How's my cycle going?

[K-Diddy]

I've had my LR curing in my tank(s) for 8 days now and I'm hoping for confirmation that everything is hunky-dory (technical term).

120gal
Ammonia has gone from .32 to .8(higher actually but .8 is all the test kit shows) - I've done 3 small (12 gal) water changes over the last 8 days because the ammonia was off the charts.
Nitrite is now 10
Nitrate is at 20

24gal (Q-tank) - I moved over 15lbs of LR from the 120 gal 4 days after I started curing it.
Ammonia is at .40
Nitrite is at 9
Nitrate is at 0

Does this look okey-dokey (another technical term)? And should I hold off on the water changes on the 120 gal?

I'm in no hurry, as I don't plan to add anything to the tank until algae starts to grow, and then it will just be snails/hermit crabs fpr about 4 weeks.

Thanks,
K-Diddy

[jer77]

Looks like your Ammonia went up considerably which is odd considering its been 8 days. There must be stuff on the rocks thats still dying. It really doesn't matter, it will eventually go down. You could scrub off some dead stuff from the rocks with a brush. Doing more water changes will make the process take longer in the long run, but if there is living stuff on the rocks like plants or sponges, it might keep them from rotting, which might shorten the process. The fact you have nitrates is a good sign that cycling is happening.

[jer77]

do you have a filter or skimmer running now?

[K-Diddy]

Yes I have my skimmer running.