Rock curing cycle stalling out

ReefCAKE

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I am cycling some pukani in a tub for an upcoming build. It has been cycling for close to 45 days now and seems to be stalling out. I started the cycle with a frozen shrimp and some Seachem Seed. Ammonia spiked and went back down to 0ppm within a week, the nitites rose and have stayed elevated for a few weeks now. I've never had a cycle stall out like this before. Any ideas?
 
I am cycling some pukani in a tub for an upcoming build. It has been cycling for close to 45 days now and seems to be stalling out. I started the cycle with a frozen shrimp and some Seachem Seed. Ammonia spiked and went back down to 0ppm within a week, the nitites rose and have stayed elevated for a few weeks now. I've never had a cycle stall out like this before. Any ideas?

I would not worry too much. Could be simple test kit error as well (which test kit? How high?). Personally, I rarely bother to test Nitrite even when cycling. After 45 days with your setup you should be close if not done.
 
Dry rock? If so, it can take a long time for anoxic bacteria to develop to lower the nitrate. Have you been testing phosphates? They can rise as well as the dead organic material starts to decay in the rocks.

There are some people who do not have dry rock start to contribute for up to two years... and others that swear that it is no different than using real live rock. YMMV.
 
Nitrite often takes a long time, and IMO, is unimportant. If you can show you can process ammonia rapidly, I think you are good to go to slowly start adding organisms.
 
also, the surfaces in this aquarium had enough bacteria by 10 days ago, duration cycling with any form of boost (which you had) is 30 days it works all the time if you have normal amnts of surface area in the tank like rock/sand etc. unboosted dry substrate cycles take longer (where they were only hydrated and left to contamination elements to proceed)

your leftover water and its metabolites may or may not test accurately to show a completed cycle, but there is still a final step for you to know if its stalled and it wont be:

add ammonium chloride up to about 1 ppm no more into the tank

if your ammonia test kit registers 1 ppm approx., and then in 24 hours it has moved down at all, zero not required, you are cycled as predicted.

do a massive water change, add some starter corals and clean up crews. set

if you don't have AC or want to mess with it, going off other threads that already did we can still call your cycle completed, not stalled. you've got to re challenge ammonia to truly tell, but that's not required. the reason I only use ammonia in my cycling threads as the complete and total assessment is due to what Randy said above. nitrate tuning is for algae control, when ammonia disappears over time in a system meeting surface area and submersion minimums there is always nitrate produced, whether or not we detect it ranges so I don't use anything but ammonia and duration in my cycling threads. you mentioned some neat details in the first post that made me think its done, not stalled.
 

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