When to start testing

[Tice]

Hello all, new reefer here. So I finally got water in my tank on Saturday, salt on Sunday. I have a 75 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump. I added Bio Spira this afternoon and a raw shrimp. I am curious as to when I should start testing for ammonium, nitrite and nitrates? Should I give the shrimp a couple days to break down or test tomorrow morning? Thanks for any advice.

 

[ddc0715]

Start testing in a week. No real rock solid time frame.

 

[Tice]

Start testing in a week. No real rock solid time frame.

Thanks!

 

[Silly clownfish]

When cycling a new tank (whci I haven’t done in years), I stick in one of those sachem ammonia alert cards & so I can glance at the tank and know if it time time for real testing. Because I am impatient.

 

[stanleo]

I did the raw shrimp method at first and it was taking forever. Plus I couldn't gage how much ammonia was being processed in a time from. I switched to dosing with ammonia and monitoring how quickly it was being possessed and things went much smoother. If I were you I would get some ammonia from the grocery store and dose it and then start testing every two days.