20gal cube

[RCRed]

Hey, i’m new to reefing, just bought my first tank (aqua one nano reef 80). I currently have a small red ribbon macroalgae and a 1 inch rhodactis mushroom frag from a friend. I used caribsea liferock and caribsea arag alive special grade live reef sand and red sea coral pro salt.

It’s been cycling for 2 weeks so far and wondering what i should do now. My ammonia is 0 but I have 4 nitrites, 100 nitrates and 0.025 phosphates, nitrites and nitrates seem to be sticking around those levels. Do I add 1ppm ammonia and see how long it takes to get to 0 or do I just wait however long for nitrites to get to 0 and then add ammonia after?

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

Congrats on the new tank!

Did you get the ammonia up to about 2.0 ppm initially?

You can "test" your system by adding enough ammonia to bring the concentration up to about 2.0 ppm, then check again in 24 hours. If the ammonia is about 0.25 ppm or less in 24 hours, you should be good to go.

You can safely ignore nitrite, it's non toxic, and unimportant in saltwater. Just watch for the ammonia to come down

Good luck with your build!

 

[RCRed]

Thank you! I did add what i thought was 2ppm ammonia but I think i overdosed it by quite a bit, it seems to be fine though,
haha

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here, sounds like you’re off to a good start! It’s good you have a friend to help mentor you.