Tank Cycle

[wotis11]

First let me start by saying I'm new to this forum and this is my first post but I've been in the hobby for about 15 years. I already have my own opinion on this topic but I would like to hear everyone else's opinion and thoughts. I currently have a 10 gallon tank with 12 lbs of sand consisting of 10 lbs dry and 2 lbs of live sand that was purchased from my lfs to seed my tank and 12 lbs of live rock. I started the tank about two weeks ago and let it sit for 4 days to let the salinity and temp stabilize with the 10 lbs of sand in the bottom. After the 4 days I added the 2 lbs of live sand and the 12 lbs of live rock. A few days after that I added an ocellaris clown. I know everyone has mixed feelings about cycling with a fish but I've cycled every tank I've ever had with either a damsel or a clown and never had a problem until this time. 3 days after I added the clown I did a water test and my ammonia was a little high and both nitrite and nitrate were testing 0. Three days later my new clown was dead and my lfs said they needed a water sample for the guarantee. They tested my water this morning and said my tank is not cycling anymore and that is not what killed the clown. So my question to everyone is, can a tank cycle in two weeks? Every other tank I've ever had took at least a month to completely cycle even with live rock.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Your cycle didn't start until you added the clown, and that's most likely what killed it, it was after all living in a toxic environment

 

[wotis11]

That's what I would think too but if that was the case that means my tank cycled in 6 days. Is that possible??

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

No your tank is still uncycled. The easiest way (not to mention most humane) is to just get a thawed cocktail shrimp put in a media bag and throw it in the tank for about a week. After about a week take it out and let it finish the cycle until you have no ammonia or nitrite for a couple days then do a few large wc's to get your nitrates down