Cycling my first saltwater aquarium

[Willba200]

I all I did a water test today and it showed all tests to be normal. I'm into week 2 of cycle. Have I missed any spikes or will I get them soon. Also did a test on week1. 20lbs live rock. Live sand. Powerhead and hob skimmer. Many thanks

 

[Willba200]

I all I did a water test today and it showed all tests to be normal. I'm into week 2 of cycle. Have I missed any spikes or will I get them soon. Also did a test on week1. 20lbs live rock. Live sand. Powerhead and hob skimmer. Many thanks

week one also was normal

 

[carey]

Did you introduce an ammonia source to start the cycle?

 

[Willba200]

No I was told to leave it it for four weeks. I have loads of hitch hickers including a crab ,small,bristle worm and two star fish. I have tropical fish food. Should I ghost feed it?? Thanks

 

[Willba200]

And a snail

 

[carey]

Hope those critters were hitchhikers, its a waste of money to add living stuff to a cycling tank.

For me, the easiest way to cycle is to add a dead shrimp from the supermarket and let it rot in the tank thus providing you a solid ammonia source. OR what I do is use pure ammonia (from ace hardware, no additives) and dose the tank to 4ppm of ammonia.

Unless of course you have all live rock in there....is that the case?

 

[Willba200]

Yes all live rock! And no I have not put anything in there other then sand rock and water(salt) fascinating watching what comes out of the rock. What do u think about the crab.? He is white and hairy and has brown claws

 

[carey]

oh, ok, live rock changes everything.
How was the rock transported? was it out of water at all? If so, how long?
You can make sure you are cycled by dosing up some pure ammonia, maybe try 1ppm ammonia, and if you test 24 hours later and its gone, with no nitrites and some nitrates then you are good to go.
Do you have a photo of the crab? Some are good, some are bad. I am not awesome at identifying them but maybe someone else will see it and know what it is.

 

[Willba200]

If u look really close at centre u can just make it out

 

[Willba200]

Live rock was out of water for about 1hr from shop to my house

 

[carey]

ahh ok, you may have had some die off but it should have showed as ammonia a few days after adding it. You didnt get any ammonia readings ever, at all? How about nitrates? any of these?

 

[Willba200]

Had slight ammonia and nitrate last week but today is 0

 

[Willba200]

Could u make out the crab. Hard to spot lol

 

[carey]

yep, i saw him but no idea on what it is lol. sorry
If you had a slight spike, which would make perfect sense and its gone now Iwould say you can start adding livestock, slowly of course.