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Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 11:33 AM
.... at least I think so.

Started cycling our 56 gallon 3 days ago. Have about 30 pounds of live rock in it, 40 pounds of aragonite, 20 pounds of live sand.

Been checking the levels daily. No ammonia or nitrite readings YET but I had about a 10ppm of nitrates when I checked this morning.

Isn't this odd?? :confused:

P.S. No critters in there yet. I have been adding the stuff every day to avoid "new tank syndrome" and some pH balancing stuff but that's IT.

Randy Holmes-Farley
10/14/2009, 11:36 AM
What nitrate kit?

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 11:41 AM
What nitrate kit?

The liquid drops-- API brand.

Randy Holmes-Farley
10/14/2009, 11:47 AM
It may not read accurately. Many nitrate tests are not very accurate, especailly at low nitrate levels.

Also, some nitrate kits will read a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate. Despite the nitrite kit reading little, the nitrate kit can falsely report a small amount as a lot of nitrite.

Anyway, I'd mostly focus on ammmonia for a couple of weeks to be sure there is none. That is really the only thing to worry about. Nitrite is not generally worth monitoring as it is not toxic and rarely is elevated past initial cycling.

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 11:55 AM
It may not read accurately. Many nitrate tests are not very accurate, especailly at low nitrate levels.

Also, some nitrate kits will read a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate. Despite the nitrite kit reading little, the nitrate kit can falsely report a small amount as a lot of nitrite.

Anyway, I'd mostly focus on ammmonia for a couple of weeks to be sure there is none. That is really the only thing to worry about. Nitrite is not generally worth monitoring as it is not toxic and rarely is elevated past initial cycling.

Good to know, Randy! Thanks!!

So if the ammonia is still at zero in a few weeks are we good to go? OR do we HAVE to have a spike then see it go down to zero?

:wave:

Randy Holmes-Farley
10/14/2009, 12:06 PM
If it is actual live rock that you started with (not dead base rock that is becoming live rock), then you are good to go (slowly) if there is no ammmonia for a couple of weeks. :)

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 12:55 PM
If it is actual live rock that you started with (not dead base rock that is becoming live rock), then you are good to go (slowly) if there is no ammmonia for a couple of weeks. :)

We are using fully cured live rock. Plus when we move over the critters we'll also be moving our live rock from the nano that is now a year old with lots of corraline. So pretty!!

So if things are still looking good with ammonia in 2-3 weeks we'll start the acclimation process with the critters. Thanks!!

Yippee!! :D

Randy Holmes-Farley
10/14/2009, 12:58 PM
:thumbsup:

Good luck. :)

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 01:31 PM
:thumbsup:

Good luck. :)

Thought of one other quick question. Should I be dropping a few pellets (that I feed the clown) into the new tank? If not, (dumb question, sorry), what makes the ammonia (nitrogen) process start to begin with?

Billybeau1
10/14/2009, 02:24 PM
I would not drop food pellets in your new tank. Sometimes people start their cycle with a raw, cooked shrimp or something. You will need enough good bacteria to handle the ammonia that is produced by your tank and fish. This usually takes a little while to establish.

Some people never see a cycle. Others see it after 4 weeks.

I would give your tank another couple of weeks to cycle and watch ammonia levels. And make sure you have a good ammonia test kit. :)

bertoni
10/14/2009, 04:07 PM
Since the tank has live rock, that should be enough. I might start feeding very lightly to help keep animals in the live rock going, maybe a few flakes or a small pellet or two, but that should be a very small amount, and if it doesn't disappear overnight, back off. :)

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 07:22 PM
Since the tank has live rock, that should be enough. I might start feeding very lightly to help keep animals in the live rock going, maybe a few flakes or a small pellet or two, but that should be a very small amount, and if it doesn't disappear overnight, back off. :)

Thank you all for the great advice!! :D

luther1200
10/14/2009, 07:39 PM
Did you use RO/DI water to fill it, plus salt of course? If not maybe there was some NO3 in the tap water?

Percula9
10/14/2009, 08:07 PM
Even though the rock appears to be fully cured, there may be small areas in the deep crevices that have some die off. This may be the source of the nitrates.

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 08:37 PM
Did you use RO/DI water to fill it, plus salt of course? If not maybe there was some NO3 in the tap water?

Bought the salt water from the LFS. ;)

Ahwagirl
10/14/2009, 08:38 PM
Even though the rock appears to be fully cured, there may be small areas in the deep crevices that have some die off. This may be the source of the nitrates.

Good point!! My LFS dude said to just plan on 4 weeks at the minimum. We're patient as we've been through this before and realize the importance of cycling. Just *wish* it was faster. :lolspin: