cycling my 10 gallon help please

[mattt6511]

Hello i just got my little 10 gallon bowfront tank today, i put in the water and instant ocean mix, got the salinity right at 1.022 and i put in a small amount of livesand and liverock from my other saltwater tank "has been running a few months" i wanted to know what can i do to cycle the 10 gallon, iv heard not to use a raw shrimp its too small is this true, but my main concern was i tested the chemicals about 2 hours after it was all setup and my ammonia is sky high already at 2ppm, nitrite was 0, and nitrate was 0, ph was low around 7.8 why is my ammonia high!! i didnt even do anything to start the cycle yet??? One last question the small filter the tank came with is questionable but if i used a good amount of live rock, and 10 lbs of live sand is that suffeciant filtration.... Thanks guys!!!

 

[DragonForce]

you won't have much of a cycle if you seed with live rock and sand. Try using some tank water from your other tank as well and do tests everyday for a week to see if you even get a cycle.

 

[Jermz79]

I did the same thing with my 12gal NanoCube, used LR and LS from that tank and 50% new water and 50% from my 29gal. I had no cycle at all! Tank is now fully stocked and doing great! Just err on the side of caution and keep testing for a week or so. Better safe than sorry!


Good Luck
Jermz

 

[flamingonhot]

Personaly I would just leave it. Add a damsel or a little piece of food and that's it. Worked for me.

 

[mattt6511]

should i add a damsel now or wait a few more days......