First Ever Reef Build - 55g

just wanted to drop a quick update....I added the biospira as suggested by Daniel072 as well as a piece of raw shrimp. Put both of those in there last Thursday evening.

Measured my levels Monday, still had 0 ammonia, 0.5 nitrite and and nitrate 10ppm

Measured Tuesday: ammonia 0, nitrite 0.25 and nitrate 5ppm.

I decided to take the shrimp out last night after I ran the tests. Any thoughts on my cycle so far? I was told when I got the live rock/live sand I might not see much of an ammonia spike so maybe I missed it. Since my levels are decreasing I figured that had to be a good sign. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'm by no means an expert on new tanks but it sounds to me like you may have completed most of your cycle....how long did you have the shrimp in there?

 

6 nights

 

Looks like your off to a good start! You shouldn't need the bio-spira is you added live rock, there is plenty of bacteria in LR and scoops of sand, heck, there is even a lot of bacteria floating around on particles in the air Anyways though, people who use LR and sand, often don't have much of an ammonia spike.

 

Just make sure you take your time! Im 6 months into mine and its all i can do to not run out and start adding a bunch to my tank. Youll have other cycles and blooms as all your dead rock comes to life. Looks like a real nice start!!

 

pretty pumped the cycle may be finished....however I am going to be out of town for 2 weeks so I'm going to have to wait to add fish I guess. Will the tank be alright for 2 weeks? Should I expect to come back to lots of algae ?

 

hello everyone! back in town and still no algae growth. Had a couple more little starfish on the glass but water and glass clear as can be. Tests all showed zero for ammonia, nitrate and nitrate with a pH of 8-8.2. So I went to the store and picked up a pair of ocellaris clownfish. After an hour or so of acclimation I added them to the tank. So ;D to finally have fish! Hope everything went alright...post some pics soon once they slow down.

 

Congrats on your new clown fish, great fish and so much fun to watch.

 

thanks, they are pretty fired up now. hope they slow down soon. Had to turn off a couple powerheads because it looked like they couldnt swim very well past them

 

Congrats on your first fish!