Cycling my new SW tank

[Dekz]

I'm quite experienced with Freshwater but it's time to try salt! I'm trying to do this on a budget so I'm just going to start with a 10 gallon because I have an extra one right now.

It's been full of saltwater for 4 or 5 days now, SG is 1.022 and pH is 8.1

So it's time to add rock yes? I was thinking I would get mainly baserock and then a couple pounds of uncured live rock that I could use to cycle. Is this a good idea?

 

[Mitchell0605]

SG is 0.022 or 1.022? Cause it should be at least 1.022 not 0.022. pH is good.
Yep time to add the rock. What you have proposed sounds good as the LR will seed the BR as well as cycling the tank.
Make sure you have test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate at least. It's good to also have test kits for phosphate and calcium.
I also recommend dropping a raw cocktail shrimp into the tank with the rock. This will make sure the cycle happens as the raw shrimp will provide an ammonia source.

 

[Dekz]

SG is 0.022 or 1.022?

I also recommend dropping a raw cocktail shrimp into the tank with the rock. This will make sure the cycle happens as the raw shrimp will provide an ammonia source.

Typo, lol, fixed my original post.

I'm worried that putting the shrimp in there as well might spike the ammonia too high and kill a lot of the stuff on the LR. Hopefully the uncured rock will have enough to get the cycle going, I'll keep an eye on my ammonia levels and add shrimp if necessary.

 

[austinsdad]

Use the uncured LR and test the ammonia for 2 days to see if it'll work without adding shrimp. The test'll letcha know if there is enuf die-off on the rock to cycle.

 

[cmor1701d]

Your plan sounds solid so far. I do want to caution you that a 10 gallon tank is much harder to maintain than a 100 gallon tank. The salintiy will change due to evaporation, so you must top off the tank daily to maintain the proper SG. You shouldn;t have too much evaporation dailiy, but it doesn't make much in a 10 gal to make a difference.
The one thing that does translate from FW to SW is that PWC are your friend. Keep up with at least a gallon a week on partial water changes after the tank cycles.

Welcome to the salty side