Cycle

How long does it take to cycle, i have been gettig a reading of 0.1ppm on my nitrite for 2 weeks now. The tank has been cycling for over three weeks. Any advice welcolme.

 

i would say it takes a month to be safe.
with good live rock it is possible through a nitrogen cycle in less then a week, but it is still very possible to have fluctuations in parameters that could kill livestock. also its good to get aquainted with the tank and maintenance before stocking.

with bad live rock(lots of dead stuff huge amounts of ammonia) it could take 2 months

 

Hi Ninty - +1 on above, it depends on the tank, the set up, and the method used to start the cycle , there are general principles but it would be wrong to say, a cycle will end in 2, 3 ,4 or 6 weeks etc - the cycle has started, when you get ammonia reading followed by Nitrite reading and the cycle is coming to an end when you end up at 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite

test kits will tell you when tank is cycled, a calender will not

Steve

 

I'm in the same boat- Rock and live sand have been in the tank for almost 3 weeks...still showing consistent traces of everything. Are their supplements that can be added to help move the cycle along?

Thanks.

 

there are bacteria and bacteria food supplements that can be added to speed up the cycle - but opinions as to their performance vary
Hagen makes a product called "Cycle" Azoo over here make a similar product

but 3 weeks is but a heart beat in the terms of a reef tanks potential lifespan and as such IMO - wait it out and let nature take its course

Steve

 

Patience is the key, when you rush things tend to die, I let my 40 gal cycle over 3 months, but that was mainly because I was to lazy to move my livestock from my old tank. but now that tank is doing better than my 80 gal, lol im about to go through the same thing when i switch out my 80 to a 125

 

Hmmmmm, think i may have got a bad batch of live rock. Had to take a piece out to take the nem back to a lfs and it stinks bad. Don't know if this is normal. All i can say is that the smell well like a stagnent rock pool.