Did I mess up my cycling?

dejaknu

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Equipment:
13.5 gal Fluval Evo and all default accessories
10 lbs CaribSea Liferock (came dry)
5 lbs misc dry rock
20lbs CaribSea Arag Alive Fine Reef Sand

Here's what happened:
1. I put the tank together on a bookshelf, mixing my water, pouring it over the sand, adding the rocks
2. Hours later, I realize the shelf probably isn't strong enough so I siphon out almost all the water, leaving about an inch at the bottom covering the sand and put the rocks back in a box (all equipment turned off)
3. I work on building a new shelf which will hold the weight. It's finished about 2 weeks after I initially set up the tank. I didn't touch the water at all in this time.
4. I add fresh saltwater to the tank and the sand/water already there smells strongly of sulfur and makes the whole room stink
5. I add the rocks back and turn on all equipment and the smell quickly leaves after ~12 hours. I didn't do any testing because my testing kit was stolen from the mail. Visually the tank looks clear and fine.
6. A week later, yesterday, I get testing equipment and my levels are: NO3 (0-2), NH3 (0.0-0.15), NO2 (0), Phosphate (0.18). For the ranges the color was between 0 and the lowest trace.

I'm planning to test again in a week to see if everything is 0 or at least NO2 is up. Did I mess up the cycle? Where should I go from here?
 
Okay, thanks, Mark! I added some bacteria and my tank is now fully cycled :)
 

IF YOU HAD TO OPERATE EVERYTHING ELSE MANUALLY, WHICH AUTOMATED SYSTEM WOULD YOU KEEP?

  • Auto top-off

    Votes: 54 58.7%
  • Automated dosing

    Votes: 6 6.5%
  • Mechanical filtration / roller filter

    Votes: 4 4.3%
  • Automated water testing

    Votes: 3 3.3%
  • Automatic feeding

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Lighting schedule

    Votes: 16 17.4%
  • Controller and remote monitoring

    Votes: 3 3.3%
  • Leak detection and emergency shutoff

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Automatic water changes

    Votes: 3 3.3%
  • None. I prefer to operate everything manually

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Something else (explain in the comments)

    Votes: 1 1.1%
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