Cycling new tank questions

[mrodr3254]

Hey everyone! So I set up my new saltwater aquarium a week ago today. I have a 14 gallon tank that I set up with live sand, one aquacultured live rock and some dry live rock. After it was set up, I tested everything the next day and was showing 0 ammonia, 0nitrites, and about 5ppm of nitrates. So I began ghost feeding my tank over the week to induce an ammonia spike which I now have (2ppm), nitrites are still showing zero but now I have 10ppm nitrates. This seems weird to me as I feel like I should have higher nitrites and no nitrates yet. Any thoughts? I’m using the API saltwater master test kit and I’m wondering if it’s defective. I bought prime and stability by seachem but I’m unsure if I should add it or let the live rock and live sand do their thing and wait a few more weeks. I’m open to all input and advice!

 

[Fish Fan]

I would suggest not adding the Prime or Stability. You don't need Stability as your aquacultured rock already introduce the beneficial bacteria, but if you have it and want to add it, it wouldn't hurt anything.

The Prime on the other hand, just don't use. There's research that shows that it does not bind or reduce ammonia, at least not in our marine tanks. And, it can artificailly inflate what you're seeing for ammonia, so you'll have inaccurate testing. Prime is best use as a dechlorinator for tap water in an emergency situation. If you aspire to keep corals or anything delicate, you really should be using RODI filtered water or something like distilled water for best results.

About Prime:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...prime-cloram-x-rongalite-and-friends.1064206/
I would stay the course, this will all shake out in another couple of days or so.

The API brand test kits don't get a lot of love here on R2R, so be aware that they are not know to be super accurate. Look for trends like the ammonia went up and is now down, not so much hard numbers. Going forward, a lot of people like the Salifert brand test kits, they are reliable, affordable, and easy to use/read the result (no matching colors!).

Good luck!

 

[ga2040]

Stability and fluval biological add a good and varied dose of beneficial bacteria. It doesnt hurt having more of them.
They are also designed to prevent bacterial blooms.