I know it takes a long time for tanks to cycle properly, but seriously!
Sept. 18th, 2008 is when we bought dead rock, it used to be live rock but it had been sitting around the seller's basement in a rubbermaid container with old saltwater and a heater for a few months. As soon as we got home (1/2hr later from pick up) we set up the rock in our own rubbermaid containers with fresh SW, heaters and powerheads. We also added a few small pieces of live rock from our main tank to seed it. We also did bi-weekly water changes.
Nov. 13th is when we added saltwater and live sand to our new 230g tank and 90g sump. I was to lazy to rinse regular sand, that's why we bought live.
Nov. 21th is when we added the rock (mentioned above) to the tank. We also added another 4 large(ish) pieces of lr from the main tank.
Nov. 23rd is when we added 3 chromis to the tank to help it cycle.
Two weeks ago or so Steve tested and said there was a bit of an ammonia spike. I tested the water two days ago and the ammonia is at 0. However the No2 (nitrite) and No3 (nitrate) aren't reading at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The water in the test tube is completely clear after testing. I figure in order for the tank to be cycled, or to show that it's starting to cycle, that the water has to show a bit (however so slight) of a pinkish/purplish tinge to it when testing for No2 and No3 right? RIGHT??????
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't understand how after all this time I still don't have any No2 or any No3 in my tank! What gives? Anyone have any ideas, I seriously doubt that it's cycled since it isn't reading any No2 or No3 in the tank and we haven't done any water changes since we first added the water. FYI I did test the No2 and No3 on my main tank (just to make sure it wasn't the test kit) and both tests showed a pale pink/purple tinge, so the test kits work.
Why oh why isn't my tank starting to cycle!?!?
