Did my tank cycle this quickly?

[ajbeau]

So I put my live rock sand and water in my tank Tuesday 9-30-14. I tested my levels the past two days noticed a small ammonia bump 0.25-0.50. Today I just tested it with similar ammonia levels and the nitrates are at ppm. Like I already need to do my water change. I'm kinda confused as everything I read said it would take a couple weeks to cycle. Is the high nitrates telling me it's the end of my cycle?

[ajbeau]

Nitrates at 20 ppm*

[thegrun]

To be sure i would add enough pure ammonia to bring it up to 2ppm, if it is cycled the ammonia should drop back to zero within a day, if not once the ammonia does drop to zero (along with the nitrites) your cycle is complete. Use pure ammonia without surfactants (available at most hardware stores). To be sure the ammonia does not contain surfactants shake the bottle and if it bubbles up like dish soap it has surfactants in it, pure ammonia will not have bubbles. To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 2 ppm ammonia you would need to add 0.8 grams (8 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia.

[ajbeau]

I'll pick up a battle this weekend. I also have reason to believe that my testay have been incorrect. I brought a water sample to my LFS and they didn't get the same nitrate reading. I'm going to see on the side of caution and get the pure amonnia though.

On a positive note the purple specs of coralline are more like the size of pencil erasers. So they seem to be growing.

[myofibroblast]

Originally Posted by thegrun

To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 2 ppm ammonia you would need to add 0.8 grams (8 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia.

Surfactant-free "pure" ammonia solutions available commercially to the public come in largely two forms: aqueous solutions of ammonium hydroxide and ammonium chloride. A popular brand people suggest is the ACE Hardware janitor strength, which is 10% ammonium hydroxide in water. 8ml of a 10% solution (w/v) will therefore have significantly less than 0.8g of ammonia.

I advise reading the label before making the calculation.

[Coelli]

My tank had virtually no cycle. Did you buy your LR locally or have it shipped? Mine was cured and only out of the water for about 45 mins. My LFS tested my water the next day and gave me the thumbs up to add inverts & fish (but not coral, phosphate was a little high). I continued testing the water daily and never saw any ammonia/nitrite, just dropping nitrate and phosphate. I still waited a few more days after that first test to add snails, and about 8 days to add the first fish. You might want to wait until you're not seeing any ammonia before forging ahead.

[ajbeau]

Coelli: Yeah i pretty much did the same thing you did. Purchased live rock from my LFS that was already in a tank. I also got my sand and water from them. I may try and seed the water with a little ammonia to see if it gets processed.

[JMorris271]

Seed the rock, not the water. It works better

[ajbeau]

Like put the ammonia on the rock?

[Marishka]

Are you using API nitrate test ? If you are it is VERY important to shake those bottles
for 5 min VIGOROUSLY or you will not see the correct results!!!

[myofibroblast]

Originally Posted by ajbeau

Like put the ammonia on the rock?

JMorris is talking about something else (seeding bacteria and archaea). There's a miscommunication somewhere.

Your plan to dose ammonia in the water and check for nitrification is a reasonable plan.

[ajbeau]

Yeah it is the api test. I'll be sure to shake the bottles more.

And yeah I figured there was a miscommunication.