Aloha BAR friends,
Happy Friday.
I have been cycling my new IM 50 for close to 3 weeks now. I added new live sand, 40 lbs of dry rock, saltwater from Neptune, bottled live bacteria, old media sock from my cycled IM20, and some small live rock from that tank as well. Ive been ghost feeding pellets to the tank almost daily for the last week or so.
The first week, I saw a small bump in Nitrite. Outside of that my readings are low across the board. Even this morning.
Is this cycled? I dont have the lights working right now as Ive heard cycling without lights is better. No Algae growth visible.
Today: Amm .25, Nitirite 0, Nitrate slightly above 0 is my best guess
Do I need to turn on the lights now?
Shall I put the shrimp in there and see if the readings are still 0? I hear that if Amm and Nitirte are 0 and Nitrate go up, then it means the cycle has started and its ok to add to the tank.
Temp is about 78.
Any advice?
I hate waiting naturally, but am wondering if i am not even having much of a cycle to begin with, or have missed it.
Ill throw a shrimp in there today and check the next day what my readings are
Thanks
Arvind
Happy Friday.
I have been cycling my new IM 50 for close to 3 weeks now. I added new live sand, 40 lbs of dry rock, saltwater from Neptune, bottled live bacteria, old media sock from my cycled IM20, and some small live rock from that tank as well. Ive been ghost feeding pellets to the tank almost daily for the last week or so.
The first week, I saw a small bump in Nitrite. Outside of that my readings are low across the board. Even this morning.
Is this cycled? I dont have the lights working right now as Ive heard cycling without lights is better. No Algae growth visible.
Today: Amm .25, Nitirite 0, Nitrate slightly above 0 is my best guess
Do I need to turn on the lights now?
Shall I put the shrimp in there and see if the readings are still 0? I hear that if Amm and Nitirte are 0 and Nitrate go up, then it means the cycle has started and its ok to add to the tank.
Temp is about 78.
Any advice?
I hate waiting naturally, but am wondering if i am not even having much of a cycle to begin with, or have missed it.
Ill throw a shrimp in there today and check the next day what my readings are
Thanks
Arvind