Tank Cycling Problems
 

Ok, not like I'm new at this or anything like that, I know cycling takes time but.....Tank was filled with RO/DI water and Instand Ocean salt on Feb 7. Added my live rock which was in a Rubbermaid tub and cured on Feb 13. Tested ammonia the next day and it was 0.2ppm. On Feb 17 ammonia was 0. Put in a hermit crab and 3 serpant stars out of my 20gal on Feb 25, ammonia was 0.1ppm. Feb 27 ammonia was 0.05ppm, threw in a trochu snail from my 20gal. All was fairly good until Mar 7. Added 6 more trochus. Mar 11 ammonia was 0.2ppm. Mar 12 to 17 ammonia staying around 0.2. Mar 18 it was at 0.3 and today still at 0.3. Is it just me or should the ammonia levels be dropping by now? I've cycled a few tanks in my time and they never took this long. Anything seem wrong or am I doing something wrong?

Where did you get the rocks from and what kind of flow is going through there? Maybe the rocks are leaching some PO4 into the water. Maybe some detritus got loose and releases more into your water column?

Rock came from a fellow reefer's established tank and sat in a tub in my garage with SW, powerheads and a heater for over a month. I'm getting flow from an Ocean Runner 3500 return pump and 2 Koralia 3 powerheads. The rocks were free of detritus and I've been testing phosphates all along including tonight and the results have been zero.

Count your live snails.

+1 on counting I would count all live stock a snail may look alive but if it does not move for a day then it is dead, remove I get the odd one but peppermint shrimp eat them pretty quickly. Once the peppermint shrimp is finished I take it out as there is always something left in the shell.

Bill

Must have some bad or outdated test kits. Water tested by Kevin at Red Coral and my tank has cycled. A Lawnmower blenny is the first addition.