16 days into cycle ?????

[spongebobby]

I'm 16 days into my cycle and i have a few questions?

My water tests show:
NO3(trates) 40 ppm
NO2(trites)+10.0 ppm(higher than what my test kit shows)
Total Hardness 425
Alkalinity +300(higher than what my kit shows)
ph 8.4
Amonia .2

Everything in my tank is turning brown and the water smells really bad. My ammonia was spiked like a week ago and has came down on its own.Now the trites are through the roof. I purchased a canister filter to try and clear the water up but it's still real cloudy. Im running a course filter, then carbon, then sub-micron filterin the canister. It has been running for about 15 hrs and does'nt look any better. Any suggestions there. Also is all the stuff gonna die on my LR? Does this sound like a typical cycle?

Thanks for all the help....Great Site

 

[cmor1701d]

You have anoher 2 weeks or more to finish your cycle. It sounds like a normal cycling process.

 

[SeriousDude5]

Yea I would say about a week and a half to two weeks more just let it run its cycle!

 

[spongebobby]

Is it ok to scrub the LR to get the brown stuff off of it?

 

[SeriousDude5]

I would say just leave it in ur tank it will eventually go away taking it out of the water and scubing it cannot be good for it...

 

[cmor1701d]

You could take it out and scrub it but don't have to. It will clear up on it's own as the tank matures.

 

[grimlock3000]

Removing any LR from the tank might encourage additional die off if you have any sponges or similar creatures in there. Use a CLEAN turkey baster and blow the waste off the rock, that will help make the tank look more tidy.

 

[spongebobby]

I just took one of the PH and went around and blew the LR with it. Worked pretty good. Just trying to get all the decay of the rock and into the water column so it can be filtered . Looks a little better. My wife thinks something is wrong because of all the brown algae growing on everything. Gonna do a 25% water change Sat. Hopefully that will bring the NO2 & NO3 to more tolerable levels for the latter part of the cycle. What do you all think??????

Thanks...

 

[aquafreak]

I am told that the 'best' thing that you must do while cycling is to 'leave everything alone for a while'. Then see how things are in 45 days or more.

 

[cmor1701d]

While improving the water parameter a little, doing a water change while cycling will lengthen the time of cycling. Just let it finsh. The best advice I got in the this hobby is 'nothing good ever happens quickly in a salt water aquarium'.

 

[flanque]

i had that happen to mine. i got this thick film of sludge on the top of the water and the smell was absolutely horrible. it took about 2 weeks for it to go away.

there's a product called Stability which is very high in the oxidisers for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. this product claims to be able to let you put fish in from day one as long as you follow the instructions.

after my use with it i trust it but not enough to not cycle a tank first. i would most certainly use it to speed the cycle up though.

you'd be well advised to swap the pre-filter pads over regularly and once the smell goes you might want to add some activated carbon to clear the water up, but i would only do that at the tail end of things as the filtering will take care of a lot of the brown.

if you can get Stability then certainly start using it for my money. its worth every cent.