what to do please help???

i do have some of the info on this on another thread but i need an answer asap.

i cycled my 40g tank with 2 small prawns,after 2 weeks it showed on my test kit that it had cycled.people on here said it would be ok for me to add some live stock.
so i added 2 cleaner shrimp & 2 small clownfish.
they have been in the tank 6 days.

after 3 days my ammonia spiked to 0.25
nitrite was at 0
nitrate was at 5

i was told by people on here to leave it and wait it out.so i did

so for the last few days i have been testing it and the ammonia has been inbetween 0-0.25
nitrite 0
nitrate 10

today my results are ammonia inbetween 0-0.25
nitrite is inbetween 0-0.25
and nitrate is 20

what shall i do wait it out till it finishes?
do a water change?
ive been feeding them once every other day.

 

You can do a partial waterchange if you desire. 20 in Nitrates isn't that bad. The ammonia at that level won't harm a clownfish.

 

but both the ammonia and nitrite has spiked.
shall i leave it 2 days and then go from there?

 

That sounds like a good plan

 

Im surprised the shrimp arent dead. I wouldnt do a water change, you might slow down the cycle

 

im suprised they havent died but ive got my fingers crossed

 

so your saying i shouldnt do any water changes untill the cycle has finished????

 

Your tank did not cycle in two weeks – not sure who gave you the advice to move forward but that was a huge mistake. Not an uncommon mistake unfortunately – I wish people would do a little more research into understanding exactly what is taking place in the aquarium during and immediately after the cycle.

In the final stage of your cycle the nitrites give way to nitrates, I think most grasp this. What you need to understand is that nitrates give way to nitrobacters (nitrifying bacteria) – the waste from the nitrobacters is nitrates. Nitrobacters is what we are all looking to have in our tank and this is why we cycle. After a cycle is complete the nitrobacters are just babies and need time to develop and grow as well as multiply….this did not happen in your tank because you rushed it. Without a strong healthy presence of nitrobacters the bio-load becomes too much too quickly and the tank dies.

People often post My tank cycled in 2 weeks or 3 weeks – and it might have, but the natural filtration has not, and this is what your test kits will not show you. This is where education and patience come in.

Your options? Well, you can keep up the water changes and run carbon in a canister. Or let it be and it will begin to cycle again killing everything you added and this time let it run for 4-6 weeks and you will be good to go.

Just my opinion, and admittedly I am opinionated…..but also mostly correct lol – good luck.

 

This also can be varied, for example you started out with all good live rock, you have literally billions of nitrobacters thus producing a very short and sweet cycle.

 

i have carbon in my canister filter already.i will do 10% water changes every week till it cycles will this be ok??

as the ammonia did rise and is now dropping and the nitrite is now starting will it still take ages to finish?
and shall i feed them 3 days a week?