Please look at my levels!!!!!

[shoogieboo]

please look at my levels
How am i doing? it day 3 with established rock and water in my new tank ammonia was 1.5 for 2 days its now 0 sump is running and water is crystal clear...i see my little red mushrooms and hermit and snail made it through the move as well as my lobster....nitrite is .03? don't know what that means ph is 8.0 salinity is 1.021 temp is 76 and the only thing i can't tell is the nitrate i don't have the directions for the test its tetra test anyone have this? i'm assuming its 14 drops of num1 then 7 of num 2 and 3 so i did that if thats right then the reading is 0
please give me some feed back as to wether my tank has cycled or not and what can i put in it if anything!! thanks

 

[reefnut]

How did you cycle it?? You should have nitrates at the end of the cycle... typically around 20ppm or so.

 

[shoogieboo]

i took 150lbs of rock and 75gallons of water from a set up that was set up for 3 yrs all i did was transfer it and add more water and i'm not too sure if i did the nitrate test right...i need the directions...

 

[scorphntr]

looks like your in the same boat I am in. I just moved a tank with a lot of the original water. Its kinda confusing to figure out if your tank is cycling or not isn't it?

 

[rubberduck]

it can be VERY confusing!

 

[reefnut]

If ammonia or nitrites show up on a test then you are cycling. In this situation it is hard to tell where you're at so I would start as if it was a new tank... meaning put in a dead shrimp and watch the levels. The decomposing shrimp will keep the bacteria alive if it's already established. If your ammonia and/ or nitrites do not read a level over the next week or so I would assume it's cycled to the point of being able to add your first critters. JMO...

 

[shoogieboo]

well its pretty much the same as yesterday...
nitrite .03
nitrate 0
ph 8
ammonia 0
temp 78
salinity 1.022
so what now? do i throw in a shrimp or what?
i also have a snail hermit and lobter in there will this affect them?

 

[reefnut]

The hermits and lobster will eat the shrimp but other than that they should be fine unless you do get a spike in ammonia or nitrites. Inverts can't handle ammonia or nitrites well so you may want to find a temp place for them if your levels start to rise.
As ophiura said in the other thread your spacific gravity is a bit low. You should bring that up a bit if your going to keep a reef. I would also put in a couple shrimp and see what happens.

 

[shoogieboo]

okay will do,,, and i wont be going full blown reef i would be happy to keep fish alive lol......but pehaps some soft coral..the lighting i have is three pc 65wt and one pc 55wt so i'm not sure how much that will support....i don't really have any other place to keep my little inverts they came with the tank would one of those little walmart plastic bug cages be ok if i took the water and put some sort of air in it?

 

[shoogieboo]

how soon would the ammonia spike after i put the shrimp in ? and if nothing happens how soon could i add something alive lol and what would i start with? whats easy and inexpensive to start me out either fish or coral or both

 

[shoogieboo]

OK GUYS THIS IS DAY FIVE I HAVN'T PUT ANY SHRIMP IN YET WAS PLANNING ON DOING THAT TODAY...I JUST CHECKED MY LEVELS AGAIN....ALL I HAVE BEEN DOING DIFF IS FEEDING MY LOBSTER AND HERMIT
TEMP 80
NITRATE 12.5
AMMONIA 1.5
PH 8.0
NITRITE 0.3
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IS MY TANK NOW JUST CYCLING? DO I STILL NEED SHRIMP? THIS IS THE FIRST RISE I SEE IN NITRATES ITS ALWAYS BEEN 0 AMMONIA ROSE TO 1.5 A FEW DAYS AGO AND THEN BACK TO 0