Help I'm cycling

[11:11]

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.

 

[SushiGirl]

Nitrites will show up after the ammonia zeros out.
Was the live rock already cured and was the live sand from an established tank?
Expect to lose fish and possibly the crab during the cycle. Way too early to be adding livestock.
The cycle takes several weeks, and will continue to be unstable for many months.
Coralline is going to take quite a while, and whether critters come out of the rock or not depends on what (if any) critters are in it & whether or not they survive the cycle.

 

[Ranchero]

As exciting as it is it is crucial to be VERY patient in this hobby. Sometimes it takes up to a week before your cycle even begins. Test your water every couple of days until the ammonia drops to normal levels.
I wouldnt add any more livestock to your tank for at least another month after the cycle is done. If you do add something make sure you add easy and hardy fish or coral (if your adding coral)
Dont over load your tank or you will go through another ammonia cycle

 

[James404]

I think you definitely have a lot of reading to do. Livestock should not be in a tank that isn't cycled yet, especially that many fish. I would slow down, learn all you can and wait until your cycle finishes before adding anything else. If you want to minimize the chance of your fish dying I would do partial water changes to keep parameters at safe levels while the nitrifying bacteria forms.

 

[FRANKENSTIEN]

+1 james you should keep doing water changes until your parameters are safe

 

[11:11]

This is how it looks so far

 

[ChicagoReefer88]

looks like base rock and your thread sounds like a hoax. Stop wastin time people on here actually need and appreciate the help.

 

[bertoni]

This thread seems to be going nowhere.