When is cycling done?

kevvypoop313

kevvypoop313

Member
Just as the title states, when is the cycling process finished? I have 125 gallon tank that has 80 lbs of live sand and 150 of live rock and i have put it in about 2 weeks ago. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite never really spiked, so is it technically done? Also, I bought the live rock and sand from SWF.com and they claim it is pre cured... any suggestions?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
A good way to test is to throw in some flake fish food. It's called ghost feeding. Test the water to see if you get an ammonia or a nitrite spike.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
no nitrates is scarey, there should be a lot of them if you cycled properly.
I agree-no nitrates=no cycle; and 2 weeks is much too soon, in most cases. I am the world's most impatient person, this hobby demands plenty!
 
kevvypoop313

kevvypoop313

Member
well it was a brand new tank that i started with 150 lbs. of live rock and 80 lbs live sand... i have been ghost feeding for about 1 week... all are very low... nitrite is pretty high but nitrates and ammonia are low
 
hocky

hocky

Member
that means it is cycling through. Do a water change and monitor the water a bit longer.
 
kas2247

kas2247

Member
How did you go from nitrites are pretty high to nitrites under 1ppm in the matter of a few hours and nitrates 15 to nitrates 20 in a half hour? Was there a typo somewhere? It took close to two weeks for my nitrite to spike and go back down... and it seems strange to me that nitrates would go up that much in a half hour. Mine took way longer than that. Maybe someone who knows more than me could comment, please?
Either way, I'd wait a little longer before adding any fish. I made the mistake of adding a few small things to my tank before the cycle was 100% finished (nitrite was coming down and nitrate was going up) and most everything except some hermits didn't make it through the new mini-cycle that it caused. My tank seems to be done cycling now and I'm still waiting at least another week before I go buy another fish.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Was the live rocked shipped or bought from local store?
says he bought from swf.com. i know their stuff is pretty good, but still 2 days shipped there shoulda been something.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
says he bought from swf.com. i know their stuff is pretty good, but still 2 days shipped there shoulda been something.
Thanks. Saw he bought sand from here, not rock.
Since the rock was shipped it definitely should be/is producing ammonia. Something is wrong with overall picture.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
heh, forget the ghost feeding. drop a raw shrimp in there. if you don't see any ammonia spike you have enough bacteria :)
 
kas2247

kas2247

Member
Thanks for clarifying
I was confused.
Sounds to me like the cycle is close to finished if you have nitrates and have been ghost feeding with no increase in ammonia... however, "low" and "very low" probably aren't good enough. I'd give it another week or two and keep monitoring levels. I'd also be worried about the no big ammonia spike thing when the rock was shipped and add creatures very slowly. Good luck!
 
kevvypoop313

kevvypoop313

Member
Thanks guys/gals... i appreciate it. i will monitor it for another week or so and go from there. Also, where can i get raw shrimp?
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by kevvypoop313
Thanks guys/gals... i appreciate it. i will monitor it for another week or so and go from there. Also, where can i get raw shrimp?
Grocery store. Use wild caught, raw shrimp.
If your tank has cycled there should be Nitrate present...
 
kas2247

kas2247

Member
I bought a bag at Walmart... the hubby cooked up the rest of the bag and ate it, but after smelling the rotting shrimp from my tank I couldn't touch the stuff.
 
kas2247

kas2247

Member
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Grocery store. Use wild caught, raw shrimp.
If your tank has cycled there should be Nitrate present...
He said Nitrate was at 15-20ppm, that should indicate the cycle nearing an end, shouldn't it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top