Hello everyone !
I'm not sure if I really need help or if I'm worrying too much for nothing!
I am currently in the process of cycling my Waterbox AIO 20 gallon aquarium. I put in the water on January 19, with Caribsea Ocean Direct living sand, and around ten pounds of Caribsea Liferock.
On January 20th I added 4 drops of the Dr.tims ammonia product, along with a full bottle of one and only dr.tims. When I received the bacteria, they were very cold with some ice cubes inside (here it is on average -20 degrees Celsius at this time of year). In doubt that the bacteria were alive, I added half a bottle of Fritz turbo 900 around January 23. On this date of January 23, my ammonia was already at 4ppm (API test) so I did not add any ammonia until the transformation into nitrite began.
As of today, February 5, my nitrites seem to still be high, between 0.1 and 1 (salifert test) and have been at this level for about 1 week, my ammonia is at 0 and my nitrates seem very high, between 50 and 100 ppm (salifert test).
My first doubt is the nitrates, why are they so high? Is this normal?
(Note that initially, when I brewed my first batch of salt water, I used osmosis water from a pet store near us, and a few days later when I received my tds meter, I realized that their water tested at 032 ppm, and that I have currently received my own reverse osmosis unit which tests at 0 ppm at the outlet, and that I use this pure water for my ATO)
A first friend advised me to put a raw shrimp to thaw in my aquarium to check if my cycle is indeed underway.
A second friend advises me to do a 50% water change and recheck my nitrites/nitrates afterwards.
I would like to have your opinions here, in order to see what would be best to do!
I'm in no rush to cycle my aquarium, on the contrary, but I just want to be reassured that I've done things right and that everything is on track for cycling!
This is not my first experience in saltwater, but the first time I have done my cycle myself at the beginning!
Thank you all, and I'll leave you with photos of my tests from today (February 5) as well as my current set up !
Ps : my skimmer is not plugged for the time of cycling, and no light too !
I'm not sure if I really need help or if I'm worrying too much for nothing!
I am currently in the process of cycling my Waterbox AIO 20 gallon aquarium. I put in the water on January 19, with Caribsea Ocean Direct living sand, and around ten pounds of Caribsea Liferock.
On January 20th I added 4 drops of the Dr.tims ammonia product, along with a full bottle of one and only dr.tims. When I received the bacteria, they were very cold with some ice cubes inside (here it is on average -20 degrees Celsius at this time of year). In doubt that the bacteria were alive, I added half a bottle of Fritz turbo 900 around January 23. On this date of January 23, my ammonia was already at 4ppm (API test) so I did not add any ammonia until the transformation into nitrite began.
As of today, February 5, my nitrites seem to still be high, between 0.1 and 1 (salifert test) and have been at this level for about 1 week, my ammonia is at 0 and my nitrates seem very high, between 50 and 100 ppm (salifert test).
My first doubt is the nitrates, why are they so high? Is this normal?
(Note that initially, when I brewed my first batch of salt water, I used osmosis water from a pet store near us, and a few days later when I received my tds meter, I realized that their water tested at 032 ppm, and that I have currently received my own reverse osmosis unit which tests at 0 ppm at the outlet, and that I use this pure water for my ATO)
A first friend advised me to put a raw shrimp to thaw in my aquarium to check if my cycle is indeed underway.
A second friend advises me to do a 50% water change and recheck my nitrites/nitrates afterwards.
I would like to have your opinions here, in order to see what would be best to do!
I'm in no rush to cycle my aquarium, on the contrary, but I just want to be reassured that I've done things right and that everything is on track for cycling!
This is not my first experience in saltwater, but the first time I have done my cycle myself at the beginning!
Thank you all, and I'll leave you with photos of my tests from today (February 5) as well as my current set up !
Ps : my skimmer is not plugged for the time of cycling, and no light too !
