Is my tank Cycled?

[jayare]

12/4
pH-8.0
Ammonia-1.5
Nitrite-2
Nitrate-50
Alk-17.5
Calcium-347

12/10
pH-7.7
Ammonia-0.5
Nitrite-1
Nitrate-100+
Alk-13.7dKH or 4.9meq/L
Calcium-326
Phosphates-0.25

[jayare]

Tank was seeded with Live Sand from ARC Reef for 3 weeks. Then, Aquacultured Live Rock from ARC Reef was harvested from the ocean and has been in the tank for 2.5 weeks. The above readings make me think the tank may be cycled, and wondering if I should do a 20% water change.

[mcgyvr]

No.. the tank is cycled only after ammonia and nitrite measure zero..
Don't Rush... Nothing good happens fast in this hobby..

[Ron Reefman]

You are moving in the right direction, and that's good. But like mcgyvr said, don't rush it.

Two other points. 1) Once it's cycled it's important to add new livestock slowly as they will add new ammonia (poop) to the water supply and more bacteria will develop to remove it, but it doesn't happen overnight. 2) Just because the tank is cycled doesn't mean all is well. For the next 1 to 3 months you'll likely get some blooms of various algae and maybe even unwanted bacteria. It takes 3 to 6 months for a new tank to become stable and start to mature. Most tanks become truly mature in 6 to 12 months.

[RobZilla04]

Green hair algae in 3, 2, .....

[scooter31707]

Green hair algae in 3, 2, .....

The Brown Diatoms first.

[jayare]

Thanks for the replys, yes I have some diatoms and GHA starting to grow. I am currently running my lights for 5 hrs a day, thinking about turning them off. I also plan to add some Chaeto to the sump soon to help with nutrient export. Plan is to add a cleanup crew after tank cycles and start with a fish or two and a couple easy SPS corals.

[AK707]

i would keep the light off 24/7 no need to encourage algae growth. I started with a couple easy cheap soft corals then a couple cheap lps frags just incase they died i was only out a few bucks..kinda like a cheap test run

[sde1500]

not with ammonia still testing it isn't. Your Alk is way high too

[Mark9]

not with ammonia still testing it isn't. Your Alk is way high too

and calcium is way low. Testing error?
Whats your salinity at?