46 to 65gal upgrade. New photos added 1/17

I don't know why I said it like that. I think that your scape is fine the way it is.

 

I wouldn't get in a rush about the cycle. Rushing tends to bring problems later. Give the bacteria the proper time to develop so you don't struggle with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate every time you add a fish.

 

Im not sure if attempting to rush a cycle causing problems down the road, once the tank has gone through the cycle the bacteria are there. However I have to agree that I am best off not doing much of anything buy waiting since after 48hours Dr Tims instant cycle has not yet touched my ammonia or nitrites except to help both of them go up from what they were originally. Im afraid my nitrites might go to high and inhibit the cycle, my ammonia is still somewhere between .5-1ppm but the nitrites are somewhere between 2-5ppm.

 

I don't really see how nitrites could inhibit your cycle. You nitrites break down ammonia of course. You will only produce enough nitrites in your system that is required to break down the amount of ammonia you have.

 

high nitrites inhibits the bacterial growth of the nitrite to nitrate bacteria, or at least so I have heard never actually did any research on the matter

 

I haven't really researched it to much either I guess. I have done some reading, but haven't read anything about a cycle stalling. I guess anything is possible.

 

I have seen something on this in one thread, but don't remember where. I started with all dry rock like you and added some StartSmart Complete. Like you, the bacteria in a bottle did a great job on the NH3 to NO2 conversion. However, I've been stuck at 1-2 nitrite for over 2 weeks. I've been asking around and the consensus is that the NO2 to NO3 bacteria develop slowly. Some have said 4-6 weeks to cycle a tank that's starting from 100% dry rock.

I just added one 3 lb piece of LR from a LFS and I'm hoping it helps kick it in. You may need to do something similar if you find that you're stalled and don't want to wait...

 

Is any of your rock puttied together?

 

Tank has been set up for about 10 days now, ammonia has dropped some and is back at .5ppm from 1ppm but nitrites still high. Starting to see some decomposition on rock along with some growth not sure what it is, looks like a bunch of small red-purple spots in some areas and brown spots in another. Light is a regular fluorescent for now and is on for the majority of the day.

 

There is a total of 2 tube of instant ocean epoxy. Most of it is buried deep within the rock though why?