Where Am I In My Tanks Cycle?

[Angeline]

I have been testing my chemical levels in my water, and now I'm down to this, and I'm wondering where in my cycle I am.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0

Is it time for me to do a water change? And then slowly start stocking?

[Shooter7]

To borrow the standard LFS line...."Looks like yer good to go!"

Seriously though, yeah, do a water change to try and get those nitrates down a bit, add your clean up crew, look at getting your first fish. :cool:

Keep doing tests occasionally to make sure you're staying stable.

[Angeline]

I definately will keep testing weekly.

I'm going to do a water change today, check the levels again and then get a light for the tank before I get the cleanup crew and coral. The first fish is still down the line.

Just wanted to make sure I was on track, thanks for the info!

[Paul B]

I would not do a water change yet. You can put in some hardy crabs, snails etc but the nitrates are fine for now. You want nitrates in there now so the denitrificating bacteria can keep growing nicely. Eventually of course you will have to change some water but I would wait. It sounds bad but you do not want a very clean tank during cycling. Also it is not cycled just because your test kit reads zero for ammonia. As soon as you put something in there you still have to wait until more bacteria grow to convert the wastes. Now it is just cycled enough for whatever you cycled it with in the first place.
Paul

[Angeline]

No, I understand not wanting a perfectly clean tank while cycling. Should I add some snails and crabs before adding coral?

[Paul B]

I would not add coral for a few months. You can add snails, crabs and fish but only gradually so the bacteria can keep up with the load. They do not grow overnight. The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite grow fast but the bacteria that convert nitrate grow much slower as you found out with your high nitrate.

[Angeline]

Ok thanks.

[bertoni]

Personally, I'd do the water changes. They would pull out secondary metabolites and toxins from decaying animals. The denitrifying bacteria will be fine. 20 ppm is overkill for food, anyway.

[Angeline]

Oh the conflicting information ;) I think I'll do a small water change and add some of my cleanup crew and then see what my levels are like in a few days before doing anything else :)

[Paul B]

As you can tell, it really doesen't matter one way or another.
Have a great day.
Paul

[Shooter7]

I kind of leaned towards a little water change too, since the waste would help fuel algae growth. Wasn't really looking for a squeaky clean zero nitrate reading, more of a middle of the line medium in the 10 - 14 range perhaps. :cool: At any rate, this is what has worked for me before. YMMV Reef on!...as they say. :rollface:

[TekCat]

I agree also on water change. In fact I'd prefer huge one to export as much nitrates as possible. Then wait for three weeks before adding anything (even a snail or a hernit). This time is going to be well spent perfecting your testing routine and keeping water parameters in check. This time, focusing not just on Ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, but also pH, temperature, salinity, Alkalinity, Ca, Mg, and PO4.

REEF ON :)

[Paul B]

I would disagree with that too but it still is not too important. You should keep animals in there while the tank is cycling or it would stop cycling. Just my opinion though.
Have a great day.
Paul

[bertoni]

I generally recommend waiting for three weeks to add animals, in order to avoid losing them to any secondary ammonia spikes. The only issue with a large water change is that it might be stressful on the organisms in the rock. I would do a few 20% changes. They're about as effective as a similar single large change, and probably not too much work.

[UrbanSage]

I wan't to chime in with my own opinion here as well :D

Go for a water change. But do not try to have a tank going through it's first few months as a pristine environment.

You wan't some dirt in there to build up the buffer against changes the tank will need when you begin stocking it.

20ppm is not bad though.... So I guess my advice boils down to. "Don't do anything in a hurry :D"