Tank doesn't seem to have started it's cycle

[NewbReefer]

well im in my 5th day of what should be my tanks cycle but i haven't notice a ammonia spike and it has pretty much sat at .25 for those 5 days, my nitrite started off at zero and slowly climbed to 3.0 but seems to have leveled off, my Nitrate started off at 20 and climbed to 30 but it too seems to have leveled out. my Ph sits at about 8.0-8.4, do i need to add a piece of frozen shrimp or just be patient? i would have thought i would have seen my ammonia rise by now.

 

[yote]

If you stared off wit cure live rock and live sand,you may not see an ammonia spike.I would just keep an eye on it for a day or 2.Watch for your nitrites to drop down to zero.
Once the nitrite drops,do a 20% water change,and you should be ready for a fish,or maybe a clean up crew.

 

[yote]

OH,as a side note.
Alot of ammonia tests will read .25 when its actually 0.

 

[NewbReefer]

I didn't use live sand and the LFS said the live rock i bought from them they had just gotten in and so i had figured it wasn't completely cured, but i'll keep an eye on the Nitrates and Nitrites for another day or two, if they drop to 0.0 i'll introduce a fish and just keep a close eye on the parameters. Thanks for the tip on the Ammonia tests, i'll have to remember that. Has anyone ever gone threw a cycle without seeing a ammonia spike? Didn't know if it was possible for the ammonia to spike and drop off over a 24 hr period, or just not happen at all.

 

[RAYRAY]

It Took My Tank Almost A Week Before The Ammonia Spiked In My Tank Using An Uncooked Shrimp. Now My Ammonia Is Droping And Amy Ntrites And Nitrates Are Climbing !!! Take You Time With It , Thats The Best Advise That Everyone Here As Given Me . Good Luck !!!

 

[yote]

When I started my 30,I used live rock along with live sand.I never did see any ammonia with it.Im not say there was none,It just didnt get high enough for my kit to pick it up when I tested.
Dont do anything untill your nitrites go back to zero though.Once that happens,do a water change to drop the nitrates.Watch it for a week or to make double sure,then add a hardy fish.
You to close to get in a hurry now,Dont rush it,and have fun with it.

 

[NewbReefer]

Im tryin not to rush it just tryin to figure out wether my tank is actually cycling or not. Im actually getting my refuge together while im waiting. :bounce:

 

[fishbait]

it took a week or so for mine to show amonia also. i didnt have much live rock but i did throw in two pieces of uncooked coctail shrimp. it took a total of three and a half weeks for my tank to cycle. it seems a little strange to me that you are allready showing nitrates on you test kit. as that is a by-product of of the amonia to nitrite to nitrate cycle. which is the cycle youre tank hasnt been through yet. did you use tap or ro water?

 

[NewbReefer]

i used declorinated tap water, but am now using RO, on the 8th day into the cycle my Nitrate peaked at 40 and Nitrite at 5.0 and ammonia seems to have been steadily decreasing from .25 to 0 over the 8 days, but not sure if my ammonia was even at .25 or really at 0. im now on my 9th day and my Nitrate dropped to 30 and Nitrite dropped to 4.0, but i also just added a good amount of LR so we'll see what effect it has on it, it was suppose to be fairly cured in there tank though. if everything continues to zero out i'll introduce a fish and keep an eye on it, but only once my numbers are at 0.

 

[fishbait]

have to tested your tap water for nitrates right out of the tap? that could be
whyyou are allready showing nitrates when you arent into that part of the cycle.

 

[NewbReefer]

i haven't tested it right outta the tap but i did test it outta the tank the day i filled it and it was 20, which i counted as day 1 of my cycle. prolly a good idea to test it though.

 

[Bifferwine]

I bet you those nitrates came from the tap water and not your cycle... Tap water can have very high nitrate levels, which you try to fix by doing water changes, but if you're still using the bad water to change it out, you're not fixing the problem. Day 1 of a normal cycle should not have nitrate levels of 20. Switching to RODI water will definitely help dilute out those nitrates that you started with. I wouldn't worry about it too much though at this point, it's nothing that regular water changes with RODI water won't take care of.

 

[fishbait]

sounds like you're water supply is the problem. :)

 

[AndyB4784]

If your nitrites are increasing it means that ammonia is being processed. Your Nitrates increasing is a result of your nitrites being processed. This is a cycle. Wait until you have 0 nitrites & 0 ammonia readings and then do water changes until your nitrates are at zero. Then it's time to begin adding stuff. Be patient and wait. This will also be an important time in your tank as you will be allowing your LR and your sand to populate with many different type of fauna in a predator free environment.

The longer you can wait the better.


ANdy

 

[NewbReefer]

im going to test my tap water today, i've been using RO water for the last 4 days but the tap water would explain why i started out with Nitrates. so im just gonna watch my lvls and see what happens. They might continue to drop or i might get another mini cycle cause of the LR i added.

 

[NewbReefer]

Heres my cycle up to date, notice on days 8-10 i drop then jump back up for 2 days, thats the day i added more live rock.

 

[NewbReefer]

are nitrites toxic to snails, crabs and shrimp?

 

[yote]

Yep,But not as toxic as ammonia.
After your nitrites hit zero,you can drop the nitrates with water changes.

 

[reeffreak]

Yeah,like yote said nitrite is still toxic to inverts as well as corals and fish.It looks like your almost there.According to your charts your nitrate is dropping too.Seems like something is taking care of that also.

 

[NewbReefer]

yeah if things continue the way they are my Nitrates might zero out just after the Nitrites do, im guessing it's because im running my protein skimmer which is doing better than i thought it would, i thought it was gonna take some time to break in, but i guess not. I hate seeing all the algae in my tank, thats why i was wondering if it would be toxic to those inverts. well it shouldn't be long now.