Tank cycled in 2.5 weeks?

[amyd619]

Is it possible for a tank to completely cycle in 2 and a half weeks? It's a 36g tank with live sand, 36lb of live rock with plants growing on them. Also have few turbo snails, white legged hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp and a damselfish (only been in tank for 4 days). My ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are all 0 and spiked a little last week. My PH is 8.0. Think it's safe to add more fish besides the damsel?

[Sniperhank]

I'd give it some time to see how your parameters pan out.
Was the damsel your fish in cycle fish? Either way they are a holy terror and I'd personally get rid of it due to their aggressive nature.
I'd still give it a couple more days of watching your parameters to make sure they are steady before adding another fish.

[PB_Smith]

did you start the tank with rock or filter media that was already cycled?
I have had tanks cycle that fast, but only when started with a very healthy dose of seeded media.
but even then you will want to add new stock slowly over time to allow the bacteria colonies time to adjust.

[amyd619]

This is my first tank so I'm not sure if the rock was cycled or not but I think so because it had a bunch of stuff growing on it when I got it.

The guy at the LFS said my tank was probably ready for fish but the damsel would help it even further. It wasn't until after I got it home that I read up on them and found out how aggressive they were. And of course mine is a tuxedo damsel and they seem even worse. Do most LFS let you return fish? How does that work?

[Sniperhank]

Call them and ask.


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[spoonman]

If you haven't done a water change it is kinda weird for the nitrates to be 0ppm. Usually the result of the cycle is high nitrates....