Cycling my first-ever tank. Just want to check my progress

[PREC0GNITIVE]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post, and this is also my first reef tank.
I am only planning to have a couple of corals in here, no fish.
Maybe a snail or two.

I have a 1 Gallon micro tank which I am currently cycling.
A couple of details about it.
- I have just over 200g of Dry Rock in it (This was recommended by my local store as a good amount for volume of water)
- Temperature is controlled by an InkBird controller and set for 25C
- Salinity is currently 1.025, I think I have to nudge this slightly to 1.026
- I am putting a couple of drops of Seachem Stability in each day
- UV light is off during cycling

I am at day 22 of cycling.
I am testing my Ammonia and Nitrites Daily which you can see here.
My test kit (API Salt Water) also allows me to test for pH and Nitrates which I have done a couple of times.

I have noticed the Ammonia level increased over the first couple of days and seems that it has essentially put itself in park and is coasting at a constant amount day after day.

Essentially, I just wanted to check my progress in and make sure that my cycle appears to be on track. Anything else I should do other than wait and test?

I realise that I have a tricky tank size for my first time but it is what it is and I plan to make it work

 

[KrisReef]

How long are you planning to cycle the tank for before adding fish? or coral/ or?

It seems that the API test has provided enough variability so that the results are not straight forward?

Wait 30 days,(more or total, your choise) and stop adding Seachem Stability (imo), and that tank will be ready to handle a coral and a fish (if the light will support a coral?). Dry rock cycle generally should be done in 30 days, but 52 days for certain. Patience is a virtue in this hobby.

Are you running a light on the tank now? Shut it off if yes, and do a full tank water change at the end of the cycle before adding any livestock. Tanks that size are simple to fix if the parameters go wild in the cycle .

How are you going to maintain salinity balance? Top off water needs to be RODI for best results. I've said too much.

 

[PREC0GNITIVE]

Thanks for the reply.
To answer a couple of your questions:

1) How long do I plan to cycle the tank? I am only going to add coral to this tank.
- I assume until Ammonia is <0ppm?

2) Am I running a light?
No, as stated in my post, during cycling it is off.
The tank comes with a light that I can use for Corals when they're in there though.

3) Managing Salinity:
I have an ATO and RODI water handy. I was going to wait until I introduced corals before plumbing this together with the tank. Or is there no harm with setting that up now

I will probably keep waiting it out another couple of weeks and see what has changed then.

 

[KrisReef]

I would set up the top off now and make certain you will have stable salinity before adding coral. Get it tuned now before it is critical.

API tests may never show ammonia at zero. Some additives will impede test results, not sure about this perticular Seachem products. I generally trust that brand but I am not familiar with cycling impacts.

The bacterial growth happens with time, it is reliable with time, and the older the tank the more reliable it is. This thread has made me think about coral and ammonia toxicity, and I don't think ammonia is as big a threat to coral biology as it is to fish with gills, but I don't know of anyone who has posted on that topic specifically? Fish suffer with ammonia, corals absorb it but how much they can absorb or withstand in solution is an interesting question.

Wait the weeks and don't expect API to read zero, but it might. No matter, the tank will be safe as the bacteria will grow by then. HTH. Will watch for your report.

Also, Welcome to Reef2Reef! Suggest you start a build thread to track your progress and maybe attract some other comments.