Hi guys,
Hope you are all well. I'm new to this hobby and this is my second year in fish keeping and first in setting up a saltwater tank.
I have a small tank (23 litre, fluval edge). I'm completely aware that it is not recommended to keep a small salterwater tank, however I do not wish to keep many fish (I might put in one), but mainly just want a set up consisting of live rock and soft coral and one shrimp.
Here's my question. I've basically have been cycling my tank for 6 weeks and one day. My water parameters (please check the attachment) is Ammonia - 0ppm, Nitrite- 0ppm, Nitrate-0ppm, pH- 8.0-8.2. However, I personally feel the tank hasn't even started cycling. One mistake I made was I didn't check the water parameters in the second week. I started checking in the third week (all parameters at 0ppm). I noticed more activity in the tank in the second week, and by the third week I had diatoms covering my live rock and a little at the back. It's now in the 7th week of cycling and basically, I've noticed a gradual reduction of diatoms on the rock. I'm doing 10% water changes every week (I started it after the third week - wanted to build up Ammonia initially to get the process going).
I've used de-chlorinated TAP water, which may suggest the growth of the diatoms ( due to the nitrates and silicates in the water). Therefore for these reasons I'm not sure if it has started. I noticed bubbles emerging from the sand bed and live rock, but I highly doubt that's nitrogen gas indicating end of the cycling. This is mainly because I didn't use Live sand (yes I know bad idea).
I just wanted your opinions. What you think I should do. Please note I'll be waiting for another 2 weeks (total of 8 weeks cycling) before I make my next decision. Attached is a picture of the tank and the, water parameters.
Many thanks,
Jungly 108
Hope you are all well. I'm new to this hobby and this is my second year in fish keeping and first in setting up a saltwater tank.
I have a small tank (23 litre, fluval edge). I'm completely aware that it is not recommended to keep a small salterwater tank, however I do not wish to keep many fish (I might put in one), but mainly just want a set up consisting of live rock and soft coral and one shrimp.
Here's my question. I've basically have been cycling my tank for 6 weeks and one day. My water parameters (please check the attachment) is Ammonia - 0ppm, Nitrite- 0ppm, Nitrate-0ppm, pH- 8.0-8.2. However, I personally feel the tank hasn't even started cycling. One mistake I made was I didn't check the water parameters in the second week. I started checking in the third week (all parameters at 0ppm). I noticed more activity in the tank in the second week, and by the third week I had diatoms covering my live rock and a little at the back. It's now in the 7th week of cycling and basically, I've noticed a gradual reduction of diatoms on the rock. I'm doing 10% water changes every week (I started it after the third week - wanted to build up Ammonia initially to get the process going).
I've used de-chlorinated TAP water, which may suggest the growth of the diatoms ( due to the nitrates and silicates in the water). Therefore for these reasons I'm not sure if it has started. I noticed bubbles emerging from the sand bed and live rock, but I highly doubt that's nitrogen gas indicating end of the cycling. This is mainly because I didn't use Live sand (yes I know bad idea).
I just wanted your opinions. What you think I should do. Please note I'll be waiting for another 2 weeks (total of 8 weeks cycling) before I make my next decision. Attached is a picture of the tank and the, water parameters.
Many thanks,
Jungly 108
