Established rock

[Ni111]

So ive been told i MIGHT have established rock which means i dont need to cycle. I put a shrimp in and took it out after about 4 days then checked my parameters and everything was normal apart from the ph needs to be a little higher and i had only 1 ammonia level which i could get rid of with water changes. I would like everyones opinion on what they think thanks

 

[melosu58]

While trying to cycle dont worry about the PH. The added ammonia and nitrires will skew that. But yes if you have estabished LR you might not see much of a cycle. I would stay with the cycle for another week to be sure.

 

[Ni111]

Can you explain to me how the established rock doesnt need a cycle ?

 

[carey]

Live rock has die off from when it's moved, so sometimes you get a small ammonia spike and thats pretty much it. My first tank had establised rock form some guys 300g breakdown. I dosed with ammonia and saw my cycle complete in a week. And that was at 4ppm of ammonia.

 

[Ni111]

See im stuck what to do now though should i put anything else in my tank ? because i left the prawn in but then i took it out because it was basically separated all over the tank and the smell was terrible.

 

[Buffy]

Post your test results so people can see where you're at.

 

[Ni111]

genral hardness 180. Carbonate hardness 180 (whatever that is). ph 7.5. Nitrates 40. Nitrite 0 . ammonia 1.0

 

[Buffy]

Thanks, I'm sure an expert would be around soon to explain. Only thing I know is ammonia needs to be 0.

 

[Ni111]

I know when i shown one my parameters he said i might not need a cycle, he suggested a water change and a ph buffer and ill be able to put fish in but im confused haha