4 Day Old Cycle/Nitrites High Already?

[RickkyBobby]

I have a 65 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump i recently set up with ro/di water..
I put about 15 lbs of live rock and the rest base rock on Saturday with 2 uncooked shrimp.

Yesterday my test readings where

PH 8.4
ammonia .50
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 0

Today my test readings are

PH 8.0
ammonia .50
Nitrite 5.0 PPM
Nitrate 10 PPM

The nitrite shot way up over night.. Maybe i should remove the shrimp?
Im just not sure right now.. Looking for opinions,, TY

 

[LaWoWee]

Leave the shrimp in. When your amm and nitrite hit 0 and the shrimp is still decaying then you know your tank is ready to handle a good bioload.

 

[RickkyBobby]

Ok cool I'll leave it in, I just thought it was way to early in the cycle to have nitrites that high

 

[begginersluck]

Keep it going thats a good sign!

Really pleased to see another fishless cycle by the way! Well done

 

[RickkyBobby]

Checked levels again today and there about the same as yesterday.

 

[Phranque]

Definitely leave the shrimp in.... I had detectable nitrites on day 2, and pretty high by day 5 with nitrates developing, so you're right on track. Waiting for the Nitrites to get back to 0 takes a little while.

 

[RickkyBobby]

well that makes me feel better then.. Ive been searching the internet for the last 2 days for cycling information, lol.. I was up last night till 1:30 in the morning looking thru all kinds of forums including our here on AA!!

Ive been putting this tank together since July and got a good amount of money into it so far, so now i guess im just being paranoid at this point because i dont want anything to go wrong here in the home stretch.

I guess i can get some sleep now, im exhausted ..

Ty All for the help so far, This website has been a wealth of info for me since the beginning



Ill post more results when my levels change

 

[Phranque]

Don't worry.... we all know how much is invested in time, worry, and actual hard $$. But, accept the fact that no matter how much you prepare, things are going to happen..... Prime example is we all read & preach "don't overfeed", but you're not going to know what overfeeding is until you do it and learn for yourself.

Remember, there are two types of tanks... those who have had algea, and those who will have algae!!!

 

[RickkyBobby]

No algae yet here phranque, so I'm the one that will be getting it sooner or later. The other question I have is about the live rock I had put I at the beginning of the cycle. There looks like there are some black spots on some of the rock and the Rock doesn't look as good as when I got it. Should I just leave it alone or remove and clean it somehow? Just let me know your thoughts on this.

Here are some new test results also ( things are changing)

Ph. 8.4
Ammo .25
Nitrite 5.0 or higher
Nitrate 40

 

[Phranque]

Just let the LR be..... it's being cured it at the same time you're cycling.... there's going to be stuff on there that's going to die off during the high ammonia/nitrite phases, but that's also contributing to the bioload pushing the cycle. Some of the black spots could be small sponges that have died.

 

[RickkyBobby]

Ok will do Ty phranque . Will keep updating with more results.

 

[RickkyBobby]

alright,,,
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites =0
Nitrates 20 ppm
PH about 8-8.2

So my next question is, my nitrates are only 20 ppm.. I thought they would be a bit higher after my Nitrites reached 0.. I still have a little bit of decaying shrimp left in my tank (i guess it wont hurt to keep it in there for now?)

Should i get some ammonia and dose to 4ppm to make sure everything is good?


I haven't done a water change at all yet either, I was going to when i made sure my cycle was over..

let me know what ya think

 

[Phranque]

Fantastic!! I'd leave the remainder of the shrimp in for another couple days & keep testing daily...... verify that the ammo & nitrites are holding at 0, and the nitrates are continuing to climb, then do your water change & you are good to go.

You going FOWLR or reef?

 

[RickkyBobby]

fowlr for now.. I may go reef in the future but im in no hurry. wanna just get my feet wet with fish only for now.. Ive had tanks years ago and all this stuff is coming back to me slowly. this is my first time doing the fishless cycle..

My concern was , i didn't want to have no ammonia source or to small of a source in there and have to start my cycle over again but i do have a little bit of shrimp in there now still decaying and from what you are saying that should be enough..

I guess i better start thinking about what fish i want.. .. I know im kinda restricted being its a 65G tank.. and not sure if i want aggressive or not. I know what im doing the next couple days..lol

 

[Beengirl]

fowlr for now.. I may go reef in the future but im in no hurry. wanna just get my feet wet with fish only for now.. Ive had tanks years ago and all this stuff is coming back to me slowly. this is my first time doing the fishless cycle..

My concern was , i didn't want to have no ammonia source or to small of a source in there and have to start my cycle over again but i do have a little bit of shrimp in there now still decaying and from what you are saying that should be enough..

I guess i better start thinking about what fish i want.. .. I know im kinda restricted being its a 65G tank.. and not sure if i want aggressive or not. I know what im doing the next couple days..lol

May I suggest a foxface??!! Super cool fish! And they work for aggressive and community tanks!!

 

[RickkyBobby]

i like your thinking beengirl.. i was looking at them.. I think ill start out with a clown fish of some sort first (i always liked them).. Then ill go for the Foxface second..

when should i add a CUC? Theres really no algae in the tank right now. What kind of CUC? I assume my LFS would have some? Ive seen some websites selling them too..

 

[Beengirl]

I like astrea snails, banded trochus snails, conch, scarlet reef hermits, and zebra hermits. Your LFS should have most, if not all, of those. You can add some now, they eat microscopic algae that we can't see.

 

[RickkyBobby]

I like astrea snails, banded trochus snails, conch, scarlet reef hermits, and zebra hermits. Your LFS should have most, if not all, of those. You can add some now, they eat microscopic algae that we can't see.

Ok great.. ty for the input on the CuC..

 

[RickkyBobby]

I was wondering if I should throw in another shrimp just until I'm ready to do my water change. There isn't much left of the 2 shrimp I put in there at the beginning of the cycle. . If all my levels are still ok by Friday I'm going to do a water change then go get a fish. Ammonia and nitrites right now are 0 . Nitrates are about 20. I'm just thinking about keeping an ammonia source going until water change on Friday if parameters are still ok because there isn't much shrimp left in there right now. .

 

[Phranque]

If you're going to do it on Friday, then you're fine.... no need for extra shrimp. If you were going to be waiting a couple/few weeks, then yes, you'd want to maintain an ammo source........