chemastry question

Shere

New member
Hi all,
I have a 10 gallon I am cycling to be used as a place to throw feeder shrimp and pods and a few plants until I decide if and how to do the refugiam for my bigger tanks.
The tank has been up and running about 4 weeks now, I did throw a piece of live rock into it as well as live sand and shells that also needed to be cured/cycled before going into my big tank so it wasn't a "sterile" tank to start with. I also found a Hermit leg in there so I must have inadvertently killed one of my little guys in the transfer :( DEFINITELY not a sterile tank... I have also been adding a pinch of bacteria daily for the past week as well. As expected, the Nitrite and nitrate have been through the roof. I did a partial water change yesterday and today the Nitrite is 3 and the nitrate is 80.

Its been a long time since I have cycled a new tank so please advise, do I need to wait until nitrite is 0 and nitrate is no more than 80 before adding CUC to the tank? DO I need the CUC if I am using the tank as a safe place to raise /grow shrimp and pods for my fish? I know it says you can raise them in a 5 gallon bucket but I wanted something nice to look at since its on my bedroom dresser.

Thanks

Shere
 
Yes, you need to have your nitrite drop to zero before adding a CUC. I would make a large water change after the nitrite drops to lower your nitrate level. I keep a few snails in my refugiums, but not crabs of any type.
 
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