Cycling question, I think

[severum mama]

Hey all, I just got my test kit tonight. I'm using the AP SW Master Kit. I just tested the water, and I don't know what to do next. pH is 8.2 from what I can tell, nitrite and nitrate are 0, but ammonia is 8.0! I'm assuming I need to do a water change; if so, how much should I change? Also, I brought home the rubble from 6 boxes of Marshall LR tonight, thinking it will help my cycle along and be useful for my sump later. Should I add it tonight, or should I wait until I do a water change? I only have a bucket of RO/DI tonight so a pwc will have to wait until tomorrow night when I can bring some SW home.

Thanks, and hope my questions aren't too dumb!

[melosu58]

Do not do a water change. That will slow your cycle down. Everything is going good here. You will see an ammonia spike and then nitrites will go up and then nitrates at the end. When you have 0 ammonia and nitrites and high nitrates then you do a PWC about 40% and you`ll be ready to go. I imagine this LR is not cured if it`s in a box. I would go ahead and put it in the tank and it might prolong your cycle but you have to cure it anyway so why not do it during the cycle. To help out I would rinse it off in salt water and try to take off as much die off as possible so not to prolong it too long. I know having to wait longer is not a good prospect but you would have to cure it in a tub anyway for several weeks anyway. Good Luck and let me know how it goes.

[severum mama]

Thanks for the input! I wasn't planning on doing a pwc until I saw the ammonia reading of 8.0! I checked out the articles section and found one about curing LR that recommended a pwc every 2 days. I put the LR in the Rubbermaid last Tuesday with a Maxi-Jet 1200. I assumed that since the Fiji rock had been out of the previous owner's tank for at least a couple of months, it wouldn't have anything living on it anyway by now. Then I added the rubble out of 9 boxes of uncured Marshall rock and apparently it really kicked off the cycle. I haven't done any pwc's yet, but have been topping off with RO/DI. I guess I will go ahead and add the rubble tonight. It doesn't matter much to me if this takes a long time because I don't even have my tank yet! All I have is a stand, a tank for a sump, and the LR, but I'm working on the rest.

[melosu58]

Sounds like a plan. Wish the best for you.

[Devilishturtles]

I agree. No real sense in doing a water change right now. The only reason I would feel the need to would be if there was a whole lot of life on the rock that you wanted to keep alive (I'm talking inverts, snails, stars, etc.). Like melosu said, it will slow your cycle down.