First Corals In The Tank

[billybloo]

Any suggestions for other corals for beginners?

[Sniperhank]

Looks like you are well on your way. Just keep with that for awhile as you’re fine tuning your system.

[billybloo]

so not that I'm impatient..but how long should I wait to introduce other corals..I've been cycling for about 3 weeks now..

[Sniperhank]

If you are cycling then here shouldn’t be any living things in the system.
That said, there are no signs of stress on the corals. This is telling me that there isn’t an ammonia source present to cycle the tank and it is simply isn’t cycled enough for livestock.
A typical cycle with a constant ammonia source can take 4-6 weeks.

[billybloo]

Yes, I'm going to test again today and check ammonia and nitrate..the levels have been slowly going down..

[Sniperhank]

The system isn’t cycled. You need to have a constant presence of ammonia. Either add a cocktail shrimp to the system to decompose or use pure ammonia to keep dosing the system up to 2 ppm until it isn’t detected in a 24 hour period.
You’ll need to either do water changes daily to keep the coral alive or to return them.
This goes back to patience. Saltwater is all patience. If not it turns into a money sink and frustration.

[billybloo]

I did my tests this morning and here are the results:
05/14 Monday 08:21 AM
Temperature: 80.4 °C
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: .50 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm

[Sniperhank]

There shouldn’t be any detectable ammonia or nitrite when livestock is present. You aren’t done cycling yet.
What is your ammonia source?

[billybloo]

Hey Snipe...keep in mind I'm a complete newbie, so I'm not sure what my ammonia source is, but willing to learn..I know I just did a partial water change yesterday (5 gallon)..tested just now and ammonia went up from .50 to 2.0 this morning..I also attached a pic of my tank this morning

[billybloo]

Also Sniper..forgot to tell you..when I did my water change I added nova aqua conditioner..3 teaspoons per instructions..attaching a clearer pic.

[The camaro show]

you should not be using tap water with condtional you need to be using a rodi system with 0 tds in the water

[Sniperhank]

You said your cycle was done earlier. What did you do to make you think it started?
As for everything else, with ammonia currently at 2 ppm we want to see that vanish on 24 hours. If you don’t see it gone tomorrow, we will need to get it back up to 2ppm.
With that said, are you adding ammonia or did you put something in the water to rot?

[billybloo]

Sniper, I haven't added anything to rot.

[billybloo]

Ok..i just read a bit about ammonia source..i'll drop a shrimp in there tonight to decompose..

[bribo12]

You have fish and coral in there right? I would definitely not put a shrimp in there. The fish and inverts are your ammonia source now. What are your levels and what test kit are you using?

[54seaweed]

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice