Could someone look at my test kit readings please...

[Mark9]

I'm thinking the cycle has started?
Looks to be .5ppm, .25 a couple days ago?
I'm old, the eyes aren't what they used to be.


Today
http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050843_zps677040f1.jpg

Couple days ago
http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050839_zps6a4c1f5c.jpg

[danimallaminad]

looks like .5, 0, 0. in that order.

[coralsnaked]

Just starting. I'd want my ammonia to spike to 5 ppm to get a good cycle going. Have you kick started your cycle w/ dead shrimp or pure ammonia? No Surfactants

[Mark9]

I put in some dry rock with cured rock, and have been ghost feeding.
Maybe i'll try a shrimp.
Seems to be creeping up.
Will be 7 days tomorrow.

[Mark9]

Just starting. I'd want my ammonia to spike to 5 ppm to get a good cycle going. Have you kick started your cycle w/ dead shrimp or pure ammonia? No Surfactants

Got a bit frustrated with the slow cycle, did as you suggested, put in a wild caught shrimp for 24 hours.

I can confidently say i am cycling, as I now have a nitrite reading!

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050844_zps06af4023.jpg

[jamesbaur13]

Looks good Mark, that's exactly what you want to see.

I'd guesstimate them at ammonia .75, nitrite .25, nitrate 2.5

Now just give it time for the ammonia and nitrite to hit 0 and you are done.

After that is a large WC to reduce the nitrates, then add a fish and start adding clean up crew. Continue to monitor nitrates and start monitoring phosphates after adding the fish. You want to make sure you can control the nitrate with your maintenance regimen before adding an additional fish. If phosphates become an issue you'll need to add something like phosban or GFO to help control it. With phosphates you need to remember never to completely eliminate it... you want a low reading like .01ppm, never 0. Once you got that stable add another fish and repeat (if able/wanting).

Having Phosphate, Nitrate, Alkalinity and Calcium at the proper level is essential for coral growth. A lack/excess of one of the 4 will inhibit growth.

If you only purchased the API master saltwater kit I would recommend purchasing a Hanna Phosphate Checker for... well, Phosphates. My eyes aren't the greatest either. This little device uses a regent and has a sensor to measure the opacity of the water. The opacity is translated in PPM via a LCD display... so there's no looking at color bars. You put an empty vial of water in, it takes a reference. You remove that vial, add regent, swirl 30 secs, insert vial into checker, wait 3mins (it has a built in timer), it states your levels in PPM via LCD. The only pain in the rear with this device is the powdered regent packet that needs to be dumped into the dime sized hole of the vial.

I would also strongly consider a Hanna Alkalinity Checker. This one is very easy to use (liquid regent), works similar to the phosphate checker and is extremely accurate.

The upfront cost of the 2 Hanna Checkers is not cheap, however if you look at the refill costs for the regents they start to look much more affordable. Some manufactures require you to purchase the whole test kit all over again. Others, though few, sell just the regents and are even more affordable then the Hanna's, but they all require a color chart or color change. In the long run I think you'd be happiest with the Hanna's.

API is ok for starting out, but once those are used up I would go with another brand. You'll have more invested in the tank at this point, so the accuracy of the tests become that much more important. You can't beat the cost of the API kits, but they also have a greater rate of inconsistency (based off what I have read on here). Brands like Red Sea, Salifert and Elos are all good ones to upgrade to.

[Mark9]

Looks like ammonia has gone down a tad, nitrite has shot up and nitrate has gone up a bit.
On my way

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050848_zps2c779130.jpg

[dclownd]

Looks like you got a cycle starting friend!

[Mark9]

Ammonia almost gone.
Not much else to do why waiting for a cycle except post pictures.

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050864_zps15ce8b48.jpg

[oscarinw]

This is probably one of the most exciting experiences of the hobby... One piece of advice: Let the ammonia source be high enough consistently so you can guarantee a strong nitrifying bacteria population. From the pictures it looks as if you may have spiked at about 1ppm. You may want to supply more with either the shrimp or pure ammonia to get that population going.
Good luck with things!

[Mark9]

This is probably one of the most exciting experiences of the hobby... One piece of advice: Let the ammonia source be high enough consistently so you can guarantee a strong nitrifying bacteria population. From the pictures it looks as if you may have spiked at about 1ppm. You may want to supply more with either the shrimp or pure ammonia to get that population going.
Good luck with things!

The shrimp was really stinking the place up, it had to go.

Nitrite is coming down, and nitrates is climbing

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/bigmark9/Aquarium/P1050880_zps218331d6.jpg

[NHATRANG]

congratulation, you are on your way! Nature works wonder!