new tank

[loganzielke]

I am currently setting up a new 29 gallon tank on day 6 of cycle. Upgraded from a 10 gallon. I have used rock that I have had for 3+ years. It has always been wet. All of my corals have been in for 3 days and I have been ghost feeding. I have not noticed anything change on test kits and I have pods all over and bristle worms. I am just wondering if it skipped cycling? Thanks

Logan

 

[vetteguy53081]

what test kits are you using?You want to assure you are not skipping cycling but you can very well have enough bacteria to deem tank stable. Cycling is generally a 2-4 week process adding ZERO livestock as there will be daily chemical changes and swings occuring that will simply kill livestock.
API test kit is notorious for false readings and have let down many reefers hence the very low price for a master test kit. You will likely have inaccurate readings during the cycle process.
Ammonia badges have the same credibility as they are also intended for fresh water tanks ands also known for false readings.
What is cycling supposed to be ??
Once Ammonia and Nitrite read 0 and Nitrate is less than 20ppm, the cycle is complete and livestock can gradually be introduced. The bacteria population will increase with the new bioload, processing waste and converting it to nitrate rapidly. However, it is important to note that overloading the aquarium with too many fish initially can exceed what the bacteria can handle. In this case, add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria such as Bacter xlm per 10 gallons for next 10 days to build up your bacteria cultures

 

[loganzielke]

I had my water tested from my lfs, it read 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and nitrates were 5-10. I'm not sure what kit they used, but I got the same results from a api test kit.