Cycling with biomature filter start

[ste76]

Hi everyone. I've been using biomature for 8 days now. I have 25kg of cured live rock in a tank that is holding 150l of water. On day 2 of using biomature my amonia reached 2.0ppm, with nitrites at 1.0ppm.Days 5, 6, 7 and 8 have given me results of Amonia 0.25 and Nitrites 0.25. (My nitrates are off the scale as expected) Would you recommend that I continue to use this product untill my readings are 0, or should I stop using it now?I would imagine that because of the quantity of cured live rock that I have, I may not see a big spike. Would this be right? Thankyou

 

[Andrew McFadden]

You shouldnt see any ammonia or nitrites

 

[ste76]

Thank you, all readings are now 0.

 

[TheTodd]

Nitrates should not be zero though (without a big water change).

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I agree to that ^^ what happened to those?

 

[ste76]

Sorry, your right, my mistake. Nitrates are between 10 and 20 at the moment. I have done a number of small water changes over the past week to bring them down.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Sorry, your right, my mistake. Nitrates are between 10 and 20 at the moment. I have done a number of small water changes over the past week to bring them down.

So all readings are zero because there isn't an ammonia source now, correct? If so the tank isn't cycled and you need to leave an ammonia source for the bacteria in the filter to catch up and turn those numbers to zero on there own.

 

[ste76]

Since posting my original question I have stopped using biomature. I did put 3 prawns in the tank and allowed them to break down after I stopped using the biomature and the amonia and nitrates still read 0.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

If it was me I'd just start adding to the tank but slowly. Just keep an eye on the water quality and it will tell you what needs to be done

 

[ste76]

Yes, I think I will. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and advise.