it can't be that easy......can it?

[supafreak]

anyone who has ever had trouble cycling a tank is gonna want to kick me in the ass, but only a week after setting it up, my amonia has gone from 0.3 down to o.1, my nitrite has gone from 0.5 down to 0.1, and my nitrate is now at 15. i know the basic chemistry of cycling a tank, but is it possible that my numbers rose then dropped only to rise again? I sure hope not! I was expecting much higher numbers, and a much longer time frame........it really can't be this easy can it?

 

[RocketSeason]

Mine was similar, except my nitrates were 0.

What are you cycling with? do you have LR? what type of filtration???

need more info.

 

[supafreak]

i have 2 aqua clear 300's and a bit of live rock (not enough) and tones of base rock. I also have 4 damsels in there. i did borrow stuff from my established tank, like filter medium, and water, and a bit of crushed coral

 

[quarryshark]

It could go up again, I would watch it for another couple weeks. Make sure it is stable before proceeding.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

what size tank do you have?

 

[indy]

Having filtration from an established tank will generally shorten your cycle times. But the cycle can fluctuate from 0's back up to 1.0's and back down. You'll want to wait until you have a couple weeks of 0's, not 0.1's before you consider the cycle complete.

 

[supafreak]

ok, thanks guys. i'll let you know when i see it at 0. what about the nitrate? is it ok to see a number there? or do i want it at zero? oh and as someone had asked the tank is 120g

 

[RocketSeason]

My cycle went rather fast, but I waited about a month after it was done before I added my first fish. I also had a diatom outbreak I wanted to get rid of first.

you really want your Nitrate levels to be at 0.