Is my tank cycled?

[Nor127]

Hello!

Im new to this hobby and Ive set up my new tank. Its been almost 3 weeks since i put in my cured live rock. I didnt test for ammonia the first week since I didnt have any test kit. But after a week a did. Since then ive tested every other day, but havent gotten any results.

So then i added some fish food.. No result... So i added more fish food... Still no result so then i added a shrimp for 3 days... Still no ammonia, nitrate or nitrites.

What does this mean? Have the tank already cycled?q

I have no green algea, just some brown diotoms lying on the sand. When is it safe to add anything?

Thanks!

 

[CodeBlueMedic]

Hello!

Im new to this hobby and Ive set up my new tank. Its been almost 3 weeks since i put in my cured live rock. I didnt test for ammonia the first week since I didnt have any test kit. But after a week a did. Since then ive tested every other day, but havent gotten any results.

So then i added some fish food.. No result... So i added more fish food... Still no result so then i added a shrimp for 3 days... Still no ammonia, nitrate or nitrites.

What does this mean? Have the tank already cycled?q

I have no green algea, just some brown diotoms lying on the sand. When is it safe to add anything?

Thanks!

I would be absolutely sure that you are doing the test right. Speaking from experience, I was missing one small step with the test and that skewed all of my results.

 

[sigmapiguy1061]

Can you take your water to a LFS for them to test? If you do add anything, add something hearty. A passive damsell maybe.

 

[shesacharmer]

I'd add some CUC (Clean Up Crew) like snails or hermits (not both) and let them work their way around for two weeks and then add one fish at a time. Do you have a quarantine tank? You can quarantine a fish now to add to your tank in a month.

 

[Nor127]

Thanks for all answers!

Im pretty sure im doing the tests correctly. It seems pretty basic. I have gotten alot of brown diatoms over the last week so ill start with the clean up crew. Any ideas on how big the clean up crew should be? I have a 50 gallon tank

 

[Sk8r]

Add a couple of snails and a hermit (micro) and if they live and thrive, start building up the crew. Four weeks of their action will prepare the tank for a fish, so you could start one in qt as soon as you're sure the snails will live.