Where's the cycle??

kas2247

Member
A friend of mine just set up a new tank--it's a 10gal with about 15lbs of LR. It's been set up for 25 days and he is cycling with a damsel (don't shoot the messenger, please). He has one of those stick-on ammonia indicators which has shown nothing and he's also tested ammonia, nitrites and nitrates numerous times with a real test kit (not sure what brand) with results always being zero. He's feeding both flake & frozen foods. There were a few snail/hermit crab hitchhikers that are still alive and well. The tank is covered in algea and he says the damsel isn't looking so good, but all tests are still zilch. Shouldn't a cycle have started by now? What's going on here?
:help: Suggestions would be muchly appreciated.
Thanks!
 

bang guy

Moderator
If the live rock was pre-cured and there wasn't much die-off in transit then the tank could already be cycled. Meaning it has stable bacteria populations from the rock.
 

kas2247

Member
Thanks Bang. I'll let him know.
One question though--wouldn't the trates be high(ish)? He hasn't done any water changes because he was waiting for it to cycle. I was wondering if it was already cycled too, but was under the impression that he would have to do water changes regularly now to keep the trates down. Maybe I'm wrong here?
 

travis89

Active Member
If there is adequate bacteria in/on the lr then there won't be any nitrates, because they will break them down.
 

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by kas2247
A friend of mine just set up a new tank--it's a 10gal with about 15lbs of LR. It's been set up for 25 days and he is cycling with a damsel (don't shoot the messenger, please). He has one of those stick-on ammonia indicators which has shown nothing and he's also tested ammonia, nitrites and nitrates numerous times with a real test kit (not sure what brand) with results always being zero. He's feeding both flake & frozen foods. There were a few snail/hermit crab hitchhikers that are still alive and well. The tank is covered in algea and he says the damsel isn't looking so good, but all tests are still zilch. Shouldn't a cycle have started by now? What's going on here?
:help: Suggestions would be muchly appreciated.
Thanks!
I would strongly suggest a secondary testing source for Ammonia and Nitrate. IMO nitrates don't go down on there own.
Mc
 

kas2247

Member
You guys are really helpful... thanks for the replies!
If nothing shows up soon, he's going to take a sample somewhere to have it tested.
Thanks!
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by grumpygils
I would strongly suggest a secondary testing source for Ammonia and Nitrate. IMO nitrates don't go down on there own.
Mc
Exactly what I was thinking. Nitrates are the final stage of the cycle and are not broken down by any bacteria. You either remove them or use a refuge in which the plants in it feed off of the nitrate. I would definately have the water double checked to be sure it is finished cycling. The fact that there is so much algae could be a factor in no nitrate reading. The algae is a plant and would feed off of the nitrate. If there was never a large ammonia or nitrite spike then the nitrate spike would also be small and easily consumed by an overabundance of algae.
 
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