to aid the nitrate levels??
Thanks all
alianated www.alianated.com

 

[burnnspy]

Your cycle is complete. You can do your water change, 50% is good and you are ready for livestock.
I recommend adding a few animals at a time to allow the bacteria colonies to keep pace with waste reduction demands placed on them by new creatures.
Nitrates don't actually cycle, they increase as the waste is converted by the nitrifying bacteria.
A properly working sand bed can extend the cycle into nitrate reduction by converting nitrates into nitrogen gas.
BurnNSpy

 

[alianated]

wow! Thank you Burn for the info.
I was under the impression that the cycle took about 6 weeks. And I was expecting some huge spike that made me sweat. I must either
a) have really good tap water (from when I started)
b) have misunderstood a lot about the cycle length/process
or
c) Gotten REALLY lucky.
Thanks a ton Burn.. once again, you give good info PLUS an explanation for it so that I not only know what happens, but why and how to take it a step further (IE: The live sand bed info)
alianated www.alianated.com

 

[playtime]

Burn: I too thought the cycle took 6-8 weeks. Maybe I missunderstood. If for what ever reason Alianated's tank cycled that quick, Awesome. Congrats to him.
Playtime

 

[b_ball12_99]

What did you cycle with?

 

[kappadoku]

There are several factors that can make a tank cycle faster than 6 weeks,none ofwhich give you as good a biofilter as you would have had the old fashioned way.
1>Mixing cured and uncured LR with LS. 2 weeks and you done.
2> Adding nitrosomes. Products like brand name "cycle" or Weiss's BacterVital. These bind ammonia, and introduce denitrifying bacteria.
From Here go slow and let your biofilter adjust slowly to new additions. Your going to have a mini-cycle everytime you introduce fish for the first 6 months.
Good luck!

 

[burnnspy]

I cycled my tank in 2 weeks by using Natures Ocean LS and semi-cured(cured LR that was shipped arrived with some little die-off) LR.
BurnNSpy

 

[alianated]

I realized I answered what all i did upon tank set-up on the wrong post, lol
For those who asked what I did to make it cycle so fast the basic answer is 'I got no idea' lol
But I did post everything I might have done a lil different under the topic "Inverts in a new tank"
::Embarrased::
alianated www.alianated.com

 

[mantis]

My tank cycled in 10 days using 100 lbs of Live Rock. Made a 50% water change after cycle and everything is fine.

 

[q]

Alianated you mentioned that you used tap water. If I were you I would eather make sure "that I have really good tap water" or gt your self another water source now before problems start from using tap water.

 

[andymi]

I too used natures ocean and I have seen no problems, as well my tank never cycled. I think the days of long cycles are coming to an end.
--Andy