odd cycle

[ccm703]

So I started another tank , rsm 250 and had bought fiji rock from fijireefrock.com cycled/cured the dry rock in coolers first. Three weeks in the coolers at 82° with lots of flow and the rocks cycled nice . I did a full water change and soaked for a few days to check for phosphate leach.

So I added my sand carib sea ocean direct 80lbs and stacked my rock and filled the tank. Rock was out of water for maybe an hour as I was filling the tank with water I got ready days before. So long story short I added a few raw clams and a couple shrimp for my ammonia source . Its been 10 days now with the tank running and i never got any ammonia but my nitrites are high and nitrates are high.

Could it be the bacteria I previously built on the rock plus the sand is consuming the ammonia fast and I wont see a spike. Current tests are

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 3+
Nitrate 20-30 ppm

[Cujo#31]

Try adding enough pure amonia (or as pure as u can find) with no perfumes or the such until you get good reading on test kit then see what tank does with it.

[monza]

No expert on the matter but I don't think your supposed to have nitrites and nitrates occurring at the same time. Are your test kits reliable?

[ccm703]

I looked a lot of places for ammonia found a couple but no ingredients list bought one but foams a little much on a shake test for me to trust it . It was from london drugs.

[ccm703]

Kits are salifert

[sphelps]

Your ammonia test kit may not be accurate or you never got a large spike due to the initial curing process of the rocks.

[Slyguy00]

When i started a new tank and used live rock and live sand i never really had an "ammonia spike" it was a very small almost un noticeable cycle. I would think the nitrate and nitrites are from the shrimp and clams you added to your tank. I could be wrong but that is my experience with it. A week after setting it up i had all my fish and coral in my tank with no issues.

[ccm703]

Thats what I was thinking with the rock , cause I had a decent spike of over 4ppm of ammonia when the rocks were curing in
The coolers . So im wondering if I can get some nice ammonia should I add it or wait this out .

[Slyguy00]

Personally if you have had a small spike id wait it out, Im sure it wont be long before its ready to rock