Cycling question please help

Hey guys, Im a new owner of a 55 gallon tank. about 80lbs of live rock and sand. To start the cycle i put in 2 pieces of raw shrimp. My rock and sandbed are covered with some brown algea. Amonia went up, dropped to about .5 and stayed there for a few days. Yesterday it went down to 0, but my nitrites are still at 0...should the nitrites go up as soon as the amonia goes down? how long should i wait? thanks!

 

Where are your nitrates at. The brown algae is part it the cycle.

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It might take a while but it is my understanding that as part of the nitrogen cycle the ammonia gets broken down and the product is nitrite. That being said I would think the nitrite would gradually increase as the ammonia decreases. You might not have enough ammonia being broken down to cause a noticeable amount of nitrite. You might want to add more raw shrimp... Just my opinion but can anyone confirm that?

 

How much did your ammonia go up before it started going down?

 

amonia and nitrite should be at 0,you should see some nitrate tho.you didn't say where your nitrate's are.

 

Just finished my cycle a few weeks ago and started the same. My tank is alot bigger, but I've yet to read any changes in any levels! Might have happened quickly and you missed it. I bought different test kits thinking mine weren't working. Once the brown algae started I put a few Ocellarus clowns in to keep the cycle going while removing the shrimp. All went well and soon after had to add a clean up crew due to over feeding.
Go slow !

 

Ok, my nitrites still havent gone up, my amonia hit around 6.0 (the highest on the test strip) nitrates are at 0 as well. I will wait a couple days if nothing happens I will just put another piece of raw shrimp. Anymore suggestions?

 

I don't find this unusual at all with 80+ lbs of LR, especially if it is cured. The cycle is performed to establish the beneficial bacteria; cured LR already has it.

 

typically wait from 6-8 weeks.

 

+Mr Bill....If you have 80 lbs. [of cured live rock] in a 55 gallon, than your tank should be damn close to cycled. You have 1.45 lbs of live rock per gallon for your tank. That's great. I put 210 lbs. in my 150, waited for a week then added some "Bio-Spira" for good measure. I test my water once a week. I've never had an ammonia spike, not even when adding new livestock. Keep in mind that this is just my experience with MY tank. Each tank is differrent.