LFS guy confused me about cycle

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Cygnus

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Dec 15, 2003
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I was at an LFS yesterday, and the guy was asking me about my tank. I told him I had ordered some LR off the internet and placed in my tank to cycle the tank. He said "That will probably take a long time." I was like "Ok, yeah I guess so" even though I had thought it would be a shorter than normal cycle. Then he asked me if I had ammonia or nitrite showing up. I said " Ammonia is coming down, and Nitrites are off the scale."

He said" After both of those get to zero, I would then start cycling the tank."

Huh? I thought once those hit zero, the tank was cycled? Am I missing something here?

BTW, its a 55 G, with 85lbs of LR, 4" argonite sandbed. I got a cup of live sand from a different LFS to help seed my sandbed.
 
Sigh of relief--you are correct. The ammonia and nitrites hitting zero means you have gone through the nitrogen cycle. Not sure what else would be called a cycle?
 
Ok, here's another question. I'm sure that when my ammonia hits zero there will still be plenty of nitrites. Do I need to add ammonia or anything to keep the ammonia eating bacteria fed? I realize that there are two different bacterias, for ammonia and nitrite, so after ammonia hits zero, will that culture begin to die off without a food source, and only the nitrite eaters will be plentiful?

Thanks again.
 
Yes, it will still need a food source. That is why many peopel cycle their tanks with a piece of shrimp that decomposes. Perhaps you could just add a piece of cocktail shrimp to the tank whiel you are waiting for the nitrites to come down. I don't know if this will slow down the cycle or not though.
 
When ammonia goes to zero, there will still be ammonia being made, but it will be converted to nitrite before your test kit gets a chance to see it. The "ammonia eating" bugs will be there and happy.
 
Start feeding the tank small amounts of food. Old flake food is what I use--I always have some on hand, it breaks down quicker than the cocktail shrimp.
 
Ok, so one pinch, or two, or only a few flakes daily? Sorry for asking so many dumb questions, I only want to get it right. I really appreciate all of the advice I have gotten here.
 
2 pinches should do it--try to feed the tank about the same amount as you'd feed the fish that will eventually go in.
 
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