hi, i need help, im cycling

ElevenEleven

Reefing newb
Hey, I have a 40 gallon tank that has been running for approximately 7 days. I have 5 Blue/Green Chromis, one Pink Smith Damsel, one Crab, Live Rock, and Live sand. I have two power heads and one Marineland power filter that filters 70 gallons.
The first couple days the water was very cloudy but now the water has become very clear and pristine looking.
The problem I have is knowing if my tank has started cycling or not. I checked the ammonia levels and they are reading between 1.0 and 3.0 ppm.
I am not showing any nitrites. My Nitrates are reading 20 ppm. So Im showing nitrates and ammonia, but why am I not showing nitries yet? Im thinking the nitrates are just from something else, and that the true cycling is still at ammonia. Should I be expecting a nitrite spike pretty soon?
Im juts really confused when can I add the things that I want other than damsels. How long di dit take your tank to cycle? Although Im showing those ammonia readings my chromis seem to really be thriving. Has my cycling process began or what? Am I doing everything right so far?

Also, how long will it take before critters start coming out of my fiji live rock. And how long does it take for coraline algae to spread from live rock onto dead rock? Thanks alot in advance for all the replies.
 
I am sorry to say, but you will probably lose your fish. The tank is just about a week old and you have 6 fish in it already. Your tank cant process the waste that the fish are producing. That is where the ammonia is coming from. If you can, see if the store will take the fish back.

If your fish store told you to add the fish right away, I would find a new store to go to. There are more humane ways to cycle a tank than to do it with fish. You can use raw table shrimp or even fish food to kick off a cycle.

What comes out of your live rock depends on what came in with it. Mostly you will see small little feather dusters and different types of worms. Live rock is live from the bacteria living within it. The coraline will spread when your tank calcium and magnesium levels are at the appropriate levels. Also, you need the propper lighting for it to spread.

Please feel free to ask any and all questions you have. I hope I didnt come off too harsh at the begining there, but sometimes the truth hurts.

Brian
 
Welcome to the site first of all. You should have started with no live animals in your tank for atleast a month. The cloudy was most likely from sand. Sounds to me like you are cycleing now and all your livestock is going to suffer. You could do water changes to keep the levels in check but this will prolong the cycle. It normally takes a month or better. You could have started the cycle with table shrimp and taken it out, then let your tank cycle. Also things "EVERYTHING" takes time. That is what I have learned most with this hobby. Nothing happens fast and you don't want it to otherwise your fish will suffer.
 
The cloudiness could also be from a bacteria bloom that results when there is all of a sudden a huge food source for them -- lots of fish waste.

You should get those fish out ASAP. There is no need to cycle a tank with live fish. And you have too many for that size tank anyways.
 
still cycling....
are any of you familiar with the saltwater testing kits that come with the tubes. It allows you to test ammonia nitrite nitrate ph and high range ph. I have that kit, it's the one petco uses to test the water (not the strips)
well anyways Im having a weird issue.
It's been 13 days since my tank has been cycling.....
I tested my water today...I have low nitrates, 0 nitrites, but something weird is happening with my ammonia readings!!!
You know you have 0 ammonia with this test when you are showing a yellow colored test tube. You know you are high in ammonia when that turns into different shades of green.

I have tested my water 5 times in a row today and the color is WHITE. Not yellow, not green, but white! with a slight slight slight yellow tinge to it.
Has this happened to anyone?
I though maybe it was the specific ammonia drops that might have gotten messed upu so I tested my tap water at my home and it turned green, showing high in ammonia.
WHy can't I get an ammonia reading on my tank???
 
Well, earlier on you said you already have something like 6 fish in the 40 gallon tank. Assuming they all survived the cycle - I'd say you're already at the stocking limit for the tank. You were also having issues with your ammonia test kit - I went through something similar when I set up my 180. If your test has just started reading 0 ammonia, i would still wait several days before adding anything else to the tank - and with 6 fish I wouldnt add any more fish
 
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