Is my tank cycled?

[Kawika]

Today is day 21 since my tank was set up. I am snowing no signs of algae or but today I tested and it seems like ammonia is pretty much gone but nitrates and nitrites are very high. I did a 25% water change this morning so I was supervised seeing such high nitrates. Readying these tests are super hard so I thought I would ask for other opinions. Thanks for the help.

Ammonia: 0.1ppm
Nitrites: 1ppm (?)
Nitrates: 50 ppm
PH: 8.0
KH: 13.3 dkh
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 78.5

 

[lapin]

The cycle grows bacteria.
Ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
After 21 days if you have high nitrates and no ammonia then your base cycle is done.
Big water change to bring nitrate down to around 10 then add a small fish or 2.
Once you see green gorwing you can add some snails to help clean your tank

 

[Kawika]

So it has been a week and i did a 25% water change yesterday and my test results are pretty much the same except ammonia seems to be going up. I have no live stock and I am not adding anything to the tank. I did notice a ton of white slime yesterday so I did a water change. Today I woke up and I have reddish brown stuff all over my sand bed and glass. It feels like stuff is changing but tests are not. I want to introduce a clean up crew before algae gets to out of control but I don’t want to rush anything.

Salinity: 1.026
KH: 11.6 dkh

 

[lapin]

If there is nothing dying in the tank and you are not adding food or ammonia, then the ammonia can not rise. If you can use a different test kit for ammonia or get the sample to your LFS to double check.
The brown is prob diatoms which are the first to appear in a new tank. You can add a clean up crew. You might have to feed them.
I would do a big water change to bring down the nitrate and add some snails

 

[DaddyFish]

Don't forget that after you do the water change you must add something back to the tank as an ammonia source, or the benefical bacteria (BB) you have cultured will die off, and the entire tank cycle must be restarted. You cannot leave a tank fallow of all things that produce ammonia and expect it to thrive.

 

[Kawika]

Thanks for the replies. I was following Red Sea reef mature but that ended so now should I start ghost feeding while waiting for the cycle to complete?

 

[lapin]

Thanks for the replies. I was following Red Sea reef mature but that ended so now should I start ghost feeding while waiting for the cycle to complete?

There is no need to ghost feed unless the tank will sit for a month. Right now you have a lot of bacteria. Ghost feeding will increase the bacteria population. I think you have enough right now. The nitrate shows this. As you add fish slowly, and feed them, the bacteria population will grow to meet the demand.

I see you still have nitrite. I would wait for the nitrite to go down before I called the cycle semi complete and ready for fish.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Your cycle is not done until you have 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite. Nitrate only matters for coral and algae not necessarily the cycle. The general advice is not to change any water until the ammonia and nitrate are gone and then change water to reduce the nitrate which takes much longer for the bacteria to process.
Reading your story, I have to ask about your source water. Are you using tap? RODI? Something in between? For you ammonia to go up without a food source or fish waste is quite unusual unless you started with live rock which will experience some die off which will produce ammonia as well.
I would test your water change water. To me it seems you are introducing ammonia somehow and that seems the most likely based on your description.

 

[Kawika]

Your cycle is not done until you have 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite. Nitrate only matters for coral and algae not necessarily the cycle. The general advice is not to change any water until the ammonia and nitrate are gone and then change water to reduce the nitrate which takes much longer for the bacteria to process.
Reading your story, I have to ask about your source water. Are you using tap? RODI? Something in between? For you ammonia to go up without a food source or fish waste is quite unusual unless you started with live rock which will experience some die off which will produce ammonia as well.
I would test your water change water. To me it seems you are introducing ammonia somehow and that seems the most likely based on your description.

My water change water came from a LFS and i will test that before doing anything else. Thanks for the help.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I feel like @brandon429 would be a good help here!

 

[ColdOceanReef]

I found out changing the water only prolong your cycling time. Just let it sit for a few more days untile ammonia and nitriles are undetected. Your Nitrates will be somewhere in 50s or 60s. Then do a massive +70% water change. Perhaps Nitrates is the only thing you detect once your tank is cycled.