Full cycle in 5 days

[9kin]

??? I did complete tank renovation. Took everything out, New sand, mostly new rock. Cleaned the whoel tank.

I just tested water with saliferts test kits and all my parameters were 0 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate ).

Also my test kits do not have expiration date printed on the box.

What could it be:
Cycle not started?
Expired/Bad test kits?

OR Cycle has finished and my water is good to go? (which i highly highly doubt).


Background: I do have a lot of rock in the system right now to expedite biological balance. Live sand was not washed. Added to aquarium straight from the bag.

 

[Jzhou]

you haven't added anything to produce the ammonia to start the cycling. My favorite method is to just drop a dead shrimp from the market (non frozen). There are some people, especially plant tank enthusiast, who uses pee.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

new LIVE rock? or was it dry rock?

 

[Jzhou]

Normally in a cycling process, you should expect some kind of spike in Nitrate. Even if its really small. Nitrate is the end product that you are expecting. Unless you are running something that absorbs nitrate (like denitrate or a heavily planted refugium) the only real way for you to remove nitrate is through a water change. Using Live sand and Live rock to help with the cycling process is good, but you have to remember that the bacteria in the tank is only able to handle the amount of bioload that is presently being created the tank. With out something creating the ammonia the bacteria needs to feed on to turn into nitrite then nitrate, they slowly die down until they reach an amount that can actually survive in your tank. I would also suggest that you turn off your protein skimmer if you are using one during the cycling process.

 

[9kin]

new LIVE rock? or was it dry rock?

live Rock. Bought from somebody tank.

So from what i understand i should put shrimp in there and let the cycle happen.

But if parameters are good can't i introduce fish in it. And while i feed it and they produce waste the bacteria and chemical balance will be restored little by little.
Meaning: as waste produced ->amonia increases ->nitrite increases -> nitrate -> increases. Until everything is balanced again. But since initially not a lot of waste is produced then ammonia will increase but not spike and so is the case with other parameters. Am i missing something?

I thought that when i start the tank i need beneficial bacteria to grow. However to produce it i need waste, amonia and everything else. However i started right away with a lot of beneficial bacteria. Why do i need to create a cycle. As previous post stated:- i need something to feed that bacteria, and by introducing fish (waste and feeding) i will automatically feed the bacteria.

Once again what part of link am i missing? I am most likely miss some equation in this chain of events, as i know that ALL new tanks experience cycle.

 

[Jzhou]

Some people use damsels to help them cycle, but they become more of a problem than they are worth. Though your tank does have a lot of bacteria, you really only have enough to handle the amount waste that is already being produced in the tank. The key to this hobby is being patient.