water results 2 weeks into cycling

[socko6774]

do these reading sound ok, mind you i have around 20lbs of live rock, and 15 lbs of live sand in a 29 gallon tank.
like i said i started the cycling about 2 weeks ago, i didnt do the raw shrimp thing.
water temp: 79-80
nitrite: .25
ammonia: .50 ( been at that level for a week)
PH: 8.0
nitrate: 20
does that seem ok ?

 

[gexkko]

Did you cure your LR before the cycle?

 

[socko6774]

Originally Posted by Gexkko
Did you cure your LR before the cycle?

yeh i bought it cured

 

[socko6774]

bump

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by socko6774
yeh i bought it cured
Did you buy it locally or have it shipped? If it was shipped it would have had die off on it. Keep monitoring the levels and see what they do. IMO they are ok for now.

 

[socko6774]

Originally Posted by hot883
Did you buy it locally or have it shipped? If it was shipped it would have had die off on it. Keep monitoring the levels and see what they do. IMO they are ok for now.

i bought it from LFS. i picked it myself.
im just not sure what the levels are supposed to be nad how quickly they are supposed to change. is there anything ishould be doing aside form monitoring the levels?

 

[threed240]

Originally Posted by socko6774
do these reading sound ok, mind you i have around 20lbs of live rock, and 15 lbs of live sand in a 29 gallon tank.
like i said i started the cycling about 2 weeks ago, i didnt do the raw shrimp thing.
water temp: 79-80
nitrate: .25
ammonia: .50 ( been at that level for a week)
PH: 8.0
nitrate: 20
does that seem ok ?
Ammonia is very high. I would just watch it for a few more days, to see if it subsides. I wouldn't think It would spike like that if it were cured? :thinking:

 

[socko6774]

Originally Posted by Threed240
Ammonia is very high. I would just watch it for a few more days, to see if it subsides. I wouldn't think It would spike like that if it were cured? :thinking:
I thought it was supposed to spike higher than that while cycling?
if it doesnt go down in a few days should i do partial water change or just let it ride tioll it lowers on its own. like i said the tanks just cycling so im in no hurry to put anything in it

 

[dogstar]

Those levels seem OK for 2 weeks...
Dureing a cycle, it takes time for two different types of and enough of bacteria to grow.
First one that converts the ammonia to nitrite as the ammonia is produced by any decaying matirial.....As long as the decay is going on then you will have ammonia. Over time, when enough bacteria is present and its had enough time to convert the ammonia then the ammonia will go down to 0...
Second, a bacteria that converts the nitrites to nitrates....same thing as the nitrites increase then it can feed this bacteria, as this bacteria increases and has time to work, the levels of nitrites will drop.
Once ammonia and nitrites levels fall to 0, the tank is considered cycled....unless you have advanced methods for reduceing the nitrates, then do regular water changes to help keep them low....
Hard to say how long any full cycle will take depending on how pre cycled rock or sand was or how much decay is in the rocks and how much dieing happens as cycle happens but average is around 3 to 6 weeks........

 

[socko6774]

thanks guys!! just wanted to make sure im on track. like i said, im in no hurry and dont wanna rush things, so i dont wanna use any chemicals, ill let the tank cycle naturally!