60 gallon reef

J

joeybatts4577

New member
Hey guys I put together a 60 gallon cube exactly 3 weeks ago today. I have about 20 pound of live rock and I have 2 clowns in there. Levels have always been at 0 till about a week ago my ammonia started to go up. I thought this was the start of my cycle. I checked levels last night and all levels are 0 again. Do you think it could be done cycling. I did add a bottle of safe start yesterday. Fish are very happy and are eating. Would be greatful for some feedback. Thanks in advance.
 
Ammonia level will rise and peak then decline, and should be undetectable after cycling. The cycle make take as long as two months. The by-product of ammonia is nitrite. As bacteria levels rise they break down the nitrites faster than it is being produced. Measure the nitrite levels with a nitrite test kit. End product of this process is nitrate. Nitrate is not toxic to the fish but high levels can cause problems. So after the cycle is done, and multiple readings are zero you can begin to add coral or fish slowly (one or two) at a time. This new bio load should be monitored as your filtration (live rock, skimmer, sandbed) adapt and breakdown the added byproduct. I hope this helps.
 
hey doc so i bought my calcium and phosphate test today ….
my phosphate reads 0.25 ppm
my calcium reads 20 drops so that is 400ppm or 400 mg/L
hope these levels are good…thanks joe
 
You truly don't need to check cal right now. It is a good thing to test in the future but not needed during cycling. The phosphate is a little high for corals you need some GFO or bio pellets to help your tank out. Last you need to check your ammonia and nitrates and nitrites as these will hurt you fish and will cause problems for you. Like Harry said your tanks ammonia will go up and down and then should settle at 0. You might have some nitrates and phosphates but in the lower numbers like for phosphates 0.03 - 0.00 is what you are going for. If you ever need help with your set up and need one of us to go check it out I'm sure one of the senior reefers would go out there. If you also ever want to check out my set up your more then welcome to pass by and pick my brain. When your ready for sps let me know and I'll give you a frag to try it out
 
thanks xclusive for the feedback…would love someone to come by and get some info…..@ doc will try to make it before 1…my last estimate is at 12
 
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