How long

[Hara]

I am sure that all tanks are different, but what is the average time it takes to go to 0 ammonia? We had ammonia the second day the tank was up and running..dead shrimp rot fast. It is now the 10th day and I am seeing no signs of the ammonia dropping, even though the live rock was supposedly cured, all the dead shrimp were removed. In my FW tanks, after I got the ammonia spike, the nitrites kicked in rather quickly.

Is this radically different?

 

[Bang Guy]

It happens when it happens. There is no strict formula. Mine was about 6 weeks. I cycled with uncured live rock.

 

[donkeykong]

I have cycled 2 tanks the first was a 20gl and I cycled with two fish. It finished just under 4 weeks. My second was a 80gl that cycled with 55lbs of LR. and sand seeded with substrate from an established tank. that only took just over a week for everything to drop to 0. It all depends on size and the way you cycle it.

 

[CaliGal]

Hara, hi...

For the record, I waited 6 long weeks!!! for my tank to cycle. An oh-so-long 6 weeks, too, as this was my first experience with SW. I could not WAIT for my first fish; and she is with me today, 8 months later, a beautiful Longnose Hawkfish, Ms Hawkins.

(And, I highly recommend this fish to anyone new to SWF. The mortality rate for this fish is very low, and the largest reason (by percentages) one would loose her or his LN Hawkfish is due to an open tank. Ms Hawkins will eat from my fingers, and she is the FIRST at the dinner table each meal. AND... she just loves my cooking!!! =] .)

It's worth the wait, Hara!!!

Sue

 

[fishfreek]

Hara, your post here gave me a great idea yesterday. Given that I just got some raw live rock in I figured I would document the curing process complete with ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings.

This is not just to help you see the process but also for future members.

Plus its kind of fun experementing like this.