In the process of cycling my first salt water tank. Tonight the nitrites finally read zero. But going on vacation on sat for a week. I don't want to stock till I get back.
The way I cycled was with 40lbs of uncured dry rock and about 5lbs of live rock from my lfs. Didn't use live sand. The dry rock had a lot of dead looking stuff on it that I didn't scrub. That stuff was enough to get me cycled.
Should I do anything before vacation so my bacteria doesn't starve when I go away. Is that dead stuff still making ammonia and will continue till I get back. Would adding a coctail shrimp before I leave help or not be necessary. My nitrates are through the roof right now. So high that I can't even tell what it is. When should I do the major water changes. Should I wait till I get back from vacation to do wc till my nitrates become accessible?
Ty
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
The way I cycled was with 40lbs of uncured dry rock and about 5lbs of live rock from my lfs. Didn't use live sand. The dry rock had a lot of dead looking stuff on it that I didn't scrub. That stuff was enough to get me cycled.
Should I do anything before vacation so my bacteria doesn't starve when I go away. Is that dead stuff still making ammonia and will continue till I get back. Would adding a coctail shrimp before I leave help or not be necessary. My nitrates are through the roof right now. So high that I can't even tell what it is. When should I do the major water changes. Should I wait till I get back from vacation to do wc till my nitrates become accessible?
Ty
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice