new saltwater tank cycle time

[DJB]

I started a 110 gallon saltwater tank FOWLR 3 weeks ago
My cycle now is as follows
PH 8.0
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 2+
Nitrate 10
Salinity 1.22
I have live rock and the following fish / invertabre
1 fox face
1 kole tang
1 skunk dotty back
6 green chromes
1 knoby back star fish

How long should the elevated nitrite level last?
It has been at 2+ for about 3 days now
Thanks
DJB

 

[Mr. Crabs]

It's hard to say. Good thing is that you have a big tank but that is a bit on the high side of stocking in 3 weeks time. I would give it another few days and look for the drop. In the mean time, you might want to throw a 25% water change on there to help the fish out.

 

[TheTodd]

+1 to the water change.


Ultimately the cycle will take as long as it takes. 4-6 weeks is average, but I've heard of longer. Most people don't stock tanks prior to cycling, so I'm not sure how all that extra waste is going to play out. Keep a close eye on those trites and ammonia. High levels will burn gils and/or kill those fish. Lower levels are not as deadly, but sure aren't doing your fish any good.

 

[chbix]

My 55 gal, along with sump so probably 65-70 Gal total...60 lbs of live sand, 50 lbs of dry rock with 5 lbs of live rock. Threw in 2 raw shrimp, no livestock, and it took me approx 4-5 weeks to cycle.

 

[Phranque]

That is pretty heavily stocked for doing a fish-in cycle..... and nitrites are extremely toxic to fish. I'd do a couple back-to-back pwc's to get those down. During a fish-in cycle, you typically don't want the ammo or nitrites going above 0.25ppm.