Are my Numbers fine to start adding cleaning crew and fish

[starlite101]

Ammonia .25
Nitrate .40
Nitrite .5
Kh 300
PH 8.2

I have nothing in the tank but live rock. can i start adding a cleaning crew and fish. And what should I add first. Thanks Laurie

 

[squibley2]

Hold off on adding anything to the tank untill your cycle has run its course with the LR. You will know when this is by the fact that your Ammonia and Nitite will be 0 then do some small water changes to bring the nitrate down. Then leave it for a few days and if nothing changes then you can start adding very slowly.

I hope this helps

 

[starlite101]

I've had the live rock in it since Feb 13th. its been cycling. how much fearther do the #'s have to go down. and when i do the water change do i add salt to the new water? Thanks Laurie

 

[ReefWannabe]

It will usually at least take a month to complete a cycle. usually longer, and rarely less. Just hold off otehrwise your fish can get stressed and/or die.
When you do a water change, about 24 hours in advance go ahead and premix your ro water and salt. this way everything has some time to level out before the water is dumped in.

 

[jhnrb]

Go to the helpful articles forum and read on page one the article posted beginners guide 1st. most of your questions will be answered there. do not add anything until your ammonia and nitrites are at 0. if you have algae add clean up crew 1st and if you can keep all alive for a month add other animals very slowly. hope this helps. the article addresses cycling with live rock. it is a long article but has a lot of the information you need to answer your initial questions. while you are in the helpful articles you will see other articles for the beginner, newbie, etc. and other articles that may be of interest to you. its free, so help your self. post back here in your thread anytime with any additional questions you may have. good luck keep us posted. and happy fishin

 

[minireefer]

It looks like you have some great advice to run with already.Hopefully in a couple more weeks you will be ready to go.Look for a product called cycle or bio spirla these may help the tell end of the cycle.

 

[amonya]

theres a lot of diffrent opinions on speeding the nc up but if you would like a jump start there is a chemical aid for the nc its called stability it will bring a peremeters into place in less than ten days totally up to you Ive used this on last aqur.it will allow you to add a fish in as soon as introduced as it says but not suggested from me if you use ,i would wait at least 7 days.besides useing to speed up nc its good to use during water changes too.hope this helps :twocents:

 

[graphixx]

an easy way to help with the cycle is to "seed" the sandbed, ifyou know someone with an allready established tank. see if they will give you a cupfull of sand out of the tank. this will introduce helpful bacteria into the tank (nitrobacter,nitrosomas) and help the cycle complete. also you should see a diatom bloom in the tank (algae) that is usually a good sign to start adding a clean up crew. but the stage your in the one thing that will pay off the biggest is PATIENCE!!!

good luck

Greg