question on my cycling

kumiko

kumiko

Member
ok, here's the info.
i set up my 29 gallon this past saturday. i have 50 lbs "dead" sand, 2 lbs live sand, and 10 lbs live rock.
on sunday i added a green chromis.
on monday i added a camel shrimp, two blue leg hermits.
today, thursday, i added two turbo snails.
i've been testing everyday, and my ammonia levels have been almost off the chart everyday except saturday and sunday. my nitrates and nitrates have been slowly rising, nitrates were at 25 mg/l today. pH has stayed at 8.2. i would think with the high ammonia that everything in my tank would be dead by now. but nobody is showing signs of anything. one of my hermit crabs even molted today! everything is eating, no signs of trouble breathing, nothing.
i also added Cycle and Kent Essential Elements a few days ago.
i guess i just want to know if this is normal. should my ammonia levels have gone down by now? should i do anything else?
 
trigahappynigerog

trigahappynigerog

Member
it should be close to finishing the cycle soon. it is normal but slow down on adding your livestock. wait at least a week to add another species. you dont want buy a hundred dollars of fish and then a week later everything is slowly dying. green chromise do better in groups.
 
kumiko

kumiko

Member
i plan on returning the chromis (to the store i work at.) i didn't want to add a school of them the day after i set my tank up.
thank you though. i'm just weary of test kits lately, i've been hearing a lot of mixed opinions on them.
i've actually been testing at home and at work with different test kits, and the ammonia comes out different on both of them.
oh well, i guess i'll just have to wait and see what happens.
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
why return the chromis?
other than that, yes this is the way it goes, you are on track
do nothing else, except wait
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
ok, that explains it,
IMO
i think these are fascinating creatures
and you are wise to dedicate the tank to only tehm, because as you apparently seem to know, they will die if they have to compete for food
wishing all the luck and post some pics when you get it up
 
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