Hello my tank has been Cycling now for 5 weeks with dry rock and live sand. Before the adding of dry rock I had it socking for 3 weeks in warm saltwater. My nitrite level is .25 right now. I never added any Beneficial bacteria,just a little fish food here and there.. Am I on the right track,or should I have add some kind of Beneficial bacteria? Or will the bacteria buildup in time? Thank you.
New to tank setup
- Thread starter Edward303
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Bacteria should build up from the live sand you added to the system. You can monitor the progression of the cycle by measuring the 3 common parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) and trend them over time. Beneficial bacteria is added to accelerate the process but is not essential for the cycle to occur.
muzikalmatt
Valuable Member
If you're getting nitrites that means you're on the right track but not quite there yet. Ammonia is processed into nitrites and then nitrites are processed into nitrates. You should be testing all three as Seadoc mentioned and when you're consistently getting 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites the cycle is complete and you can start stocking the tank.
