Tank cycling

[Saltybumfuzzle]

hey guys, so I started my first saltwater tank (exactly 2 weeks ago) which is going to be a reef, but I had to go away for a week so I set my tank up and started the cycle with just water and Bahamas oolite sand just hoping I might have a head start when I got home. So when I got home I've been testing the water every 2 days for the past week since I've been home, and everytime the parameters were the same, ammonia-0.50 ppm, nitrite-2.0 ppm and nitrate-10.0 ppm. But today my nitrates seemed to spike up to 40.0 ppm, I mean I am new to saltwater but I watched a bunch of videos and I thought ammonia and nitrite were supposed to be 0/undetectable before nitrates spiked, I guess I'm just looking for help/advice with the cycling haha. But anything helps thanks and I've had some live rock that I bought as soon as I got home in the tank so it's been in there for about a week. (I do need one more piece in that empty spot) and sorry for the long post haha

 

[Saltybumfuzzle]

The picture won't upload

 

[alyee5]

Sometimes the presence of nitrite interferes with the nitrate measurements- i.e. False high readings. What test kit are you using? Also how are you feeding the ammonia?

 

[Saltybumfuzzle]

Sometimes the presence of nitrite interferes with the nitrate measurements- i.e. False high readings. What test kit are you using? Also how are you feeding the ammonia?

Ohh I didn't know that but I'm using the api saltwater test kit, with the glass tubes and the drops. But I just had the live rock and live sand, i thought those would be enough, but this is my first saltwater so I don't know too much haha. Oh and the live rock I bought was still curing, they said it was close to being done but not quite.

 

[Tahoe61]

How large is the tank?
There may have been a lot of die off on the rock you bought or the rock was not established enough to make a noticeable difference in cycle time.
Two weeks is really not very long for a saltwater tank completely cycle.
Keep in mind that API test kits may show a low level ammonia level in error.
If I were you I would add some bacteria in a bottle such as Dr.Tim products or Microbacter7 to aid in promoting the biological filter.
It's takes a lot of patience to cycle a sw tank but it pays off in the long run.

 

[Saltybumfuzzle]

How large is the tank?
There may have been a lot of die off on the rock you bought or the rock was not established enough to make a noticeable difference in cycle time.
Two weeks is really not very long for a saltwater tank completely cycle.
Keep in mind that API test kits may show a low level ammonia level in error.
If I were you I would add some bacteria in a bottle such as Dr.Tim products or Microbacter7 to aid in promoting the biological filter.
It's takes a lot of patience to cycle a sw tank but it pays off in the long run.

Ohh yeah I forgot to say that it was a 10 gallon, I was thinking about getting something like that with the bacteria but I don't have the money for the fish I want yet so I decided not to get the bacteria since I couldn't start to stock my tank yet. But you said it could read a low level of ammonia in error, did that mean like it could be higher than its reading, or could it have no ammonia but it's reading a small amount?

 

[Tahoe61]

I am inclined to think that the tank is still very much cycling. The API value is still too high even if you consider the common API test kit error, a false positive for ammonia.
On a ten gallon you're only going to house one or two smaller fish types, so do not over stock and space out additions.
Give the tank a full 6 weeks is my advice, but others will state that once you see no detectable ammonia or nitrites it's safe to stock. There are more aspects to cycling a tank other than what we can test for.

 

[Saltybumfuzzle]

I am inclined to think that the tank is still very much cycling. The API value is still too high even if you consider the common API test kit error, a false positive for ammonia.
On a ten gallon you're only going to house one or two smaller fish types, so do not over stock and space out additions.
Give the tank a full 6 weeks is my advice, but others will state that once you see no detectable ammonia or nitrites it's safe to stock. There are more aspects to cycling a tank other than what we can test for.

Ohh okay, but yeah I thought it was still cycling also. And I'm just thinking of going with 2 clownfish, and maybe later on, one other small fish but definitely no more than that.