Newbie Need help with cycle

[RazBFC]

So today the 12th November is the second day of the cycle 50L/10G ive tested my water with Salifert test kits

Ph - 8.15
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrate - 20

Why is my nitrate so high or even detectable im using RODI water pre mixed from my local fish shop with 4.5kilo on Live Rock and crushed coral Sand. by any chance has my tank already cycled or do i need something boost the cycle such as a raw prawn/shrimp.

[Danny_15]

Thats how the cycle is. Until there is nothing of amonia or nitrite and a little nitrate your tank is cycled and oyu gonna get grey hair with diatoms

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[K-Dubbs]

I'm no expert but I'm going to guess the nitrate is coming from live rock die-off if you have no bio load in there. You need something to break down to ammonia then to nitrite to get nitrate. I am currently dosing my 10g tank with Dr.Tims Ammonium Chloride Solution for a fishless tank cycle. I have mostly dry rock with about 2.75lbs of live rock, and arag-alive crushed coral for the sand bed. You basically need to add something to the tank to feed your bacteria so they can grow populate your tank. This way when you do actually add fish they are ready to handle the bio-load. There are many ways to do it, but I like the dosing option myself!

I have had my tank up for ~48 hours and I'm reading:
.25 Ammonia
0-0.1 Nitrite
2 Nitrate

Good luck!

[RazBFC]

I'm no expert but I'm going to guess the nitrate is coming from live rock die-off if you have no bio load in there. You need something to break down to ammonia then to nitrite to get nitrate. I am currently dosing my 10g tank with Dr.Tims Ammonium Chloride Solution for a fishless tank cycle. I have mostly dry rock with about 2.75lbs of live rock, and arag-alive crushed coral for the sand bed. You basically need to add something to the tank to feed your bacteria so they can grow populate your tank. This way when you do actually add fish they are ready to handle the bio-load. There are many ways to do it, but I like the dosing option myself!

I have had my tank up for ~48 hours and I'm reading:
.25 Ammonia
0-0.1 Nitrite
2 Nitrate

Good luck!


Yeh i forgot to mention my live rock is already cured which would leave my believe that the rock is already cycled.