can someone help me with the next step?

[[ryan]]

ok, 2nd day of new 55 gal tank setup. last night i put all the "wet" crushed coral in the bottom of the tank, covers about an inch. Then put about 40 lbs of base rock in. once the water was filtered of all the debris i did some tests tonight with my test kit.

temp: 77*
alkalinity: about 2.2
pH: around 8.6. the test tube was a pretty purple...
nitrates: 0
nitrites: 0
ammonia: around .5

and i cant believe how much water evaporated over night and during the day today. by the time i got home my pump in the w/d filter was trying to suck air...

so what do i do now? wait for a while? can i put a hermit crab in or something?

 

[scuba_steve]

drop a raw shrimp and wait till it dissolves then test ! best to wait at least 3 weeks imo

 

[xxmoorishmanxx]

http://aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

u need to let the tank cycle, what will happen is that the lr will die off (some of the animals and inverts die) this will spike ammonia much more so than it is this can take a few days to a week to be read on a test strip/kit. After that the nitrites take over useing ammonia, which will decrease the amount of ammonia. After that the nitrates will rise and the nitrites will lower. after u finally have nitrates its time to do a water change this will help lower nitrates and make it safe for fish. This whole process needs to happen in order to build up bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. without this bacteria the tank will not stabelize and u will have eradic readongs and stressed livestock. for more info check the link above

 

[scuba_steve]

he didnt add lr yet or so he wrote ! so let it cycle using a raw shrimp and then you should add some lr

 

[xxmoorishmanxx]

oh sorry yeah saw base rock and was thinking something else good catch thanxx

 

[scuba_steve]

its late heheh

 

[Salttanker]

Get used to adding top off water in the sump my friend. Try using MH..it's even worse! On average, I have 2 - 3 gallons a day evap...and it's still winter.

Welcome to the addiction. Keep us posted.

Mike

 

[lando]

evaporation is good. Get in the habbit of topping off with FW every day or two. Try raising the water level in the sump so your pump will not suck air. this can be bad for the tank and the pump. Looks like you are on your way!

 

[[ryan]]

thanks for all the advice. I did go to the local store and get some fiji lr. bout 10 lbs or so, nothing spectactular. its got some green and pink stuff on it though. and i bought 2 small hermit crabs and one med size snail. I figure if they die, theyll help the cycle, and if they live, its less i have to buy later!

 

[quarryshark]

I did go to the local store and get some fiji lr. bout 10 lbs or so

Good move, when you can swing it get some more. If its precured, you can add it little by little even after the cycle is done.

i bought 2 small hermit crabs and one med size snail. I figure if they die, theyll help the cycle,

Don't understand this, they very well may die with ammonia in the system. Actually the rock and a uncooked cocktail shrimp is all you need.
Be patient, all good things happen slow in this hobby.

 

[[ryan]]

i know. i can wait no prob. cant hurt to spend $1.99 on a crab though. theyre funny to watch. but im not getting anything else for it, gonna wait and see what happens.