Can this be right? Please help!

[sandys]

I assembled my aquarium last week-end. It is a 30 gallon with about 40 lbs. of live sand and 35 lbs. of live rock. I ran it for 24 hours then threw in a raw shrimp. I've been feeding the shrimp twice a day.
On Day 3, I tested my water and this is what I got:
ph <7.8
Ammonia 0.4
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Today (Day 6), Itested again:
ph 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Can this be right?
While I was testing the water, I noticed that I have a gazillion little critters swimming around. They are smaller than a gnat so I can't really describe them except to say that they are very active. Are these good guys or bad guys?
Thanks for your help! :notsure:

 

[who dey]

are they little white critters all over your glass, if so it's all normal they will go away, keep testing your water. cycle should take longer than that, have you seen diatoms yet? usually when you see them and they start to go away your cycle is finishing up.

 

[pontius]

of course it can be right, no problem there. of course, your ph is still far too low, imo, to keep marine life. you should do something about that. but yeah, cycling different tanks take different amounts of time. if you add a lot of rock, sand, etc etc at one time, you may have another spike though. what do you mean by "feeding the shrimp"? you didn't actually put a live shrimp in did you?

 

[reefnut]

I would expect to see some nitrates?? Do you have algae in the system??

 

[sandys]

Some of the little things are on the glass. It is a dead shrimp. Someone told me that if I add food twice a day, it will help with the ammonia spike. (I pretend I'm feeding the shrimpy. ) I'll just keep testing the water and see what happens.
Another dumb question: what are diatoms?
I really appreciate everyone's help!

 

[pensky]

what are diatoms and what do they look like?

 

[annanymous]

its a nasty red or green stuff that covers your sand and rocks. you'll know it when you have it. we guarantee

 

[jacknjill]

Originally Posted by annanymous
its a nasty red or green stuff that covers your sand and rocks. you'll know it when you have it. we guarantee

its actually brown. red is probably cyano and green is just algae

 

[pensky]

I had red dots on my LR when I got it and is still there is that diatoms?

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by pensky
I had red dots on my LR when I got it and is still there is that diatoms?
That would be coralline most likely. Diatoms is brown, looks like a brown film...

 

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by JacknJill
its actually brown. red is probably cyano and green is just algae
Cyano can also be a dark blue green and look black in color.