How long did it take for your nitrates to go down?

I'm interested in knowing how long it took people's nitrates to go down.

55 gallon tank
20 gallon sump
75 lbs of base rock (some in the refugium)
15 lbs of new rock (added last Wednesday, no new ammonia or nitrite spike)
35 lbs of old, cleaned sand
30 (maybe more) lbs of live sand
2 powerheads in the DT (plus return from sump) so plenty of surface agitation
Built-in protein skimmer (air driven), which is pulling some gunk
No mechanical filtration
No livestock (except some pods in the chaeto in the refugium)

Started cycle with a piece of raw fish for a few days till the powerhead ate it
Ammonia spiked on 10/19.
Nitrite spiked around 10/31 .
Nitrates have not gone down at all, they've stayed at the highest chart reading.
I'd tell you my SG, but one swingarm says 1.024 and the other is between 1.026 and 1.027 LOL. Refractometer on the way.
I don't have a phosphate test, but I'm running a ROWA Phos Sponge since Wednesday (just replaced it today).

We did a 10 gallon water change last night, no difference this morning.
I tested my RO/DI for nitrates, and it was 0 (was that just a waste of test drops? Would it even be accurate?)

Are we just being impatient?

 

Nitrates can't go down, only way to get rid of them is water changes, if you test 0,0,X nitrates, your cycle should be done.

 

+1....

there are other things that can help bring it down, but at this point in the game, a water change is your next step.

 

Well, it can also go down through gas exchange via the water surface, but it's certainly not doing that like it did in my old tanks...that's why we did the 10 gallon water change last night. Since that didn't make any difference at all, how much water should I change? Do I need to go drastic & do 50%?

 

How to Reduce High Toxic Nitrates Quickly & Efficiently
If your ready to add fish I would do a 100% water change

 

We're not in any hurry for fish, but I'd like to add a clean up crew.
A 100% water change is impractical for us.
I just wanted some kind of idea of how long it took for other tanks, tho I know it will vary I also know that lots of people started out just like we started this tank.

 

Took my tank 4-5days to cycle, I first bought 35lbs of cured live rock. After my cycle was done I added 2 clowns and left it at that for 2-3 weeks. In truth your tank won't "fully" cycle till it's 1-2 years old.

 

Only a limited amount of nitrates exit the system via gas exchange, so since you have enough flow your good there.

Water changes are the most efficent way of bringing it down when it is so high.

Some time and some water changes seems like the only solution.

Takes me about 1 month to get them down on a new system, but I do not use shrimp. My nitrates never go up that much during a cycle for me. I just throw some fish food ( small amount, cured lr and stock lightly ).

You are a old hand at this, so I am sure it will just take a little more time and some smaller wc.

 

Kip, I'm aware of all that. This ain't my first rodeo LOL. I had 3 tanks for 4 years before I moved into this house. Just getting back into it after 6 years & going about it an entirely new way!

Corrailline, that's what I figured...impatience LOL. I've never started with base rock & a piece of raw seafood before (didn't use shrimp), and my old tanks just simply didn't take this long for nitrates to go down since I used live rock & sand initially. We've had all kinds of difficulty with the sump, as well, including leaks, noise, and even putting in a larger one, so it just feels like it has drug on & on since we started!

Thank you for giving me the time frame on your tanks' nitrate situations, makes me feel normal! My boyfriend's not gonna be happy though. I'm starting to see an impatient streak in him, and I must admit it's wearing off on me LOL. I'm going to have to try to reverse that! Capacity-wise, I don't think we can manage to change more than maybe 20 gallons at a time max. I guess we'll just dig in & slowly eat away at it.

Fish are actually the thing we're least interested in when it comes to a reef tank, so none will be added until we're sure we're not going to stress/kill them. I've never cycled with a fish, not about to toss one in now! LOL

 

thank you Kip for that interesting little article I enjoyed reading it :-D