I might be rambling so I apologize in advance.
I started cycling an evo 13.5 about a month ago and I decided to go dry everything (dry aragonite, dry pukani rock, fritz salt) to avoid aiptasia and other annoying pests.I've read that microbacter start XLM is the new good thing so I went with that. I went with RODI water too just because it's cheap to buy for such a small tank.
Microbacter says that you can cycle in 7 days. That was not true for me but I also had some issues in the beginning (my salt spiked, my temp also spiked due to a bad heater) so I figure that maybe killed off some bacteria.
I got that fixed and and then my ammonia started going down (right now it should be about 0, but I will go to a saltwater store tomorrow and get them to test too) and nitrite went up. Right now I've been stuck on ~ 2ppm nitrite for 3 weeks or so.
I am using API test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and I noticed that a lot of members here dump on it so I'm not really sure just how accurate these readings are... but as of today, my ammonia should be 0 or close to 0, nitrite is 2ppm, nitrate ~10-20ppm.
I also did a ~95% (couldn't drain more than that) water change about a week ago and after I added the new rodi salt water I was still 2ppm nitrite.
I've been reading some threads here where people say they don't even test nitrites anymore. Am I worrying for no reason here? I'm eager to add the corals from my 2.5g tank and a fish (I don't own any fish, I would have to buy 1) but I would really like it if they didn't die on me due to poison.
I also seem to have issues with my pH. My pH is 7.8 and dKH is 14-15. Someone told me that phosphate may influence pH so I tested that as well. Phosphate is about 0.25ppm.
My Questions / TLDR:
- Regarding my pH (7.8), would it be a good idea to take the dry aragonite sand out and replace it with some other sand (is there some other better sand that increases pH to around 8-8.2) or should I just go with 7.8? Everything online seems to talk about 8.1 - 8.4.
- Regarding the nitrite, how would I know if my tank is cycled if I have 2ppm for weeks now. From freshwater experience, I would wait for 0 ammonia and nitrite but I guess nitrite is not a big deal in saltwater (like how nitrate is in freshwater)?
Coming from freshwater, I'm just very confused on nitrite cycling...A lot of people say to ignore nitrite
I'm just thinking that it might have been a lot easier if I just went live sand/rock.
I started cycling an evo 13.5 about a month ago and I decided to go dry everything (dry aragonite, dry pukani rock, fritz salt) to avoid aiptasia and other annoying pests.I've read that microbacter start XLM is the new good thing so I went with that. I went with RODI water too just because it's cheap to buy for such a small tank.
Microbacter says that you can cycle in 7 days. That was not true for me but I also had some issues in the beginning (my salt spiked, my temp also spiked due to a bad heater) so I figure that maybe killed off some bacteria.
I got that fixed and and then my ammonia started going down (right now it should be about 0, but I will go to a saltwater store tomorrow and get them to test too) and nitrite went up. Right now I've been stuck on ~ 2ppm nitrite for 3 weeks or so.
I am using API test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and I noticed that a lot of members here dump on it so I'm not really sure just how accurate these readings are... but as of today, my ammonia should be 0 or close to 0, nitrite is 2ppm, nitrate ~10-20ppm.
I also did a ~95% (couldn't drain more than that) water change about a week ago and after I added the new rodi salt water I was still 2ppm nitrite.
I've been reading some threads here where people say they don't even test nitrites anymore. Am I worrying for no reason here? I'm eager to add the corals from my 2.5g tank and a fish (I don't own any fish, I would have to buy 1) but I would really like it if they didn't die on me due to poison.
I also seem to have issues with my pH. My pH is 7.8 and dKH is 14-15. Someone told me that phosphate may influence pH so I tested that as well. Phosphate is about 0.25ppm.
My Questions / TLDR:
- Regarding my pH (7.8), would it be a good idea to take the dry aragonite sand out and replace it with some other sand (is there some other better sand that increases pH to around 8-8.2) or should I just go with 7.8? Everything online seems to talk about 8.1 - 8.4.
- Regarding the nitrite, how would I know if my tank is cycled if I have 2ppm for weeks now. From freshwater experience, I would wait for 0 ammonia and nitrite but I guess nitrite is not a big deal in saltwater (like how nitrate is in freshwater)?
Coming from freshwater, I'm just very confused on nitrite cycling...A lot of people say to ignore nitrite
I'm just thinking that it might have been a lot easier if I just went live sand/rock.