Why won't my tank cycle??

carorella88

carorella88

Member
I am having issues!! Or rather my tank is, nut anyway it has had 45 lbs of live rock in it now for a good two weeks, and none of the signs of even starting to cycle are there!! The rock is live,, i can see critters and some coraline growth on it,, and they are still colorful and everything. I tried adding bacteria startes , like you can get in a bottle at pet stores.. nothing.. the levels have stayed the same except for minor fluctuations, ammonia is still around .25 ppm,, sometimes it gets to like .30, nitrates are around the same, trite's too.. temp. has been stable at 78 degrees and salinity has been good around 1.023 and 1.024... whats going on here?? And also I have noticed that the rocks are starting to look a little brown; what is that all about.. I don't want this rock to die!! Help!! Why isn't my tank cycling? Also, theres nothing in it but the live rock, i have a protien and wet dry/sump filter with bioballs and mechanical filtration working, no chemical filtration as of yet..
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
From what you are describing, your tank is showing EVERY sign that it is cycling. If you have ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, that is exactly what it is doing.
Tanks cycle at different rates. You can only try and speed up the process with additives such as stresszyme, but that is no guarantee. My 60g took a month to cycle fully. Some tanks take even longer. You need to be patient.
The brown on the rock could just be algae, and that is normal.
Question - what size is your tank? Just wondering about the quantity of LR you have in comparison.
 
abhaya

abhaya

New Member
It seems your tank is cycleing it takes time. You can try adding some hermit vrabs they live through anything they might help get things going a bit more.:)
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
It depends. 45 lbs of LR in a 46g tank may help enough with filtration that the levels don't spike that much. My 60g had ammonia spike to .25, nitrites to .5 and nitrates to 15. Not too drastic. I cycled using the raw shrimp method too, along with the LR and LS. But if you have any noticeable amount at all, that is part of the cycle. Some have levels that are off the charts for testing. It really varies from tank to tank.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
carorella88
The typical graphics we all see in the books - always show the ammonia spike, then the nitrite and finally the nitrate.
We've all seen the curves - right.
Well ...... these graphics do not include the use of live rock.
Once you place live rock in the tank - all bets are off on how one may "predict" how the tank will actually cycle.
These curves plotted against the concentration vs time normally are used as illustration - and assume you place a fish or two in the tank to start the nitrogen cycle.
Live rock tank cycling normally does not follow these traditional looking curves. There are tons of bacteria already present in the rock.
I think you're fine.
 
dindi

dindi

Member
To cut it to a nut shell, your amm has spiked then the nrites, next nrates, be patient and all will be fine. your tank IS cycling, just check your water at least once aweek and all will be fine. patience is a virtue:D
 
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