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You can measure ammonia (and nitrite and nitrate) and see if gets "cycled", i.e. ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate by bacteria. Depending on how you cycle a tank, you can either measure ammonia that you added directly to the tank or after adding fish food. It really kinda depends on what method you're using; some call for 3-4 months and some for about 1 month. I'd recommend measuring ammonia and seeing if it disappears after a day or so (and seeing if nitrate builds up at the same time).
How long has your tank been cycling? And are you using live rock/sand and adding in bacteria and ammonia?
 
Thanks for replying. It has been cycling for 2 weeks. I put shrimp in the tank, have live rock and sand. I will measure the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates after a month.
 
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Klatzy said:
You can measure ammonia (and nitrite and nitrate) and see if gets "cycled", i.e. ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate by bacteria. Depending on how you cycle a tank, you can either measure ammonia that you added directly to the tank or after adding fish food. It really kinda depends on what method you're using; some call for 3-4 months and some for about 1 month. I'd recommend measuring ammonia and seeing if it disappears after a day or so (and seeing if nitrate builds up at the same time).
How long has your tank been cycling? And are you using live rock/sand and adding in bacteria and ammonia?
Click to expand...

I'd agree with this, but I'd also caution that some nitrate tests convert nitrite into nitrate first and then measure it, so you'll likely want to measure nitrite simultaneously. Similarly, nitrite is the bottleneck, since the bacteria that convert it to nitrate grow pretty slowly.

If you're interested, Dr. Tim (of Dr. Tim's Aquatics) gave a MACNA talk a few years ago on tank cycling that was pretty informative and comprehensive. You should be able to find it on YouTube
 
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Just adding a shrimp and waiting for spontaneous colonization with correct bacteria is out of favor now for several reasons. Using a starter culture with Dr Tim’s One and Only or others on the market is much better and you can add it now after the fact as long as your ammonia isn’t too high.
 
IOnceWasLegend said:
Welcome to the club!


I'd agree with this, but I'd also caution that some nitrate tests convert nitrite into nitrate first and then measure it, so you'll likely want to measure nitrite simultaneously. Similarly, nitrite is the bottleneck, since the bacteria that convert it to nitrate grow pretty slowly.

If you're interested, Dr. Tim (of Dr. Tim's Aquatics) gave a MACNA talk a few years ago on tank cycling that was pretty informative and comprehensive. You should be able to find it on YouTube
Click to expand...
Welcome @mbrown4726 ! Here's the video:
 
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