kbielefe Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I haven't cycled a tank in 4 years or so, and this is my first time using live sand. The live rock I'm using was partially cured at the LFS. Anyway, I set up the new tank 11 days ago and have been testing the water every two days. The nitrites spiked to 3.5 ppm and got back to zero today. The ammonia has held fairly steady at 1 ppm except for a brief drop to around 0.75 ppm. This doesn't match my previous experience and expectations of ammonia spiking first, followed by a nitrite spike, then ammonia zeroing before the nitrite zeroes. There are no fish or anything to add ammonia, just die off from the original live rock addition. Is this an expected pattern? This is my first time buying live rock from that particular store (I moved across the country 4 years ago). Is it possible the pattern is caused by better or worse quality rock than my previous supplier? Does using live sand change the dynamics like that? Thanks for your help. Link to comment
jnelson Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 If the live sand you used was "partially cured," then that may explain this. The ammonia still being greater than zero could hint at some additional die-off when you first started putting things in your tank. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrates now and see what happens. Link to comment
sogreedy23 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 If the live sand you used was "partially cured," then that may explain this. The ammonia still being greater than zero could hint at some additional die-off when you first started putting things in your tank. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrates now and see what happens. +1 it sounds like there is more ammonia being released, more die off in the rock. in another week you'll probably see the nitrite spike up again and a dip in ammonia Link to comment
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