55 gal set up

[little_fish]

I would give it a rinse just to get the dust off, but then you can place it right in the tank.

And you should compare that ammonia reading against another kit, they often go bad.

 

[KelliZackMOM]

I already did. I took water sample into Petco a few days ago and they got almost same readings as me. They said 6.0 on ammonia. They use test strips, I have API master saltwater kit.

 

[little_fish]

Then nothing you can do but wait :) and research more

 

[KelliZackMOM]

Okay, that's what I'll keep doing then. Thanks.

 

[KelliZackMOM]

An update on what I got going on here. I added a piece of shrimp last week and it got my nitrite climbing up a bit, but then I realized I was supposed to add raw shrimp. So, yesterday I fished the piece of cooked out and replaced it with raw.
I also knew my dry rock and sand shipment was scheduled to come yesterday so I couldn't wait to get home from work. I stopped on my way and got a couple more pieces of live rock to help the dry become live. I was so bummed when I got home! My rock was here, but no sand so I emailed the place and found out sand was shipped separate via USP and not Fedex like the rock. They said sand should be arriving real soon. I am dying to aquascape my tank so this wait is torture for me. The rocks look really nice though. I wasn't impressed with the packing, but still a nice bunch. They had one layer of bubble wrap on bottom of box and that was it so I got some breakage, not a lot. I was gonna order some rubble anyways to gradually replace my bioballs with. Once I get the sand so I can switch out my crushed corral and build up the rocks, I will post some pics.
My levels today are PH 7.8, ammonia 8.0(STILL!), nitite 5.0, and nitrate 20. The nitrites have increased over the past 4 days, and today is the first I have seen nitrate, so I'm thinking I should start seeing the ammonia drop. Right?
Whew, when I opened the lid today to get water samples it about made me gag. It smells like a dead fish factory. Is that normal since I got the raw shrimp in there?
I got 2 powerheads up and running also, as of today and wow what a difference. I can see the water moving around now.
One other thing I got going on is some brownish/tan algae growing on glass past 2 days. Should I scrape it or just leave it alone? It looks the same as I had before when I think my tank was starting to cycle before it crashed. I was scraping it everyday then and it seemed to eventually quit growing up until now.
Patience is so hard, but I am hanging in there. I just look at fish and research them. My stocking list changes daily, LOL.

 

[FishyReef]

Sorry to hear about the sand not arriving, but that's not the worst thing in the world. In fact, you really should aquascape without the sand first and then add the sand afterwards. You want your rocks resting on the glass, otherwise if you put the sand in and then the rocks, a snail or fish could burrow under the rocks and create a rock slide - never a good thing!

 

[Bifferwine]

Your ammonia is really high. So there's no need to leave the shrimp in there. That's what's causing it to stink.

 

[little_fish]

+1 everyone, especially the part about the rocks. Also when you get the tank cycled, you will want to remove the lid