Weird cycle, any advice?

[tkeeo761]

Good afternoon,

I've been cycling my 29 gallon FOWLR setup for almost four weeks now doing fishless. I put in 30 lbs of cured liverock, 10 of which straight out of an aquarium getting torn down. I put in 20 lbs of live sand and saltwater straight from the LFS. I have two koralia 425 powerheads and a reef octopus HB-1000.

For the first week my readings were
SG 1.026
Ph 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

They didn't move so I threw in two pieces of shrimp and left them the for three days.

So the second week my readings were
Ammonia 2
Nitrite .5
Nitrate 5
Ph7.8
Sag 1.026

4 days later they were
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 5

The third week they were
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5

Today, 2 days later, they are
Ammonia .25...barely (I actually thought these were 2 while I was writing this, but I'm colorblind and just redid the test and had my neighbor check and she said it was actually just a little over 0)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Ph 8.0
SG 1.026

With that said, what are your thoughts on the cycle? I have had amphipods and copepods all over my glass for the last three days, and my pink coraline is spreading as is my red coraline. No crazy diatom bloom ever or algae bloom, I think my skimmer (almost the size of my tank) has been taking care of my nitrates because I never had a a giant nitrate spike.

Any input is awesome. Thank you

Jack

 

[tkeeo761]

Actually maybe it is not zero

So my girlfriend came home and the tests tubes have been sitting unpoured for the last few hours and all look the same color, except the ammonia. Now she says it looks like it is 1ppm now. Do the colors change as they sit for a long time? It is an API saltwater master test kit.

If it is in fact 1ppm why did it drop with everything else and then suddenly rise? This cycle is driving me crazy.

Thanks

Jack

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Yes if you let them sit they will change and become like jelly.

 

[Ingy]

For API, the tests are supposed to sit for 5 minutes.
Did you shake the living bejesus out of the Nitrate test bottle #2. Otherwise it wont give accurate results. Your really have to follow the directions for the nirtrate test. It is finicky, unlike all the others.