Is my tank cured already?

[Couch]

My tank has been curing for 1 week now. I just received my nitrate/nitrite test kit and did the tests, The readings are practically zero mabey .2 Nitrate and .5 Nitrite. I did add some "Cycle" to it, and have had the skimmers running nonstop. I empty the skimmers every other day or so, once they get about .5" to 1" of gunk in them. Is this possible or has it not even started yet? 10% water changes twice this week, Due to siphoning the sediment out of the bottom of the tank, and scrubbed the black/brown stuff off the rock in a seperate container twice. Looks like all of a sudden since this morning that the hair algae is even dying off. I read that it will not grow below .5 Nitrite or Nitrate (can't remember which). Is this too soon? I am going to wait four more days and if the readings are still good I am going to add Live sand. Then one week later start stocking the tank. The green hair algae is losing its color and stating to turn clear and dead looking. Any thoughts?

[Gina]

I don't know....1 week doesn't sound long enough to me.
Can I ask why you didn't put your sand in along with your LR?
Did you ever have an Ammonia spike?

[meandean45]

Have you tested for ammonia yet? You should get a rising ammonia reading, then a falling one. As the ammonia begins to fall, the Nitrite (also bad news) should begin to rise. When the Nitrite peaks, then you should see a rise in the Nitrate level. Your tank is through its initial (not final ) cycle when both the Ammonia and the Nitrite read zero.
Regards,
Dean

[burning2nd]

The Nh3 and nh4 is what u should really be looking at,

you say you no2 still, thats not good No3 is ok cause thats normal after cycleage but
no2 is bad and mostly your not cylced yet.

were did you get your rock form and water?

my tank went up very quickly the rock i had and the water i first added were from a very exstablished system. thus not cycle. but if you have new rock and theres stuff that died in transport then the no2 will be up the nh4 will have to spike.

i would not do water changes, and i would let the tank run like you plan on runing it for a while b4 stocking it.

good luck show us pics

[Jorgens]

I had a cycle take about 2 weeks. After 2 weeks no nitrite levels at all. Used "dead" beach sand. 1 pound or so of "live" rock from the LFS. No clue why it went so fast did tests every day and it was done in 2 weeks so....

5 weeks now and my nitrates are dropping as well fomr 35 mg/l down to 5 mg/l this week. ( going witha deep sand bed) And my refugium isn't even planted yet

It is possible you have a VERY small cycle take place but i woun'dt stock more than a fish or 2. wait another couple weeks or keep an eye on your tests before ading anything else....go slow

What size tank? If it's large enuff you'll have a little more room to play...if it's less than 55 id go real slow.

just my humble opinion

[deaclauderdale]

When u add your sand the bio system wi;; have to process it and you may get some rising in your levels, but patience is a virtue in this hobby and speed kills your pocket book and your livestock so just take your time.