Low nitrates new tank

[bherbold8]

Hi gang! Tanks only been up and running about 10 days. Started with aquacultured life rock, live sand, and seeded with sediment from an established tank. Never had much of a cycle by the time I started testing. Looks like my nitrates are currently around 2-3 PPM, Phos not detectable with test kit maybe slightly over 0. All other parameters are stable. Starting to see what I think is a minor diatom breakout only on my aquacultured life rock, not seeing much of anything on my substrate or the couple of pieces of dry rock that were also added.

I guess my question is what should I be keeping an eye on? I have a small ocellaris clown, one zebra hermit, two nassarius snails, and a few coral frags in the tank for now. Corals looking open and happy. Just going to watch the tank over the next couple of weeks so not in a big rush, just wondering if there are any indicators that you have built a sufficient bacteria population to add another fish or be comfortable adding more expensive corals.

 

[lafarrow]

Watch ammonia and nitrates to start. Here is a testing schedule with suggested parameters.

 

[bherbold8]

Watch ammonia and nitrates to start. Here is a testing schedule with suggested parameters.

Thanks for your reply! Havent tested present ammonia still, so I wouldn't expect that to pop up at this point.

 

[bherbold8]

Watch ammonia and nitrates to start. Here is a testing schedule with suggested parameters.

My tank essentially had somewhat of an instant /mini cycle . So just looking for what to keep an eye on from those with similar experiences ...thanks!

 

[lafarrow]

ammonia kills but is rare to appear. Nitrates build and can cause issues. Nitrate and phosphate are pulled out by plants.

 

[bherbold8]

ammonia kills but is rare to appear. Nitrates build and can cause issues. Nitrate and phosphate are pulled out by plants.

That's what I figured, so far so good