Whats going on with my cycle?

pincrusher73

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Hey all,

So I've had my tank up and running for a mnth and a half and im trying to figure out whats going on. First I used dry rock from Marco and seeded that with some lfs live rock. Let that sit for a week and had no change in params. So decided to add couple pieces of shrimp to kick the cycle in gear and I started reading ammonia, but now for the last 2-3 weeks im reading the exact same nitrite and nitrate I was after I read 0 ammonia. So do I need to do a water change or something? Has anyone ever had this happen. Or is it normal.
 
Which brand of test kits are you using?

Did your ammonia get up to at least 3-4 ppm?

You should have seen the nitrite drop to zero by now. You may need to wait a little longer. The bacteria that convert the nitrite to nitrate are very slow growing, compared to the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite.

Seeing rising nitrate is a good thing, as that's the last stage of the cycle. Normally that would be an indication to do a water change. I would advise that you hold off on the water change a little longer though, until nitrite goes to zero.
 
id give it a little more time....the nitrifying bacteria havent caught up yet with processing the ammonia and nitrite...using dry rock will usually take a little longer to build up the needed amount of bacteria even with a little LR thrown in the mix...
 
The test kit I have are API and I also have been using some test strips eventhough I don't really trust them just to compare results. But whats wierd is both nitrate and nitrite are at 20ppm and thats where they have stayed for going on 3 weeks
 
pincrusher73;627717 wrote: The test kit I have are API and I also have been using some test strips eventhough I don't really trust them just to compare results. But whats wierd is both nitrate and nitrite are at 20ppm and thats where they have stayed for going on 3 weeks

IMO API test kit's are very unreliable. Try investing in a better test kit or take your water to a LFS to cross reference with your test kit.
 
Hnguyen;627719 wrote: IMO API test kit's are very unreliable. Try investing in a better test kit or take your water to a LFS to cross reference with your test kit.

I think at the best, API can be hit or miss, especially if old.

Go see Jenn at ImagineOcean in Canton, with a sample of your tank water in a sealed container. She will give you the best advice you can get, IMO.
 
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