Going away during cycle..

[RoryJ]

I am going away for a week and my tank is currently cycling. Will it be ok to just leave it alone for a week?...The last i checked the levels where:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 5 ppm
Nitrates 80 ppm
I am leaving in a few days and I assume the nitrates will continue to rise, will this be ok to just leave be?..Or do I have to have someone do a water change? Or anything else I might not be aware of?

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

This is a fishless cycle, correct? If so it should be fine but you may need to do a few water changes to get those nitrates down when you get back

 

[RoryJ]

This is a fishless cycle, correct? If so it should be fine but you may need to do a few water changes to get those nitrates down when you get back

Yes fishless cycle..and will the nitrates just keep climbing until I do a water change?

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Not necessarily. The nitrates will climb until one of these is met:
1. All available ammonia and nitrites are already converted to nitrates and there is no other source for them (I.e. You are not ghost feeding and there's no dead shrimp in there or die off from live rock, etc)
2. Something that consumes nitrates shows up, like algae (either unwanted algae in the DT or something added to the fuge like chaetomorpha)
Or 3. You remove manually with a water change

Given your reading of 0 ammonia and 5 nitrites it's likely that the nitrates will rise more than they are now but will stabilize some time over the next week while you are away, but that depends how long you've been cycling

 

[RoryJ]

Not necessarily. The nitrates will climb until one of these is met:
1. All available ammonia and nitrites are already converted to nitrates and there is no other source for them (I.e. You are not ghost feeding and there's no dead shrimp in there or die off from live rock, etc)
2. Something that consumes nitrates shows up, like algae (either unwanted algae in the DT or something added to the fuge like chaetomorpha)
Or 3. You remove manually with a water change

Given your reading of 0 ammonia and 5 nitrites it's likely that the nitrates will rise more than they are now but will stabilize some time over the next week while you are away, but that depends how long you've been cycling

Ok thanks..Yeah this Thursday will be 2 weeks, and so far not a sign of any algae or diatoms at all..Like I said it was a fishless cycle with bacteria and dr tims ammonia and dry rock and sand