What type of cycle is expected?

[Redhaze]

Hi chaps,

whilst in the planning stages of a new 260 UK Gal coming at the end of the year I've decided to set up my old 55g. 88lbs of old Live Rock has been sat in containers with SG at 1.025, Temp 78 F & Powerhead for about 6 months with the odd water change here & their. Last water change done was about 2 moths ago & after recent testing as expected Nitrates were of the chart!

So Friday I filled the tank with the LR, added 3 qtrs of RO/DI (SG at 1.025) & the rest with the water that the LR has been sat in (my thinking here is that maybe this would give me a kickstart in terms of some cycle?). Skimmer packed with Carbon & Phos remover, 3 x Powerheads & heater all turned on.

After about 2 hrs the water was cystal clear. No substrate was added as I wanted to go bare bottom. After testing the results were....Nitrate 50, Amm 0.25, Nitrite NO TEST, Ph 8.2, SG 1.023..........I let this sat till today & about an hr ago done a 25% water change. Tests after were Nitrate 2.5, Amm 0.25, Ph 8.3, SG 1.025.

Whats next.....do I basically sit & wait? What type of cycle would I expect?

Any info much appreciated
:rollface:

[pnosko]

What do you mean by type of cycle?

[sir_dudeguy]

same as what pnosko asked...what do you mean by type? did the rock have any powerheads in w/it to circulate in the buckets? i'm not sure how live it would be w/out them..but it should be fine i think...

but i think it may be considered un cured rock now...the nitrates were off the chart, so there must have been die off...So my guess is it could take anywhere from 1-5 weeks...most likely somewhere in between. You need to get nitrite test kits tho...thats part of the cycle...pH and SG dont really have anything to do w/cycle but those are a solid range to be in for them...try as much as possible to keep them right where they are.

[bertoni]

Live rock curing is inherently unpredictable, but you might not see much ammonia ever. Hard to say. I'd just take it day by day.

[Redhaze]

Cheers for the replys chaps,

what I was trying to get at was would I expect the normal cycle of 4-6 weeks with the rock im using? Its more or less dead base rock now is it not?

The rock as above has been sat in a container for about 4 months with the odd water change. Powerheads & heater were on at all times. Buying a small amount of new LR to seed this rock at this time is out the question money wise.

I wasnt sure how much of a cycle to expect with using this old LR? The same as if using new LR???

[Redhaze]

Thanks for clearling that one up Bertoni.

Taking it day by day was exactly what I planned to do. Just nice to have it confirmed.

I think this post was done with itchy feet? - set back up after a break wondering when my first introduction would be..lol...I should know better! Ahhh it's nice to be back!

Thanks again chaps for the input