Advice for cycling first week!!

[krayken]

16 biocube - Dry rock and live sand.

After week 1, I got no ammonia, then I dropped 1 dead shrimp and got a lot of ammonia the day after, I dosed some Bio-SPIRA yesterday and here is the test today. Am I on track or doing something wrong? Thanks, guys.

 

[Copingwithpods]

How big of a piece? All that's needed is a 1cm cube or less

BTW congrats on pegging that kit, do some water changes to bring nitrates down below 20 and wait for the last of the ammonia to disappear and you should be good to go.

 

[Doobie65]

16 biocube - Dry rock and live sand.

After week 1, I got no ammonia, then I dropped 1 dead shrimp and got a lot of ammonia the day after, I dosed some Bio-SPIRA yesterday and here is the test today. Am I on track or doing something wrong? Thanks, guys.

Not sure why your Nitrate is so high already, may be the Bio Spira. At any rate you need to get some out by doing a water change. Maybe 30 %

 

[OREGONIC]

Nitrates seem very high for 1 week. Did you use RODI water? Also a small tank like that a whole shrimp is probably to big. I prefer dosing ammonia because its easy to control ppm when dosed.

 

[krayken]

How big of a piece? All that's needed is a 1cm cube or less

BTW congrats on pegging that kit, do some water changes to bring nitrates down below 20 and wait for the last of the ammonia to disappear and you should be good to go.

u mean the size of the shrimp?

Nitrates seem very high for 1 week. Did you use RODI water? Also a small tank like that a whole shrimp is probably to big. I prefer dosing ammonia because its easy to control ppm when dosed.

yes, I used RODI water. Maybe I used a jumbo shrimp for this small tank, lol. I took it out already, will do water change tomorrow.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

I'm sure I'll get some slack for this... But I would either:

1. Leave everything as is - The Nitrates will likely solve themselves at the end of the cycle, but disturbing the cycle may give odd results. This would include making sure you don't dose anything else and just patience and time run the course.
2. Start Over - If it is really a concern, you're only a week in. If you were to start over, you only lose a week. Remember, building on a solid foundation will prevent disaster in the future. I remember some odd story about the house built on solid ground vs that of sand.

If you choose to start over, I have a guide to cycling a fish tank that may help. Overall though, I wouldn't worry about Nitrate until Ammonia and Nitrite both hit 0.