Two weeks into tank cycling

resuahknaf · Mar 25, 2023

Hey everyone, I'm new to the hobby and currently two weeks into cycling my tank using Dr Tim's ammonia, one and only, and first defense. I did lots of research on how to use the products and made sure the water temperature was raised, salinity was lowered, no lights, no skimmer, no filter sock, no fish, but of course I have an API test kit which seemingly everyone says not to use. Everything seems to be moving along, pH has dropped, ammonia and nitrites spiked and dropped, and nitrates have spiked.

My concern is the pH and nitrates. Should I be waiting for ammonia and nitrites to drop before doing a water change to lower nitrates? Or should I wait it out a few more days (look into a different test kit as well) and retest and reevaluate? Trying not to react to a problem that very well could just be in the process of sorting itself out.

glb · Mar 25, 2023

resuahknaf said:
Hey everyone, I'm new to the hobby and currently two weeks into cycling my tank using Dr Tim's ammonia, one and only, and first defense. I did lots of research on how to use the products and made sure the water temperature was raised, salinity was lowered, no lights, no skimmer, no filter sock, no fish, but of course I have an API test kit which seemingly everyone says not to use. Everything seems to be moving along, pH has dropped, ammonia and nitrites spiked and dropped, and nitrates have spiked.

My concern is the pH and nitrates. Should I be waiting for ammonia and nitrites to drop before doing a water change to lower nitrates? Or should I wait it out a few more days (look into a different test kit as well) and retest and reevaluate? Trying not to react to a problem that very well could just be in the process of sorting itself out.

I’d just wait it out. Once you have zero ammonia for two days, your cycle is complete. At this point you shouldn’t have any nitrites. I remember having ph issues during my cycle but they didn’t seem to cause a problem. Doing a water change after the cycle is complete will get the nitrates back into a normal range. Good luck!