After cycle info

[Fyrefightr]

OK, so my tank has cycled. Ammonia and Nitrites steady at 0 for 5 days and Nitrates at 20. I have added two darwin clowns and put the purigen back in and turned the skimmer back on. Its Thursday night and I hit 0 on Sunday morning and got fish on Sunday. Did a 7 gallon water change (32gal tank) Monday night and Tuesday Nitrates were at 10 where they have stayed steady. Skimmer is running but just getting some cloudy water in it. Is there a special way to dial the skimmer in? I did notice today that there are small spots of brown algae forming on the rocks so I know the bloom is on the way. I have adjusted the lights so they are on for only 8hrs of daylight. I know not to change the water again until after the bloom but is there anything else I need to do or be prepared for?

I tried attaching two pics to verify this is diatom and not anything severe but it says files too large. Any advice on how to attach a photo taken with iphone?

 

[Shilpan]

Hello!
Take a picture, email it to yourself as a "medium size" on iPhone and you'll get a smaller picture

Your description above sounds like it's going fine and as expected. Small cycle but maybe because it's a relatively small tank

 

[Jesterrace]

OK, so my tank has cycled. Ammonia and Nitrites steady at 0 for 5 days and Nitrates at 20. I have added two darwin clowns and put the purigen back in and turned the skimmer back on. Its Thursday night and I hit 0 on Sunday morning and got fish on Sunday. Did a 7 gallon water change (32gal tank) Monday night and Tuesday Nitrates were at 10 where they have stayed steady. Skimmer is running but just getting some cloudy water in it. Is there a special way to dial the skimmer in? I did notice today that there are small spots of brown algae forming on the rocks so I know the bloom is on the way. I have adjusted the lights so they are on for only 8hrs of daylight. I know not to change the water again until after the bloom but is there anything else I need to do or be prepared for?

I tried attaching two pics to verify this is diatom and not anything severe but it says files too large. Any advice on how to attach a photo taken with iphone?

Sounds like you are on the right track there, although I never consider the cycle truly done until the algae bloom has come and gone and I won't add fish until it's done (you should be okay though) and I don't change water until after the algae bloom is well underway. Also are you adding snails and hermit crabs to your tank? They should be added once the bloom really comes in as they will help clean up the tank and eat detritus (fish poop) and excess fish food waste.