Cycling question?

[Kellysan03]

Hello i am a nb to saltwater. I set up my 20L on February 4 and i added dr tims one and only and ammonia. Now my ammonia has gone down and my nitrite and nitrates are high. Just wondering what every ones opinion is? Should i just let it do its thing or do a water change? I have done a lot of research and i am very conflicted!

 

[Oropher]

You would wait for nitrite to be 0 then you could do water change to reduce nitrate.
However that is only cycling for nitrification process (converting ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate).

After that, begin developing denitrification process that converts nitrate into gas.

However after that water change you could start stocking a fish. Watch out your bio load as the bacteria population has just started growing.

Happy reefing.
Welcome to R2R

 

[Kellysan03]

You would wait for nitrite to be 0 then you could do water change to reduce nitrate.
However that is only cycling for nitrification process (converting ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate).

After that, begin developing denitrification process that converts nitrate into gas.

However after that water change you could start stocking a fish. Watch out your bio load as the bacteria population has just started growing.

Happy reefing.
Welcome to R2R

Thank you so much just wanted to make sure i didn’t want to stall my cycle. And I definitely will be watching out for my bio load. I won’t be adding fish until the cycle is complete and then i will take my water sample so my lfs can check it as well. Thank you so much!

 

[BeejReef]

You're doing it perfectly. Dr. Tim cycle is commonly 3-5 weeks. You're def getting there!
Don't freak out over the nitrate reading being so high. It will continue to appear disgustingly high until your nitrite goes to 0. Then you'll have a better idea of how hardcore you need to be with water changes to get your tank to where you are happy with your numbers.

 

[tankstudy]

Your nitrites are extremely high. It appears to be ~5 ppm. You'll want to do a 25% to 50% water change.

If you google Dr. Tim's one and only or look for some of his current videos, he'll explain the issues of having nitrite greater than or equal to 5 ppm or initial ammonia greater than or equal to 8 ppm. When your water parameters hit one of these barriers or even both, your cycle slows greatly.

A water change will not set you back. The bacteria actually become inhibited by an over abundance of either nitrite or ammonia. Bringing it down will allow the bacteria to properly function again.