Nano reef cycling questions

[Maggiemoo2771]

Hi! I have some questions about how a new nano tank will cycle.

I set up my tank, a 10 gallon, yesterday. I used live sand, about 2" bed, and about 15 lbs of live rock. Water is ro/di testing to a salinity of 1.022. There are no fish in the tank as my goal was to cycle the tank using the live rock and live sand. Four hours after adding the sand it was still so cloudy I did a partial water change. Let the water return to temp and added my rock.

I tested my water with the API reef master kit and the nitrate reading was very high.. 80 ppm. This has me worried and I want to do a water change to lower this number.

What I would like to know, what should I be testing for, and how often...I saw so many test kits I wasn't sure what is really needed. And the sales guy at the pet store would have sold me everything if I'd let him!

Second, what should I expect to see on a start up tank? I've read so much that I'm getting confused and I don't think I am actually getting the answer I need. Is there a chart or an article of what happens during the start up cycle of a new reef tank?

Should I just leave everything alone or change the water?

Any help is greatfully appreciated!!!

Lisa

 

[Wayne Appleby]

R u using RO water?

 

[Craigj247]

Well in my opinion testing water at this point is of no use... When you get the sand and rock in just run the filter for 24 hours with a temporary piece of sponge and then toss it out after 24 hours... Then include the filter foam, carbon etc.
Don't do any water changes at this time. Let the tank run for a week minimum and then do a water test... Ideally you should see higher levels of ammonia and nitrates... This is normal during cycling... You can at that point do a 10 percent water change if you feel needed.

You will also start to see some diatom build up this is normal... After about three weeks your levels should be at 0 but it may show a slight elevated nitrate level thus will east up once you introduce your clean up crew...

End of the day each tank has it's own personality and will react in it's own way during cycle but will reach the same point once the cycle is over... Always trust your gut feeling if you feel something is off.