Etcool
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2010
- Messages
- 24
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.
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.