New aquarium numbers

Dirtyshoez

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Wanted some other opinions. The ph seems a little high to me but i haven't added rock or sand either.. wondering if that would make any changes?

This was a half water from a cycled tank, and half new salt water with some microbacter 7. Have only had it running for a couple of days so I am not doing anything just yet but wanted some feedback.

20251031_151149.jpg 20251031_151142.jpg
 
What’s the salinity?

None of those numbers matter if there’s no sand or rock in the tank yet though. Saltwater contains little to no bacteria related to cycling. In short, add your sand and rock and setup the scape you like, then wait like 3-8 weeks for the cycle to complete. Easiest instructions for this I found as a noob were the recipe/guide you can download on dr Tim’s website under the “one and only nitrifying bacteria” page.
 
The water is already cycled water from my main tank and the salinity is 1.026... out of the main tank the numbers are great but seeing that it is a new tank I am just kind of playing with it right now. Since it has nothing im tempted to put some frags in it on a stand and see how they do.
What’s the salinity?

None of those numbers matter if there’s no sand or rock in the tank yet though. Saltwater contains little to no bacteria related to cycling. In short, add your sand and rock and setup the scape you like, then wait like 3-8 weeks for the cycle to complete. Easiest instructions for this I found as a noob were the recipe/guide you can download on dr Tim’s website under the “one and only nitrifying bacteria” page.
 
The water is already cycled water from my main tank
Hello! Unfortunately, this is not a thing 🙃

Your water isn't what is cycled, it's the rocks and sand and other bio media you may have that is said to be cycled. The beneficial bacteria you need grow on these surfaces, and are generally not found floating in the water 🙂
 
If you're starting a new aquarium, you will want to nitrogen cycle the new tank. To make this process go faster, use some rock and/or sand or some bio media you have in your old tank. This will seed the new tank and any new rocks/sand/bio media you have, and jump start the nitrogen cycle.

Using your old tank's water will go a long way to keeping major parameters (Alk, Calc, Mag) stable from one tank to the next, which may be advantageous, but that's not the same as nitrogen cycling the new tank 🙂

I hope that helps!
 
If you're starting a new aquarium, you will want to nitrogen cycle the new tank. To make this process go faster, use some rock and/or sand or some bio media you have in your old tank. This will seed the new tank and any new rocks/sand/bio media you have, and jump start the nitrogen cycle.

Using your old tank's water will go a long way to keeping major parameters (Alk, Calc, Mag) stable from one tank to the next, which may be advantageous, but that's not the same as nitrogen cycling the new tank 🙂

I hope that helps!
Helps a bunch, thank you. That makes sense looking at my numbers..
 
Wanted some other opinions. The ph seems a little high to me but i haven't added rock or sand either.. wondering if that would make any changes?

This was a half water from a cycled tank, and half new salt water with some microbacter 7. Have only had it running for a couple of days so I am not doing anything just yet but wanted some feedback.

20251031_151149.jpg 20251031_151142.jpg
This is one of the Least dependable test kits out there , hence the low price for a master kit. I suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at
Did you add ammonia chloride or something to increase ammonia initially ?
When ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled.
 

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