New tank cycle

[Jvega214]

Hey everyone! So I setup a 12g Nano Cube with 10 lbs caribsea live sand and about 10lbs live rock (probably had major die off since it was in a bucket without heat/circulation for about 3 weeks). I know about the nitrogen cycle because I waited about 4-5 weeks when I setup my 55g. My question is... Does the cycle happen much quicker with a nano like this? Here are my readings so far:

Day 3 4/20
Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: .5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

Day 5 4/22
Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

Day 8 4/25
Ph:?
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20

 

Could it be possible this tank is already cycled, or am I just being impatient? I also put a small shrimp in there to see if I could get Ammonia readings and still no detectable Ammonia.

 

[brandon429]

that type of cycle doesn't need bacteria boosting if formerly cycled rock never went dry. hydration even with temp swings and feed withholding will not kill bacteria, in fact they'll get a boost from dieoff that directly feeds them trace ammonia. in order to stamp a set of substrate cycled we need two data plots, one is an ammonia test showing the system spiked to 1 or 2 ppm verified ammonia, and then the other data plot is the test showing the ammonia reading after 24 hours.

 

I would not be surprised if your rocks do not need to cycle at all. if you never broke hydration and they stayed wet, your delay isn't for bacteria to build up its for any measured ammonia to stop leaking. once you are sure the rocks aren't self spiking ammonia, ready to go. this isn't the type of cycle where you have to add bacteria, though you can at any time as bottle bac harm nothing. you do not need to do that two point test above if those rocks were 100% guaranteed live at one time and then all you did was transfer them to a standing bucket of saltwater, that's a bacterial boosting action via dieoff for as long as its been sitting. I would predict this tank is cycled though minus a few pods possibly. being able to handle shrimp rot w no extra ammonia supports the notion.

 

we skip cycle reefs all the time this is the only way I reef, so its not foreign or rare to be opting out of a cycle. in fact you are confirming everything we write about bacteria in our verbose cycling threads

[Jvega214]

21 hours ago, brandon429 said:

that type of cycle doesn't need bacteria boosting if formerly cycled rock never went dry. hydration even with temp swings and feed withholding will not kill bacteria, in fact they'll get a boost from dieoff that directly feeds them trace ammonia. in order to stamp a set of substrate cycled we need two data plots, one is an ammonia test showing the system spiked to 1 or 2 ppm verified ammonia, and then the other data plot is the test showing the ammonia reading after 24 hours.

 

I would not be surprised if your rocks do not need to cycle at all. if you never broke hydration and they stayed wet, your delay isn't for bacteria to build up its for any measured ammonia to stop leaking. once you are sure the rocks aren't self spiking ammonia, ready to go. this isn't the type of cycle where you have to add bacteria, though you can at any time as bottle bac harm nothing. you do not need to do that two point test above if those rocks were 100% guaranteed live at one time and then all you did was transfer them to a standing bucket of saltwater, that's a bacterial boosting action via dieoff for as long as its been sitting. I would predict this tank is cycled though minus a few pods possibly. being able to handle shrimp rot w no extra ammonia supports the notion.

 

we skip cycle reefs all the time this is the only way I reef, so its not foreign or rare to be opting out of a cycle. in fact you are confirming everything we write about bacteria in our verbose cycling threads

 

Brandon, thanks a lot for the very detailed response. I am going to assume the ammonia reading I got on day 3 which was .5ppm was higher at one point. No ammonia readings after the rotting shrimp had me thinking the tank was ready to go pretty much since the beginning. The rock I put in was not allowed to dry and only put in a bucket from a tank that was taken down, it sat there for about 3 weeks. I think the tank is ready to have corals/fish, which I will slowly add. Also, I did a small 1.5-gallon water change last night to reduce some nitrates. I'll be doing another test this evening and see what I get. 

[brandon429]

sounds good and those nitrates still show the metabolic chain wasn't broken that's all good confirmation