Apollo7235
Well-Known Member
Hi all!
This is probably a very silly question, but I have a bit of a conundrum.
I chose to begin my 38-gallon tank using dry rock and dry sand. I also decided to give the Ultimate Refugium Pack by AlgaeBarn a shot to cycle my tank. I added 1 ounce of TurboStart 900 and the recommended 'little bit of fish food' to my tank on 03/14. I added two more ounces of TurboStart 900 along with Red Ogo Macro, and 5280 Pods to my sump refugium on 03/18. I have been dosing OceanMagik every evening since.
The Red Ogo is thriving under my ChaetoMax light and I can see specs (which I assumed to be pods) darting around in my DT, though, not in my refugium (weird?). I have no tank inhabitants as of yet because I want to make sure the tank is cycled and safe before I add anything (unless you count the weird growth in my overflow box... https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/growing-in-my-overflow-box-new-tank.814486/ ) Water parameters have been pretty much stable and boring:
Salinity: 1.024-1.025 (Tropic Marin Pro Reef)
Temperature: 78.0-78.8F
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: ~0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
I suppose my question is, is there a test to determine whether or not my tank is cycled/cycling? I was told that it was cycled after my first addition of the TurboStart 900 by an AlgaeBarn rep, but I am just have a hard time believing that the little bit of fish food I added was really enough to cycle the tank completely.. Not to mention, I have had only one nitrate reading above zero and it was between 0ppm and 5ppm. Then again, I feel like if things weren't cycled/cycling my pods and macroalgae would have died shortly after I added them..?
I suppose I could add straight ammonia and see monitor how long it takes for it to register back down to zero, but I am worried that will kill my pod and macroalgae population..... Any suggestions?
Thank you for reading!
This is probably a very silly question, but I have a bit of a conundrum.
I chose to begin my 38-gallon tank using dry rock and dry sand. I also decided to give the Ultimate Refugium Pack by AlgaeBarn a shot to cycle my tank. I added 1 ounce of TurboStart 900 and the recommended 'little bit of fish food' to my tank on 03/14. I added two more ounces of TurboStart 900 along with Red Ogo Macro, and 5280 Pods to my sump refugium on 03/18. I have been dosing OceanMagik every evening since.
The Red Ogo is thriving under my ChaetoMax light and I can see specs (which I assumed to be pods) darting around in my DT, though, not in my refugium (weird?). I have no tank inhabitants as of yet because I want to make sure the tank is cycled and safe before I add anything (unless you count the weird growth in my overflow box... https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/growing-in-my-overflow-box-new-tank.814486/ ) Water parameters have been pretty much stable and boring:
Salinity: 1.024-1.025 (Tropic Marin Pro Reef)
Temperature: 78.0-78.8F
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: ~0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
I suppose my question is, is there a test to determine whether or not my tank is cycled/cycling? I was told that it was cycled after my first addition of the TurboStart 900 by an AlgaeBarn rep, but I am just have a hard time believing that the little bit of fish food I added was really enough to cycle the tank completely.. Not to mention, I have had only one nitrate reading above zero and it was between 0ppm and 5ppm. Then again, I feel like if things weren't cycled/cycling my pods and macroalgae would have died shortly after I added them..?
I suppose I could add straight ammonia and see monitor how long it takes for it to register back down to zero, but I am worried that will kill my pod and macroalgae population..... Any suggestions?
Thank you for reading!
If I didn't hear from you, I was going to shoot you a message!
