Cycling Question

Longnose Hawkfish

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Hey everyone, I just set up my new tank about a week ago and so far everything is going pretty good. Three days after I set the tank up I tested my levels and I had ammonia at 0 nitrite at 0 and nitrate 20-40 (I really couldn't tell the difference in the color on the card) Today I tested and basically got the same numbers except this time the nitrates might have been more on the closer side to 40 but still in between 20-40. The rock I used was live rock from my LFS. They had it curing in a tank for who knows how long. It could have been a year, but it was sitting in there for at least two months. So what I'm wondering is if I skipped the ammonia and nitrite spike because of the condition of the rock. Thank you!!
 
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Longnose Hawkfish

Longnose Hawkfish

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I was going to let it sit empty for a month, I was just wondering. And I know this rock has been sitting in there for a long time because I picked out some pieces of rock that I was looking at a couple of months ago.
 

gmendez619

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Mmm ok i see well we dont really know what can happen since this rock has been introduced to a mew system. Same thing happenned to me when i started my tank. I bought some cure live rock from my LFS and my parameters were ok for the first two weeks. Then at the 3 week mark my nitrite and ammonia levels just went nuts. Algae started growing all over my rock but i just let it do its thing. I did a small water change at the one month mark because i didnt want to get in the way of the cycle. I say you do the same
 

Butterworthpaul

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My theory....You need to test your bacteria by adding some ammonia ... The easiest way is to add a raw shrimp for a day or two... Then remove it and test your water. You should see some ammonia and nitrites working and then the next day or so they should disappear to nitrate. if this happens you know you have a cycle... I would only then Advise putting one fish in to keep the cycle going and build slowly from there... You will get loads of different opinions on this subject but it really is a unique experience for all... If you build a bio load too quickly by adding too many things you will get a second cycle and could wipe them out... Hope this helps... Paul
 
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