Am I missing something?

jjn42b · Dec 23, 2011

Hi Everyone,

maybe not the best way to do this but i set my tanks up about 3 weeks ago, it has a sump with a skimmer in it. there is 300l water and about 29kg of live rock. the fish store i got the rock from have had this in a tanks that was part of their main system and so should have been in a good state.

the bit that may not be the best is that i have then be away with work

and have not been able to test the water. i tested it 10 days ago when i was back and then again today. strangly the readings appear to be the same nitrates 2.5, nitrites 0, ammonia 0 (although the test vile was cloudy but white) oh and salinity is 1.024 temp 25oc

could this mean that the tank has cycled? although i guess the nitrates are a little low?

thanks

jason

revhtree · Dec 23, 2011

Could very well be.

Did you say the rock was from an established tank? Also did you ever get any nitrite or ammonia readings?

GoReef165 · Dec 23, 2011

Did you put any livestock like Damsels or any raw fish, etc. in there to start your cycle? If not, you might not have even started the cycle if you just have cured LR. ????

returnofsid · Dec 23, 2011

If the rock was already established, you probably won't experience a cycle at all. Time to start doing water changes, to reduce your nitrates.

robert · Dec 24, 2011

When I set up my 115gal display, I used rock from my 50gal. established tank, but used all new substrate. I moved all corals, inverts and a few chromis into the tank immediately and just watched. I moved the rest of my fish in over the course of the next two weeks. I never saw a cycle. My guess is your good to start adding some load to the tank. Add a little and watch - if it still looks good add a little more.

I think a 2.5ppm on nitrates is pretty good - nothing to worry about.

jjn42b · Dec 24, 2011

thanks everyone for your comments, in response to some of the questions above:

i have not seen any readings above 0 for ammonia or nitrites
i have not put anything into the tank apart from the live rock just yet, it came from an established system

but looks like i might be ready to add a coral or part of a cleaning crew.

thanks