Do these test #'s sound right?

dmill15

dmill15

Member
My tank has been set up for a week. I have 40lbs tufa base rock. 15lbs LR, 50 lbs play sand, and 20 lbs LS. I tested the water today and the results are Trates= 10, Trites= .25, Ammonia .50 and PH is 8.2. Do these sound right to any of you experts? I am a novice and could use all the help I can get.
Thanks,
Dave
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
Sounds right for a week old tank. Just don't put any fish in it till it's done. Might want to either add some flakes of food, or i've heard of a lot of people using raw shrimp pieces. Just need something to make a bio-load. There are people that go through a cycle, add fish, and then re-cycle because they never built up enough bacteria during the initial cycle. At-least that's what I think happened. I'm no expert, but read about it a few times.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
When you're done with this cycle and you start to add the fish you plan on having, add slowly, and watch levels. Some people add to fast and have another ammonia/nitrite spike.
 
dindi

dindi

Member
Welcome to the saltwater fish world, your water should test zero for amm, trites and low for trates. What is your salinity and alks. What temp is your water and how many gals are your tank? Using the raw shrimp to cycle your tank is very sound advice, do not put any fish or inverts during this time, let it cycle and be patient it will all come together. Remember patience is a virtue, especially in this hobby. You will see spikes, amm fist then trates then trites. Good luck
 
dmill15

dmill15

Member
My salinity is about 31 or 1.023 I don't have a kit for alks yet. It is a 55 gal with a fluval 304 and a prizm protien skimmer and 2 penguin power heads. I tried to attach a pic but the file size is too big.
 
dindi

dindi

Member
Sounds good but your temp could be lower at 79 or 80, I know it seems trivial but when you take the animals enviroment into consideration you'll understand as the tropical sea dosen't have a temp variation. You don't need your protein skimmer until your tank is fully cycled, it's a waste of time. Let it cycle...Much patience is needed here, one week isn't going to cycle your tank, it usually takes around one month but you can go faster by using the shrimp(raw) method it will hurry things along. Make sure you check all your water parameters and by all means a alkalinity test kit is very important as well as a calcium kit. If you currently have fish then it could be a prob. Your tank your choice to quote another person on this board.:)
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
With the temperature issue, 81 should be fine. There is a site that was recommended by someone on this board to check out. Most people were keeping there tanks around 80-84 it seemed. At least those who posted... Some 76-79. I'll see if I can find the link.
 
dmill15

dmill15

Member
Thanks you guys! I will keep you posted on how it is going. I'm not in any hurry to put anything but more lr and ls in my tank for now. I made that mistake a few years back and it cost way too much $$$ plus I felt bad for tortureing those fish. Like my sig. says.
Thanks Again,
Dave
 
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