Have some questions, new to reefing

[nikkoT]

I am new to salt water aquariums I have a 20 gallon water box I got the tank, added sand, live rock etc cycled the tank and added 2 clown fish I made the mistake of getting them from Petco and not quarantine them. after a couple days I noticed they had ich I ended up returning the fish. I then left the tank running in a fallow period with no fish for 5-6 months so that the ich would die off. Now that I’m sure the ich is dead what should I do before adding new quarantined fish. Water parameters are reading ph 7.8-8, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-15ppm, thanks

 

[EastonsReef]

Have you added any ammonia or ammonia producing sources? I'd recommend getting some bottled ammonia, adding it until you have 2ppm on test, then testing again 24 hours later. If it's 0, you're still in cycle and should be fine to add any quarantined fish.

 

[nikkoT]

Have you added any ammonia or ammonia producing sources? I'd recommend getting some bottled ammonia, adding it until you have 2ppm on test, then testing again 24 hours later. If it's 0, you're still in cycle and should be fine to add any quarantined fish.

I haven’t added any ammonia after the first cycle. After I dose the ammonia and get it to 2ppm and wait 24 hours if the ammonia doesn’t go back down to zero what should I do

 

[exnisstech]

JMO It's been 5 months and you have nitrates I think your safe to slowly move forward. I don't even own an ammonia or nitrate nitrite test kit

 

[EastonsReef]

I haven’t added any ammonia after the first cycle. After I dose the ammonia and get it to 2ppm and wait 24 hours if the ammonia doesn’t go back down to zero what should I do

That's the certain way of knowing you are still in cycle. I said that because, my concern is you may have fallen out of cycle if there's been no new nutrient introduction. I have much more experience in freshwater than salt and that would be my concern if this was a freshwater tank. I may be making a comparison that doesn't work.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I am new to salt water aquariums I have a 20 gallon water box I got the tank, added sand, live rock etc cycled the tank and added 2 clown fish I made the mistake of getting them from Petco and not quarantine them. after a couple days I noticed they had ich I ended up returning the fish. I then left the tank running in a fallow period with no fish for 5-6 months so that the ich would die off. Now that I’m sure the ich is dead what should I do before adding new quarantined fish. Water parameters are reading ph 7.8-8, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-15ppm, thanks

take that 20 g, remove the rock and sand and transfer everything into a larger more stable tank (40g or bigger) and use the 20 as a qt tank.

 

[Rocks reef]

Have you added any ammonia or ammonia producing sources? I'd recommend getting some bottled ammonia, adding it until you have 2ppm on test, then testing again 24 hours later. If it's 0, you're still in cycle and should be fine to add any quarantined fish.

According to the OP, his tank has been up and running for over 6 months.
There is no reason you can't add fish now, the tank has already cycled.
There is also no reason to test ammonia nor nitrite. Nitrites are harmless to saltwater fish as the chloride in the saltwater makes it inert.
Do you happen to know what your phosphates are?

 

[EastonsReef]

According to the OP, his tank has been up and running for over 6 months.
There is no reason you can't add fish now, the tank has already cycled.
There is also no reason to test ammonia nor nitrite. Nitrites are harmless to saltwater fish as the chloride in the saltwater makes it inert.
Do you happen to know what your phosphates are?

My concern was that, without any additional nutrients being added, it could have fallen out of cycle. For my own knowledge, is this a concern in saltwater or not really?

 

[Subsea]

My concern was that, without any additional nutrients being added, it could have fallen out of cycle. For my own knowledge, is this a concern in saltwater or not really?

Not really. Nitrification bacteria will be available, just not abundantly. Add livestock slowly.

 

[ACNaturalHistory]

I am new to salt water aquariums I have a 20 gallon water box I got the tank, added sand, live rock etc cycled the tank and added 2 clown fish I made the mistake of getting them from Petco and not quarantine them. after a couple days I noticed they had ich I ended up returning the fish. I then left the tank running in a fallow period with no fish for 5-6 months so that the ich would die off. Now that I’m sure the ich is dead what should I do before adding new quarantined fish. Water parameters are reading ph 7.8-8, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-15ppm, thanks

Is this anything else in the tank? Coral? Snails? Have you had a light on and is there algae growing? Or is it a barren tank of rock and sand? Knowing this will give us a better picture of where your tank is at.

I agree with the others that you will want to test your biological capacity before adding fish. Adding some ammonia or even some fish food and monitoring the nitrogen cycle levels over the next few days would be the safest move. Also, I’d definitely do a ~50% water change just to help reset the tank’s other parameters in preparation for fish.

 

[nikkoT]

Is this anything else in the tank? Coral? Snails? Have you had a light on and is there algae growing? Or is it a barren tank of rock and sand? Knowing this will give us a better picture of where your tank is at.

I agree with the others that you will want to test your biological capacity before adding fish. Adding some ammonia or even some fish food and monitoring the nitrogen cycle levels over the next few days would be the safest move. Also, I’d definitely do a ~50% water change just to help reset the tank’s other parameters in preparation for fish

Is this anything else in the tank? Coral? Snails? Have you had a light on and is there algae growing? Or is it a barren tank of rock and sand? Knowing this will give us a better picture of where your tank is at.

I agree with the others that you will want to test your biological capacity before adding fish. Adding some ammonia or even some fish food and monitoring the nitrogen cycle levels over the next few days would be the safest move. Also, I’d definitely do a ~50% water change just to help reset the tank’s other parameters in preparation for fish.

No snails no coral. Just rock and sand I haven’t really had the light on it for the 6 month fallow period there’s a small amount of brown alge on the glass. I do have some dr Tim’s ammonia chloride solution from when I first cycled the tank. All I have right now for testing is a API master test kit with test for ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.