My tanks been wet for about 2 weeks now. Started with all mined dry rock and some used sand I rinsed very well. Last week I added a fist size piece of live rock from my current display.
I've seen a small ammonia reading that lead to a low nitrite reading. Those both zeroed out so I checked my nitrates and they are undetectable with api. No nitrates/nitrites show on the 5 in 1 dips sticks either.
I had a very large diatom bloom last week. The rock I placed in there had a decent population for these micro snails that seem to be doing great and repopulating like mad. I dropped a hermit and a few snails in from my DT last week and they seem fine.
Did the diatoms suck up the nitrate I'm used to seeing at the end of a cycle? Or did my tank most likely not cycle? I left some of the dead cuc from the used sand bed in there so I kind of expected a large obvious cycle.
What's a good way to test the cycle? add a hardy fish? Or drop a table shrimp in there?
I've seen a small ammonia reading that lead to a low nitrite reading. Those both zeroed out so I checked my nitrates and they are undetectable with api. No nitrates/nitrites show on the 5 in 1 dips sticks either.
I had a very large diatom bloom last week. The rock I placed in there had a decent population for these micro snails that seem to be doing great and repopulating like mad. I dropped a hermit and a few snails in from my DT last week and they seem fine.
Did the diatoms suck up the nitrate I'm used to seeing at the end of a cycle? Or did my tank most likely not cycle? I left some of the dead cuc from the used sand bed in there so I kind of expected a large obvious cycle.
What's a good way to test the cycle? add a hardy fish? Or drop a table shrimp in there?
