nitrates

[bdharris66]

when setting up a new tank how long will the nitrates stay up after the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 my nitrates are 20ppm its a 55 gallon tank been set up 2 weeks and do you guys think it is about done cycling oh and my ph is 8.2

[thegrun]

Forever unless you do something to reduce them. You may see a ittle bit of denitrifing bacteria reduction, but unless you have a big deep sand bed or a refugium running with a lot of macroalgae you will need to make large % water changes to bring them down.

[dppitone]

yup

[bdharris66]

I am running a sump with bio balls and I done a 10% water change yesterday and do you think that my tank has cycled moving about 500gph what do I need to do

[thegrun]

Did you ever see a spike in ammonia and nitrites? If so your tank has cycled, if not it is likely it hasn't started the cycle yet and you should add a dead raw shrimp to jump start the cycle. Bio-balls are notorious for raising nitrates; I would consider replacing them with live rock.

[bdharris66]

ok thanks and I just got a test kit this week but Monday my ammonia was .25 and my nitrites was 5

[bdharris66]

now my ammonia is 0 and my nitrites are 0

[thegrun]

Two weeks is a very short cycle but certainly possible if your live rock was already cycled. A good teast would be to add some pure ammonia to raise it to the 3 ppm level. If the tank is cycled the ammonia will drop to zero in 24 hours, if not you will then start its cycle. To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 3 ppm you would need to add 1.2grams (12 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia without surfactants.

[bdharris66]

the live rock was cycled plus I put in a bottle of bio spar

[phillytec]

never trust that your rock has been cycled at a local lfs. my 2 cents

[bdharris66]

I got the live rock from a guy I knew that had been in his tank for years

[dppitone]

if nitrItes went up and then down, and now nitrAtes are at 20, you're cycled.

[bdharris66]

thanks