Water Chemistry Questions

[wrwarner]

A little background to get started:
Been out of the hobby for over two years, used an old 29 gallon tank and set it up with sand and cured live rock on 4/5/09. Did my first water test on 4/8/09...
Readings were: SG 1.024, pH 8.2, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrite 0.00, Nitrate 0.00. As I understand this is the beginning of a cycle, evenutually ammonia disappears and then nitrite spikes, then nitrite disappears and nitrates are left over (is this correct?).
Then the next day, 4/9/09, I came home from work to a cracked tank and a flood in progress. Time to start over. Bought a 40 gallon, cleaned up my apartment, and refilled on 4/13/09 with what was left of my water (about 12 gallons) and all my old sand and live rock. I then added some additional fully cured live rock on 4/15/09 due to the larger size of the new tank.
I just did another water test tonight. Readings are: SG 1.024, pH 8.0, Ammonia 0.00, Nitrite 0.00, Nitrate 5.00.
Is this the end of the cycle? Did I not do enough readings to properly document the entire cycle. The guy at the LFS did say that since I bought fully cured live rock that I should have a pretty fast cycle. Also, when my tank cracked I was able to salvage those last 12 gallons and carry that over, so when I set up the new tank I wasn't starting completely from scratch.
So total time my tank has been established is now two weeks.
Is it time to add the cleanup crew, and should I be worried that the pH reading came back a little lower than the first test? I do have some life in the tank that hitchhiked in...a nice little tube worm, a snail, and two aiptasia that need to go asap.
(BTW, this is not going to be a reef tank, no corals.)

 

[salty blues]

Originally Posted by wrwarner
http:///forum/post/3022906
A little background to get started:
Been out of the hobby for over two years, used an old 29 gallon tank and set it up with sand and cured live rock on 4/5/09. Did my first water test on 4/8/09...
Readings were: SG 1.024, pH 8.2, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrite 0.00, Nitrate 0.00. As I understand this is the beginning of a cycle, evenutually ammonia disappears and then nitrite spikes, then nitrite disappears and nitrates are left over (is this correct?).
Then the next day, 4/9/09, I came home from work to a cracked tank and a flood in progress. Time to start over. Bought a 40 gallon, cleaned up my apartment, and refilled on 4/13/09 with what was left of my water (about 12 gallons) and all my old sand and live rock. I then added some additional fully cured live rock on 4/15/09 due to the larger size of the new tank.
I just did another water test tonight. Readings are: SG 1.024, pH 8.0, Ammonia 0.00, Nitrite 0.00, Nitrate 5.00.
Is this the end of the cycle? Did I not do enough readings to properly document the entire cycle. The guy at the LFS did say that since I bought fully cured live rock that I should have a pretty fast cycle. Also, when my tank cracked I was able to salvage those last 12 gallons and carry that over, so when I set up the new tank I wasn't starting completely from scratch.
So total time my tank has been established is now two weeks.
Is it time to add the cleanup crew, and should I be worried that the pH reading came back a little lower than the first test? I do have some life in the tank that hitchhiked in...a nice little tube worm, a snail, and two aiptasia that need to go asap.
(BTW, this is not going to be a reef tank, no corals.)
If your ammonia level is now zero, I would say your tank is cycled and you can add a cuc and perhaps a fish. I wouldn't worry too much about a .2 ph difference. Just be sure to monitor your ammonia and other levels as you add any livestock.

 

[eric b 125]

that sucks. sounds like your cycle is nearly over. what caused your tank to crack? make sure your new tank is on a level surface and your rocks are stacked tightly together.

 

[wrwarner]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/3022950
that sucks. sounds like your cycle is nearly over. what caused your tank to crack? make sure your new tank is on a level surface and your rocks are stacked tightly together.
Believe me, I spent an ungodly amount of time trying to make sure the stand is level. I'm pretty sure the old tank cracked because I stored it in an attic in NC (really hot in the summer, freezing temperatures in the winter) for over two years.
I'm having plenty of fun right now though getting up close and staring at the live rock. Besides the snail and aiptasia, I've spotted some bristle worms, and some really small clear creatures that move really fast across the rock...not sure what they are.

 

[firestorm]

Aiptasia will become an annoyance - get rid of it now while the tank is fairly empty. (Aiptasia X, or several other methods, just do a forum search).
The small clear creatures may be nudibranch's - they'll eat your corals if you plan on adding any - definately wouldn't buy corals from that LFS anytime soon. Need pictures to be sure though.

 

[firestorm]

Here's a link to a picture of a nudibranch in someone else's system. Let me know if it looks like what you have.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ght=nudibranch

 

[aquaguy24]

the clear fast thing moving on ur live rock might be copepodes..i don't think nudibranch moves fast i could be wrong..anywho..if they are copepods..thats nothing to worry about just natural food for ur future fish..

 

[oceansidefish]

If you use cured LR and LS then you often won't see a cycle at all...They are actually really effective doing what they do best! I would say if you have been sitting for 2 weeks now that you are ready to add a small clean up crew and your first fish... Don't add too many snails or hermits right away because there is not much for them to eat. I would say maybe 5 snails total and 3 hermits. Have you thought about your stocklist yet???? Start with the least agressive fish first...