Question about my tank cycle

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Clothsack

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Hi guys,

I guess this is "one of those" questions again.

Here my question,

Im fishless cycling my 350liter (93Gallon) tank for about 14 days now

I've added around 25-30Lbs of live rocks + I've also added about a liter in total of active bacteria.

Currently my ammonia keeps going to 0 after every added source of ammonia within a day, but my nitrites keep staying around 2-4ppm(also after waterchanges).
My Nitrate readings are around 50-100 (but i read that nitrites can give a false nitrate test result.

Im using the Salifert testes for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

Ive done multiple water changes starting from 10% to 20% to 50%, but everytime my ammonia goes to 0 my nitrites do not like to drop.

Would u guys recommend to do a 100% change and start over with adding ammonia and wait for the nitrites to convert to nitrates? or would it be safe to add some hardy fish as a natural ammonia source?

Im not trying to rush into adding fish since I do not wish to harm them , but im not sure what to do at this moment.

~Clothsack
 
Cycling a tank is the process of creating nitrifying bacteria. Live rocks are already cycled and already have nitrifying bacteria on them. You added live rock to the tank, thats why your ammonia is being processed so fast, everything is working exactly the way its supposed to work.

With ammonia of zero and nitrate of 100, the tank is fully cycled. Do some water changes to bring the nitrate down below 20, then go get your first fish. Good luck.
 

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