Saltwater tank Cycling

[Rofib]

how long does a nitrite cycle takes ???

[Loverotties]

To many varibles,even when it seems cycled you should waite longer.

[robertmathern]

Originally Posted by Loverotties

To many varibles,even when it seems cycled you should waite longer.

Agreed every tank is different. Only way to tell is water test after water test after water test. Then once its done test some more. But it is the learning part. You learn patience and you will need alot of it in the beggining. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby

[cutietwo]

Yeah it can take anywhere from a few weeks to 1-2 months, depending on tank size mostly. Just keep testing it and wait for the nitrite to go from 0, then higher and higher, and then it will go back down to zero and your ready. Just make sure your ammonia is 0 too

[Hop]

I moved your post here so it will get a little more attention.

[Salty O'Shen]

the cycle can vary wildy depending on dozens of factors...if you want to give it a good shot at going quickly you can use some cured live rock and a cup or two of live sand depending on how big your tank is...you should expect it to take at least a month but get a good test kit, add a little piece of krill and let it decompose, don't put any livestock in the tank until you can keeping your ammonia at 0 (undetectable) nitrites at 0 (undetectable) and can keep your nitrates below 10ppm even when adding a small amount of food...use this time to perfect your water change routines, you won't want to be learning how to balance temp, pH, salinity & alkalinity when there are critters counting on stable parameters.

good luck and be PATIENT

[lagrew]

it varies, if you used established rock or not, how big the tank is and many other variables. IME, tanks usually take 1-2 months, but still might not be ready for livestock, after everything reads 0 wait a week then test again, if still 0, I would add livestock VERY slowly, then wait a couple weeks test again, you get the idea. Remember patience is your friend and will help you avoid a disaster.

[Staplesofficewar]

Originally Posted by Salty O'Shen

the cycle can vary wildy depending on dozens of factors...if you want to give it a good shot at going quickly you can use some cured live rock and a cup or two of live sand depending on how big your tank is...you should expect it to take at least a month but get a good test kit, add a little piece of krill and let it decompose, don't put any livestock in the tank until you can keeping your ammonia at 0 (undetectable) nitrites at 0 (undetectable) and can keep your nitrates below 10ppm even when adding a small amount of food...use this time to perfect your water change routines, you won't want to be learning how to balance temp, pH, salinity & alkalinity when there are critters counting on stable parameters.

good luck and be PATIENT

Ive only ever checked temp, and salinity. I dont want to add chemicals to the tank during water changes. How important is it to match all 4 parameters and how do you do so? Salinity and temp are a given, but what about PH and ALK?

[ibanez2k]

All very good advice. When your ammonia, trites, and trates are 0, I still wait a couple more weeks before adding livestock just to make sure nothing crazy is going to happen (although sometimes it still does). If you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites but your nitrates are high, I personally like to do about a 25% water change to help lower the nitrates so I don't get as much of a first big algae bloom. Water changes are your friend but you gotta make sure your makup water is the same temp, PH, and SG as the water your changing out.

[robertmathern]

Originally Posted by Staplesofficewar

Ive only ever checked temp, and salinity. I dont want to add chemicals to the tank during water changes. How important is it to match all 4 parameters and how do you do so? Salinity and temp are a given, but what about PH and ALK?

You want to test for amonia, nitrite, nitrate mainly ph, alk, and calicum are not as inportant during your cycle but I would still advise to check them to get experence in testing equipment and all. And you go about it by picking up a saltwater test kit at your lfs and reading directions then do what it says. Most test kits are very simple to use. Ph I recomend getting a testing probe they are a little pricy but accurate.