New 175l tank

[welshgazz]

Hey all, so I recently purchased a 175litre cube tank with sump. The guy also gave me live rock and all equipment. I filled it with water and let it settle. I noticed then hundreds of small shrimp like creatures running around the rock and sand. It's only been a few days of running without lights on but I did tests last night and results were 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 15 nitrate. It seems odd to have those figures this early? Should I wait longer or should I start turning lights on and maybe add some clean up crew in there? I have had a tank before but that cycle took much longer. Thank you for any advice.

 

[wallet]

Looks like amphipods. A good scavenger and food source for some. I would keep lights off as long as possible and incrementally increase over time. Give the bacteria time

 

[fushi]

Hey all, so I recently purchased a 175litre cube tank with sump. The guy also gave me live rock and all equipment. I filled it with water and let it settle. I noticed then hundreds of small shrimp like creatures running around the rock and sand. It's only been a few days of running without lights on but I did tests last night and results were 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 15 nitrate. It seems odd to have those figures this early? Should I wait longer or should I start turning lights on and maybe add some clean up crew in there? I have had a tank before but that cycle took much longer. Thank you for any advice.

Sounds normal, the live rock probably has plenty of nitrifying bacteria.
I would slowly start adding livestock, keep testing, and maybe add a vile of prodibio biodigest bacteria just in case. Maybe a couple of fish and some snails.

Don’t forget to test phosphate, you don't want to let it hit zero or dinos can be an issue. Phosphate is most likely to hit zero if you used a lot of dry rock and sand as they can rapidly bind phosphate.

Amphipods in the picture are part of your clean up crew.

 

[welshgazz]

Sounds normal, the live rock probably has plenty of nitrifying bacteria.
I would slowly start adding livestock, keep testing, and maybe add a vile of prodibio biodigest bacteria just in case. Maybe a couple of fish and some snails.

Don’t forget to test phosphate, you don't want to let it hit zero or dinos can be an issue. Phosphate is most likely to hit zero if you used a lot of dry rock and sand as they can rapidly bind phosphate.

Amphipods in the picture are part of your clean up crew.

Thanks. I put a bit of food in for it to decay and break down. Will monitor the levels over next week and then think about crabs and snails. Was thinking of a dwarf lion although may go more colourful and reef friendly.