New Tank Cycling Question

[RobTorMar]

Hello,

Hope you are all doing well. I've been lurking here for a while but have never posted.

I started cycling my tank (fishless) about 3 weeks ago. I also added some bottled bac and a full jumbo shrimp that has pretty much dissolved in the tank. Based on my tests my ammonia peaked at around 3 PPM and is now back down to 0.5. My nitrites however are off the chart. Buddy at my LFS told me I needed to add another shrimp as the ammonia did not go high enough. I'm confused as what to do since I'm getting mixed info. Do I add another shrimp? or do I just let the tank be for another couple of weeks.

The tank does not get a lot of light so not sure if algae will be an issue. Will the bacteria colonization get hindered since the jumbo shrimp is now fully gone?

Thank you

 

[Idoc]

I wouldn't add another shrimp at this time. Your cycle is progressing as expected. The ammonia is being processed to nitrites... which should soon start converting to nitrates. Once that occurs, the process is complete.

Additional shrimp will just increase the ammonia load... ultimately increasing the nitrates at the end.

Many like to dose ammonia up to 1ppm and see if the system can clear that to zero in 24hrs. If so, cycled!

Also depending on your test kit... if using API, it will generally still register 0.25ppm when it is really zero.

 

[RobTorMar]

I wouldn't add another shrimp at this time. Your cycle is progressing as expected. The ammonia is being processed to nitrites... which should soon start converting to nitrates. Once that occurs, the process is complete.

Additional shrimp will just increase the ammonia load... ultimately increasing the nitrates at the end.

Many like to dose ammonia up to 1ppm and see if the system can clear that to zero in 24hrs. If so, cycled!

Also depending on your test kit... if using API, it will generally still register 0.25ppm when it is really zero.

Cool thanks, should I worry about algae water?

 

[Terry Le]

Cool thanks, should I worry about algae water?

You dont need to have your light on at this point

 

[CMMorgan]

Sometimes LFS owners mean well but don't always give the best advice... especially if they can get you to buy another additive or test kit. This is part of the process, ride it out. You will hot the ugly phase soon enough. Enjoy the ride...

 

[Idoc]

Cool thanks, should I worry about algae water?

No, don't worry about algae. Besides, algae is needed for the tank to mature. As mentioned above, just leave the lights off during the cycle.