Cycling Question

I have a 80g tank setup that has bout 60lbs of sand and 60lbs of rock in it. was all live before then i let the tank dry out for bout a year. I'm starting the tank back up again and its been running for bout a month now, with few starter fish in it to get bacteria goin. amonia nitrate and nitrite levels are still pretty high. any idea on speeding up the process? Or do i juss wait a few more months for tha tank to cycle through .. running a fluval 404 and wet/dry sump for filters.

thanks.

 

i would be patient and wait for a couple of more months.the better it will be later on.be patient and take your time.

 

+2
There is no way to speed up mother nature
You know what works....

Jim

 

+3 let nature take its course.

 

Maybe adding more live rock will help, but since you have 60lb that is certainly sufficient. I started out with live rocks (0.75lb per gallon just like your tank) and my cycle completed in 2-3 wks. It is about 6 weeks now and my NO3 is at zero--you have a ways to go!

 

i'd add just a few small peices of live rock since you lost all living things that were in the old rock.

 

Ima go with this route. Thanks for tha help. And i guess i"ll be checking levels weekly..see for any progress

 

your fluval may be harvesting some of the ann which will make the cycling process last longer. if you ammonia gets over 1 ppm that is not healthy for livestock in which case a water change would be needed.

 

whats the ann? so would a wet dry w/ prefilters be enough and 404 non needed? skimmer is on the way

 

ann: ammonia nitrate nitrite
or called the ann cycle, always delt with on a daily basis, everytime you feed