When do I know if my cycle is finished or not?

My tank was established june 12. It is now the 21st. I had Ammonia and nitrates spike on the 18th. I'm going to take my water to get tested again today. I still do not have any algae or anything like that, so is my cycle not finished yet?


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Well as some as you may know I attempted to add a damsel to my cycle with a bad outcome. I figured my water parameters were out of place and got my water tested.

Ammonia was high, and there were nitrates and nitrates showing up because of that. salinity was good. So he told me to let it be for another week or so then get my water tested again.

While I was there I wanted to pick up a piece of LR to get some good algae going. here is a picture of the rock. It is very purple.

The water test was free, and he said it is like that all the time. And the rock was $1.30.


FTS


Tell me what you guys think

 

Looks good, great price on the rock.

 

Thanks 2in10! Now I just need to wait for my water parameters to get normal and I can add a fish

 

Thats a nice rock for the price. Hope it goes better this time around when you add fish.

 

Rock looks good. Doesn't look like it has any bad hitch hikers either. Definitely no mantis with it being as thin as it is.

 

bump

 

Here is my mini essay;

Tank cycling:
There are some who would tell you that once "the numbers" are all good the cycle is over and you are ready to go, I am not one of those. What many beginner (even some advanced) aquarium keepers are not (fully) aware of is that the full cycle takes at least 6-8 months. The reason being, mainly, is this is the time required to fully cultivate a total beneficial bacterial base and achieve a saturation of such. Also, allowing the tank to "season" and go through the inevitable mini-cycles and diatom blooms and get fully established is the key to a healthy and stable tank in the future. You could have one fish after about the 6 week mark, let the tank get established by light feeding and going through a moderate light cycle (6-8 hours) for the next 3 weeks.At the 2 month mark, A 25% water change of the "total"water volume is in order. After that, add a few clean up critters (crabs and/or snails) and allow the tank to "catch up" to the added load (you may at this time add some live bacteria to help in this process) and give it another 2 weeks doing all your tests on a regular (weekly) basis and determine if the tank is stable. Water changes of 30% should be carried out once a month to once every 5-6 weeks. Coral should not be introduced (even soft) until the tank is around 3-4 months old. Too many beginners don't exercise the proper patience and discipline at this early stage of getting their tank going only to have problems and head aches down the road. Once the tank has gone through this full cycle period and the tank is stable, then and only then, should you add more difficult coral like hard coral. I always employed a bit of advice I got when I was starting out to add bacteria after each water change for the first and subsequent next 4-5 changes. After the 4th water change then and only then add to the tank and minimally at that.
Another good tactic I learned is to add (whatever you are adding) a couple days after a water change. This gives the new creature fresh minerals and trace elements and a good 3-4 weeks (I adhere to 4-5 week intervals between changes) to adjust to the new water parameters, light, temp etc. before disrupting the tank for the next water change.
I hope this helps.

 

Sounds like a good way to follow it how come no one else seems to follow that path?

 

Thats a great price on the purple rock! I got a good price at Big Al's in Tamarac, FL.(45 min. drive) for around 35 lbs. However went to my LFS (1 mile) and purchased another 10 lbs...not to great of a price...then went back for a nice piece of purple rock and I had to buy a minimum of 2lbs and it was more per pound!

Brian

 

Impatience, anxious, lack of knowledge.......