Cycle Question (not much ammo)

[SkinnyPete]

So, I cycled my 110 gallon tank with 1 (yes, only 1) raw shrimp, and 100lbs of lr from lr.com. Plus 50lbs of dry base rock and I threw 25lbs of that crappy ls from a bag on top of my 4 inch dsb.

I only used 1 shrimp because I assumed adding that much rock at once would cycle my tank nicely. Feedback I got was that I didn't really need much ammo from shrimp with everything else.

Now, my ammo didn't spike too high, neither did my nitrites. Ammo peaked at slightly above 1 (don't have my documentation with me) and Trites peaked at .2 just 2 days ago.

As of this morning, Ammo is 0 and trites are 0. Nitrates are only at 5. Seems a little odd that Trates didn't get much higher.

Now, I'll keep testing for a week or so to make sure everything stays at 0 - but, does it seem like my tank cycled? I've read that adding that much lr at once sometimes shortens the cycle or doesn't cause much of a spike, but is my tank healthy? After 10 days?

Just want to make sure I don't see a mini cycle when I eventually add my first fish.

Thanks

- Skins

 

[LittlePuff]

I would add another shrimp (or 2) and see what that does to the numbers.

Kim

 

[EJS4]

Ammonia is converted to nitrite and nitrite is converted to nitrate.
So if there was not a lot of ammonia or nitrite there would not be a lot of nitrate.
100lbs is a lot of LR and will reduce your cycling time because it is providing the bacterial colonies to your tank. Giving it a few more days will only allow those colonies more time to spread.
Is the original shrimp still in the tank and is it decomposing? If so and your numbers are zero the ammonia and nitrite are being converted as they are produced. Test it again today and let us know what you got.

 

[cardinal]

i think you will see a bigger spike yet...
10 days is too soon....yes the LR will help bacteria and filtration
post more figures in 3 weeks ) when the water is more mature.
good luck

 

[SkinnyPete]

Tested today - Ammo 0, Trites 0, Trates 10. The shrimp is actually gone now. Probably stolen by a hitchhiker.

I threw in two more raw shrimp this morning and put them in a lettuce clip to hopefully avoid any future shrimpnappings. I'll monitor water conditions for a couple more weeks and see what happens.

Thanks. Have never cycled fishless before so your help is appreciated.

 

[malkore]

What I see here is a cycle that did complete, but the actual quantity of bacteria is probably quite low. You have a cycle that could handle a small bio-load.
I would add a couple more shrimp. You should see another ammo and NO2 spike, and trates should really start to climb.