One week into cycle, do these number look abnormal

[LMDAVE]

I started my cycle 1 week ago, 38 gallon tank. About 30 lbs of dry rock, and 10 lbs cycled live rock and live sand base.

I got the initial ammonia spike then saw presence of nitrite about 3 days later (things where cycling faster than I expected), ammonia is coming down but leveling around 2 PPM. I wasn't testing Nitrate much in the beginning but when I did today I already had 15 PPM. I'm running my protein skimmer and getting a healthy skim off daily. Should I just let the cycle continue or take any action now? Attached is a picture of my log.

 

[GBRsouth]

It's looking good. Keep testing for when you reach zero ammonia. When that happens, be aware that no more "food" is coming in for the bacteria. So to keep the bacteria alive, til you have livestock, it's good to dose ammonia to a maximum of 2ppm per day, to keep the bacteria fed. Look for when your system can remove 2ppm ammonia per day to know it has enough bacteria to support life. Also, I don't think at this stage you need to daily test ph, weekly is ok.

 

[LMDAVE]

Thanks. Should nitrates eventually come down on their own during the cycle since no livestock In the tank?

 

[redfishbluefish]

No, nitrates won't come down on their own....you need to "export" them.

The high nitrate you're seeing now isn't coming from your cycle....it's coming from that dry rock you put in the tank....rock curing. The dead stuff in and on that dry rock is decaying and leaching out of the rock.

 

[LMDAVE]

I was suspecting that, since I’m curing/seeding the dry rock with my cycle. So does that mean I should start water changes during the cycle already?

 

[mjlash22]

Most typical way to "export" is to do a descent size water change once you hit 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.