Something does not seem right with my cycle..

[DracoKat]

either that or I am still unsure how it goes.

my tank's been cycling for a week and 2 days. I used a piece of shrimp for 4 days, took it out then fed the tank with regular fish food daily to keep it going.

Here's my current test (the test is upside down to match the color better). Nitrate and Nitrite are down, but ammonia is still high. I thought ammonia is supposed to be the first one to go down? Is this normal?

 

[Paulski510]

Anything dead in your tank is going to relese all kinds of nutrients.your tank hasnt been cycling for long enough.give it another three weeks or so for everything to get stable

 

[bigroost]

Once your tank starts processing ammonia the other two will go up.

 

[DracoKat]

thank you. 2-3 days ago the nitrate and nitrite was high. today it dropped. I am expecting them to go up again before ammionia goes down?

 

[pga7602]

If you pause your fish food feeding, you will see ammonia drop to zero. At that point, you dont' have to feed fish food anymore and just wait for Nitrates and Nitrite to drop. Then it's time to add Cuc and a few fish to start.

Because your have just the rocks, feeding the tank with fish food everyday during a cycle will keep ammonia up.

 

[DracoKat]

ok, so I should stop feeding the tank?

 

[FishLover01]

thank you. 2-3 days ago the nitrate and nitrite was high. today it dropped. I am expecting them to go up again before ammionia goes down?

You don't have to continue feeding the tank daily. You should have left the shrimp in and then maybe added a pinch of flake food. Also, regular household ammonia could be added but at no time should ammonia be higher than 4ppm. For the most part, ammonia will remain at 4ppm for about 3-4 weeks. At this point there would be no nitrites or nitrates. Once nitrites appear, ammonia will start dropping. Once ammonia is at 0ppm and nitrites are at 0ppm, and you have nitrates in the tank is when the tank is truly cycled. If your nitrates get too high, which for a marine tank, would be around 20ppm, you could do partial water changes over a couple of days to get the nitrate level down. You could change 15% one day and then change 15% the next day. Don't do a major water change as the tank will try to recycle. It's rally easy. Google "aquarium nitrogen cycle' to learn more. Good Luck.

 

[Salty1962]

Your tank probably still has a way to go during which you'll have swings. I would let it go through it's paces for a few more weeks and see how things are going. I wouldn't recommend any WCs until your system has fully cycled, there are some products that will help speed up the process. I'd also recommend getting a better test kit that API. Their not very reliable

 

[cjd]

starting a tank from new rock, sand and fresh water takes 30 days before you can add anything. After the initial cycle your nitrifying bacteria will be weak so add slowly , a small clean up crew is recommended at this stage. a few hermits ,snails, etc. about 2 weeks after that an easy to keep hardy coral and a small easy hardy fish. Wait another 2 weeks add something else. Only advice I can give you is to leave it alone for 30 days. don't rush it , don't put any products in it to speed anything up, just let nature take is course and let your tank become your living reef. Nothing good in this hobby happens fast. All seasoned reefers may argue on the best this or that , but all can agree on going slow.

 

[DracoKat]

thank you for the advice, everyone!!

I was making sure my tank's heading in the right direction. seeing the testing going this way threw me off and confused me

 

[cjd]

Yes , using raw dead shrimp can throw the cycle out of whack and could actually take longer to complete. Best advice I ever got when I started this hobby is "set it and forget it" Its very hard to resist cause I want a reef tank NOW!

 

[DracoKat]

lol, I have the patience. I even put photos of fish on my tank so it won't seem so empty while I wait!

 

[Taso1]

you have a long way to go for sure, stay patient.
I would suggest a better test kit then API in the future, IMO.
good luck

 

[Tahoe61]

This is the reason I do not leave the shrimp in the tank.
I would do a small water change.

 

[DracoKat]

I am still conflicted about the shrimp- regardless it is out of the tank.

seems like 50% says leave the shrimp in, other 50% says take out early. either way, my tank will get cycled in the end!

What test kits do you think is better than API?

 

[cjd]

Tasting the water is better than API ,.... just saying. P.S. don't taste the water.

 

[DracoKat]

LOL. Trust me, I know tasting water is bad. yuk.

RedSea testing good?

 

[Taso1]

Red Sea is a very good test kit.

A good idea for "shrimp" or other cycling foods is to put it inside a small nylon bag, that way you can remove the broken down organic matter once you are done cycling. I don't see a big deal throwing a few shrimp in the tank but I'd probably just mush em up an toss them in. Probably allows for bacteria to break it down faster.