Whats Going on With My Water?

[Etcool]

I am very confused with the water parameters in my new JBJ 28 gallon. I thought that when my tank was cycling, I would have an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike, then I thought these would fall to 0 and I would have some nitrates.

I set my tank up last Thurs. (Mar. 11) with water and 30 lbs. of live sand. I let the filter run 2 days with just this. On Sat. (Mar. 13) I added 31 lbs. of cured live rock from my LFS. The rock sat in buckets of water for 2 hrs, in the car during our ride home. I thought because of this there would be plenty of die-off to start my cycle.

I tested my water the following day (Sun. Mar. 14) and my water parameters were as follows.

Temp. -- 78.9 F
Salinity – 1.022 SG
pH -- 7.8
Ammonia -- .25 ppm
Nitrite -- 0 ppm
Nitrate – 0 ppm

I was happy with these numbers because I thought my tank was starting its cycle. However today, is why I am confused about my water.

Temp. -- 78.9 F
Salinity – 1.022 SG
pH -- 7.8
Ammonia -- between 0 and .25 ppm
Nitrite -- 0 ppm
Nitrate -- between 5 and 10 ppm

Is it common to skip the nitrite stage? I thought that adding the live sand could have had something to do with it. So any ideas or info on what is going on and where I am at in my cycle would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you for your time and thoughts.

 

[JustOneMore20]

You need an ammonia source. The die off from the rock probably wasn't enough to provide the ammonia source needed to keep the cycle going. I would throw in a cocktail shrimp and let it decay.

You probably have nitrates from the cured rocks and/or the sand.

Throw in the shrimp and I'm sure you'll see a more defined cycle.

 

[mdaniel2882]

It can happen. if you used truely cured live rock. when I set up mine I never saw any cycle.

 

[thincat]

Just remember that the amount of bacteria is relevant to the amount of ammonia you start off with. So even if your tank is cycled, it is cycled only to the amount of ammonia you started your cycle with. This means that when you add new animal life to your tank you have to add it slowly so that your bacteria will grow to the level to compensate the new bio-load.

 

[Etcool]

If I add a shrimp should it be raw or cooked and how long should I leave it in there for?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

As mdaniel mentioned, if it was truly cured, and you kept it wet, there is nothing to die off. That's what defines "cured" rock... rock that has had everything die off of it, and has an established bacteria population. With nothing to die, there is no ammonia source, like Kristin mentioned.

I'd throw in a raw cocktail shrimp and keep checking your numbers. Most likely, you'll see an increase in nitrates, but no ammonia or nitrites since it sounds like you really do have cured rock. Once you see the nitrates start going up, take the shrimp out, and do your water changes to minimize the nitrates. Then you should be good to go!

 

[Etcool]

hmm alright thanks, I asked the guy at the fish store how long this could make it out of water and he said 30 mins and then I said I had to drive 2 hours home and he said u better put it in water then. So I was under the impression that I would have plenty of die off but I guess not. Thanks again and ill try the shrimp thing first thing in the morning.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If you hadn't put them in buckets of water, you might've had some die off - but even then probably not enough to register on a test kit.

When I set up my tank, I bought cured live rock and had it shipped overnight delivery... airport to airport. It was out of a tank for about 18 hours, but wrapped in very damp newspaper and plastic bags. I only say the smallest "blip" of ammonia show up and then the nitrates showed up. Never saw nitrites.

With the raw shrimp, expect it to take a week or so before you start seeing any increase in nitrates.

 

[Etcool]

So could it possibly be done already? I put the shrimp in yesterday morning and these are today’s test results.

Temp. -- 79.2 F
Salinity – 1.022 SG
pH -- 7.8
Ammonia -- Between 0 and .25 ppm
Nitrite -- 0 ppm
Nitrate – Between 10 and 20 ppm

 

[thincat]

As long as you have any ammonia your cycle is not done. Sit back let the tank do it's thing and read up on all that you want to do with your tank.