Cycle Q?¿?

[RaveChild]

My tank is almost 3 weeks old now and I have yet to see any traces of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate? Is this normal?

I currently have ~50+ lbs of live rock, a 3 stripe damsel, a blue devil, a neon dottyback, 2 hermit crabs and 9 snails. Now before I get yelled at for having this stuff in my tank already, the guy I got my live rock from broke down his aquarium and didn't know what to do with them, so I took them.

The live rock came directly from his tank into mine resulting in almost absolutely no die off. I also have a bunch of little snails, bristle worms and a mushroom living happily in my rock.

So anyways how long can I expect to wait before I see a cycle??

My current params are:
Temp - 77.8 - 79 deg F
S.G - 1.025
Ph - 8.1
Alk - 110-120
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

 

[ClamKnuckle]

the tank might already have cycled....you have fully cured LR and probably had very little die off. The bacteria is already there to break down the waste from the fish in the system. I have read other posts on here before with people in similar situations that never saw an ammonia spike. When i cycled my 90 with fully cured LR it took no time at all too. Some one a little more experienced should chime in though.

 

[revhtree]

You may not see it. From what I understand the LR you have that came from an established tank was probably able to keep up with the biological demand.

 

[RaveChild]

Also aside from it comming from an established tank, it also came with the same fish. So I am assuming it is still supporting the same bioload it was in his tank. Right??

 

[ClamKnuckle]

that seems like a safe guess
did you get the entire set up from him or just LR and fish

 

[RaveChild]

Just the LR, fish and crabs

 

[revhtree]

Sounds like you may be good to go!!!

 

[RaveChild]

I should also mention that last week I had a small outbreak of diatoms that has since cleared up. To my understanding this is something tha generally occurs after the cycle has completed.

 

[revhtree]

True. I had the same thing happen. I had a brown/rust looking outbreak.

 

[RaveChild]

But my water tests still show no sign of nitrates.

 

[Atari]

Which brand test kits are you using?