Tank cycled fully? I need your Help!

[ram man]

well, my tetst resultes say every thing is ok

the ammonia test kit is white, the nitrite test kit is blue, these both mean 0 on the tests, but i dont fully trust test kit, so i need your help.

Let me know if my tank is fine.

lots of pods, amphipods living in the macro algae on the rocks, isopods crawling all over the glass, some type of stony coral growing on the rocks, and these tiny sporal like tube worms growing on the glass.

does this mean i could now add some hermits and snails?

 

[dbacksrat]

If you doubt your test kits, then take a sample of your water to the LFS--they'll let you know if it's ready.

 

[ram man]

the lfs has the same ones, w even tested them against other test kits, im basicly asking what are the natural signs within the tank that it is cycled.

 

[aresgod]

no set signs....trust the test kits...clean up crew would be fine.

 

[ram man]

ok, so when should i add the hermits, straight away tommorow when i get home from school? what snails should i get?

 

[kaihonu82]

Once you're confident that the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels are down you can go ahead and get them...scarlet hermit crabs add nice color, along with cleaner shrimp, and Astraea snails are good and cheap.

 

[ram man]

the readings have been fine for the past 3 days, so im pretty sure im ready to add the crew then.

 

[wayne]

Why not give it another week...

Happy shopper .....

 

[aresgod]

hehe, trigger happy would be a correct term, waiting a week never hurts anything...very good point wayne.

 

[ram man]

before you guys posted i added 3 blue legs, they have been doing fine, ive also started seeing more things come out of the live rock. say a white nudibranch with these clear white iped tenticle thinks on its back, will this start to be a problem if i add corals? could this be whhat is eating the smaller zoanthids in my mantis tank?

 

[aresgod]

a pic will help, usualy nudibranchs will prefer one kind of coral to munch on, I had one that loved xenia....but would eat the polyps off of my leathers...when big they can devestate corals...mine was like 7-9" and could eat an entire colony of xenia in an hour. if you like him keep him, if not give to LFS..they usually starve to death anyways.

 

[ram man]

they usually starve to death anyways.

that kinda of sad... he was cool looking, i just have to fine him in the mass of macro algae on one of the rocks.