Is this normal?

34g set up Feb 7. Today, 4/23 - tank has not cycled, at least as far as I can tell. Water parameters are not moving. Amonia 0.025, Nitrite -0.05. Been that way for a while now.

20lbs live rock added on 2/7. Had aptasia issue, removed the rock and replaced a week later with additional rock. 25 lbs of base rock added 4 weeks ago. 2 damsels added first of March at the advice of the LFS. Was told that partial water changes pro-long cycle, so, 3 weeks ago I stopped doing water changes, removed the bio-media bag, removed the carbon and replaced with chemi-pure, 2 weeks ago I was told I was "stuck" in a cycle, so I removed the chemi-pure and received a filter pad from an established reeftank...was told the pad had good bacteria on it and it would help kick the cycle to completion...here we are a couple of weeks later, and parameters are still sitting the same.

On another forum I was told that the filter pad might be pro-longing the cycle and put in chemi-pure back in. Basically, I am trying to do the right thing, but get a lot of conflicting information. I would think that from Feb 7 until now my tank should have cycled...is this normal? Any suggestions?

 

I think the right thing is to not use any chemical filtration means. When you changed your water, you set things back to day one, so in this way, your time frame is not as long as the actual time.

Let things go. Eventually ammonia and nitrite will be undetectable. This will be your sign that things are moving on. It's not possible for the tank not to cycle. If you trust that, you'll be fine.

 

It seems to me like to your trying too hard. Replacing rock, taking rock out, replacing it again, adding more rock, water changes, chemical stuff.........no need for all that. Just get all your rock in the tank, put something in there to start the cycle (I personally dont like the damsel method, but to each his own) and wait. Patience is the best thing to have right now. Hope that helps! : )

 

Wait it out--dont touch---it will happen!!!!

 

Thanks. I wanted to get it started off right...didn't want to deal with aptasia from day 1, so i replaced it, didn't like how it looked, so i added some base rock...just wanted to make sure this was normal stuff for the amount of time i have had the tank. i never knew not to add the carbon or do water changes while cycling...now i do. sounds like things are going about as they should be...which is what i really wanted to know. thanks for advice/comments.

 

There are a lot of myths about cycling. I cycled with carbon running and my skimmer running. No ill effects. Water changes will not directly affect the bacteria growth, however, they can dilute the ammonia and nitrite which will prolong the cycle as those compounds recover and get back to where they were. I would just do as the others have said, just wait and be patient. It has been a while and that may be a result of your meddling, but it will happen.

 

why did you remove the bio media bag? what kind of filter are you using? for a new tank, bio media can help. you just cant up and remove all of it later, you have to slowly remove it.

 

The one lesson I have learned in this hobby over the years is "to leave things alone, don't mess with it, it will fix itself if you take care of what you need to, and stick your hands in ONLY when absolutely needed." We all want things to hurry along, but these things take time. The Great Barrier reef didn't grow overnight. In the wild, corals will take about a year to grown1 measly inch, we can't expect much more than that in our mock-ocean setups, no matter how elaborate we think our tanks are. As our great leader Matt's signature says, "Go slow, let it grow."

 

i agree with what everyones said. a good tip i got early on is 1pound of Live Rock for every Gal and your tank will cycle within a month, and 1 inch of fish for every 10 Galons minimum. but the fish depend on what your growing.

 

This is false.