New Tank Cycle

[Losoccer14]

I have my tank (65g) set up and running, it is going to be a FOWLR. I have sand (not live) and about 90lbs. of live rock in the tank. The live rock had been curing for about 9 months with regular water changes. My tank has now been up and running for 7 days. My Nitrites have always been at 0, and my Nitates are at 0, and Amonnia is just a bit above 0. My question is whether or not my water is going to spike since the rock had been curing for so long? How soon does a tank usually start a cycle.

Thanks

 

[Krish]

If your ammonia is above 0 then your tank is still in the cycling process. I'm not sure what all was entailed in the 9 months you were curing your live rock, but if you are reading ammonia in your tank now, then you must have experienced some die-off with adding the rock to your tank. I'd let it run it's course a bit and keep testing to see when that ammonia drops off to 0. When it does, you should be reading nitrites which you will want to wait out as well until that reads 0. Once you've reached that point, then your initial cycle is completed. How long it should take will vary depending on the condition of your rock and what die-off it may experience etc. Some say 6-8 weeks...Sometimes it takes longer than that and then sometimes it takes less time, but seeing your rock has been curing all this time, it may not take you long at all. Just keep and eye on things and keep testing your water. Good luck

 

[LakeEd]

Excellent info Krish... as always!

 

[Losoccer14]

thank you for your help

 

[staticx]

Nope
with your llive rock already cured for so long you should have hardly any cycle at all if any I dont know what type of water you used but you should have used ro/di water. with your live rock already cured maybe your cycle will be 10 days if that jsut wait till everything hits 0 and then wait a day or 2 for it to settle and you will be good. Live sand is way way overrated your sand will become live with your live rock.