My 29 gallon reef

[MBliss81]

Once your cycle is finished you won’t be worrying about what the exact color of the nitrite test is, because it will always test that perfect baby blue. Until then, anything else just means it’s not finished. Don’t worry about the details.

[TigerBarbs]

Okay so my nitrite will start dropping eventually to blue and my cycle will be over?

[TigerBarbs]

Then a huge water change of course to get rid of trates.

[MBliss81]

Basically. And then you resist the urge to add everything you’ve ever wanted all at once.

[TigerBarbs]

That'll be hard lol but I can do it

[TigerBarbs]

Just lookin over the tank and saw a handful of what I think are diatoms! Some are bright green but most are brown green. There's a few on my sand but most are on the rocks. Good sign right?

[TigerBarbs]

Hard to see cus I took it from above the tank but are they diatoms or just algae?

[TigerBarbs]

They are def diatoms. So that's good right? Also just got a Maxijet pro 400(500gph) to go with the koralia nano(425gph). My question is where should I point them? The pic is how I have them now and the arrows represent the flow. It was the best way I had to show the flow lol.

[TigerBarbs]

Just did a 5 gallon water change and my nitrItes are still through the roof but my nitrAtes are 0 ppm. Seemed weird to me.

[MBliss81]

No need to do water changes until the cycle is over. They can actually slow the cycle down a bit. Those trites will become trates soon enough though.

[TigerBarbs]

Okay. A really big water change after the trites are 0 right?

[EriksFish315]

Yes that's right.

[TigerBarbs]

My cycle is soooo close to finishing!! My ammonia was 0 after 24 hours so just dosed some more and my trItes are .25ppm and trAtes are 40ppm! So close! I'm getting crazy excited

[EriksFish315]

It's very exciting

[TigerBarbs]

Okay so after 24 hours, my ammonia went from about 6ppm to 0. But my nitrites are still a little high. Shouldn't the nitrites be goin down fast now too. I'm in day 21 of the fishless cycle with pure ammonia

[TigerBarbs]

Nitrites disappeared over night!!!! I'm ready for a cuc right?! Also will the cuc be able to sustain my b bacteria colony?

[TigerBarbs]

Got 8 dwarf blue legged hermits, 2 scarlet reef hermits, 4 astrea snails, and a baby skunk cleaner shrimp. I think I need some more snails of different kinds that can flip themselves over lol.

[TigerBarbs]

Should I add corals or fish first??

[MBliss81]

I'd recommend fish only for a while. And start with one or two and add slowly with at least a week or two between additions. Let the tank mature before you try corals.

[TigerBarbs]

Okay. Also what's the invert for detritus on the sand