Another rookie question about what/when to test after cycled

[Matt Miller]

I'm dosing ammonia daily now to "feed" the system.

Hopefully adding 2 fish to QT in 2ish weeks.

Right now I'm testing ammonia and nitrates daily. I am using everyone's favorite API testers until they are gone and I don't plan on getting more testers for that.

The only other thing I test right now is salinity which is pretty stable from lfs @1.026.

Should I start testing other parameters when I get fish in QT or when I'm about ready to put them in DT? And what should I worry about for fish only in the beginning?

I may have a tiny bit of film algae on the back wall, but don't see anything really growing yet, lights out for a while still. I think I need to wait till fish in tank to add any cuc....right?

 

[Dbichler]

Stop dosing ammonia you only have to test for it and when it’s zero you’re cycled. After that you only have to test nitrates occasionally for fish only. For corals alk cal and mag.

 

[Matt Miller]

Stop dosing ammonia you only have to test for it and when it’s zero you’re cycled. After that you only have to test nitrates occasionally for fish only. For corals alk cal and mag.

I was told I should keep dosing ammonia since it's taking longer than I thought to get my first fish.

Eventually I want anemones but have no real plans for any other corals.

 

[Dbichler]

By feeding bacteria more ammonia you will just be creating a ton of nitrates. Pretty sure the bacteria after one has cycled will not just go away. Just limited by amount of ammonia just don’t add ten fish at once and you should be fine.