Cycle, how am I doing?

[Nonfamous]

Here are the water readings I have been tracking. I'm a little confused on the Ammonia reading. The Salinity seems to be keeping pretty steady though I think I'm going to raise it a little with the next few top offs. Nitrites were up, then down and now back up. Nitrates seem to be steadily rising. Ammonia went up slightly then back down. With the Nitrates rising, I thought the Ammonia would have been a lot higher at some point or still rising. I know its still very early in the cycle, but wanted to know if all of these numbers sound logical to you folks with experience.


October 3, 2011
NaCl 1.0235
Temp 78.4
pH 7.8
Nitrite 3.0
Ammonia .50
Nitrate 20
alk 300

October 7, 2011
NaCl 1.023
Temp 78.1
pH 8.0
Nitrite 1.0
Ammonia .50
Nitrate 40
Alk 300

October 9, 2011
NaCl 1.024
Temp 78.1
pH 8.0
Nitrite 5.0
Ammonia 1.0
Nitrate 50
Alk untested

October 11, 2011
NaCl 1.024
Temp 78.5
pH 8.0
Nitrite 5.0
Ammonia .35
Nitrate 80
Alk >250

 

[Smitty]

According to your results, you're still in a cycle. Once the ammonia and nitrites hit setup, them you can do the water change and add livestock. But as long as the cycle is still going on, some of those other levels aren't gonna be consistent.

 

[Nonfamous]

Yeah, I'm expecting the cycle to last about 6 weeks or longer. Not ready to add ANYTHING at this point. I guess I was expecting to see a bigger jump in those numbers than I have. The nitrate seems to be on a steady curve and I was expecting to see the others do the same. I'm just making sure its going the best it can. Plus, posting here means I'm learning, waiting and being as patient as I can! Actually, from most of the noob threads I have been reading, I seem to be the only one not rushing to add stuff. Not true, but all you tend to see are the bad stories, not the good ones. If everyone posted up "Look how good my xxxx is!" it wouldn't be a place to learn from huh?

Nope, I'm just sitting here and waiting. 4 more weeks.....just waiting.........and waiting.....

 

[Nonfamous]

So I took some sample water into two fish stores today. One is the store I bought my equipment from, and honestly don't trust. The other is a store I haven't bought anything from. My reason for taking it in was to simply see if their test results matched mine. To be sure I'm doing the testing correctly. Both were very interesting results.

Store one, the one who would sell anything to anyone, said that my cycle is almost complete. Ammonia tested zero and I should think about adding a clean up crew.

Store two, who has never pushed anything, confirmed store one's results. HOWEVER, he did not suggest that I buy anything. He suggested that I do a 15% water change and wait until Saturday to test again. If the results look good I should start thinking about adding a few clean up guys. He suggested a few but said I should wait until I am sure about the test results.

Now, my question for the masses is, what do I do now? I sure thought there would be more algae growth and more color on my rocks by the time the cycle was over. My dry rock still looks white and my live rock looks about the same s it did when I put it in. There is some growth, and some light green on them, but not near what I expected.

Water tested as follows:

HOME TEST
NaCl 1.025
Temp 78.8
pH 8.0
Nitrite .50
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 40

Store test #1
NaCl 1.025
Temp NA
pH 8.0
Nitrite .35
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 5

STORE #2
NaCl 1.025
Temp NA
pH 8.0
Nitrite .30
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10

SO do I trust the stores? Do I trust my own tests? Now what?

 

[Nonfamous]

Well, since no one seems to have an opinion on this, I will do the water change and see what happens.

I'm hesitant to add a clean up crew for there doesn't seem to be much to clean up. I have very little algae that I can see. I would hate to starve something. I might add a single brittle star and snail just to see if their is something for them to eat.

 

[SarahSmile]

If your amm and nitrite are holding steadily at zero, then yes, go ahead and do a water change and you can add a couple of snails and perhaps a hardy fish. I would not add a star right now, just my own opinion.