Tank cycling

[paulj48]

I've been cycling my first 180L tank with 4 damsel fish for 10 days now, I
have been testing the water every 2 days with 'red sea' test kits but I'm
either not reading the results correctly of I'm misunderstanding the
concept.

My readings
ph 8.2
ammonia 0.2
nitrite 0.2
nitrate 0

I got those readings 2 days after setup and the same set of readings on
every other occasion (5 times now), I was under the impression that the
ammonia level should rise faster than this? or do these results seem ok, has
anyone got any tips on reading testkits as I'm a total beginner I seem to be
having a bit of trouble (no I'm not colour blind!)

I am using an external filter for the bio filter and a skimmer if that
helps. I've got no live rock either. I have been feeding the fish just once
a day.

[Marc Levenson]

You have a 45g tank with four small fish. It'll take time for the numbers to
rise and change. Just keep tracking it, and when Ammonia and Nitrite are ZERO,
and nitrates have come down, it is safe to add more livestock.

I actually used graph paper and logged my results, and was able to observe the
rise & fall that way.

Marc

paulj48 wrote:

> I've been cycling my first 180L tank with 4 damsel fish for 10 days now, I
> have been testing the water every 2 days with 'red sea' test kits but I'm
> either not reading the results correctly of I'm misunderstanding the
> concept.
>
> My readings
> ph 8.2
> ammonia 0.2
> nitrite 0.2
> nitrate 0
>
> I got those readings 2 days after setup and the same set of readings on
> every other occasion (5 times now), I was under the impression that the
> ammonia level should rise faster than this? or do these results seem ok, has
> anyone got any tips on reading testkits as I'm a total beginner I seem to be
> having a bit of trouble (no I'm not colour blind!)
>
> I am using an external filter for the bio filter and a skimmer if that
> helps. I've got no live rock either. I have been feeding the fish just once
> a day.

--
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[skozzy]

Have you added anything to the filter yet ? Something like Cycle, it might
help the filter get ready for life ahead. The natural process can take a
while, for me it took the best part of 6-8 weeks for the ammonia to drop to
0. But I used ammonia instead of fish.

"paulj48" <paulj48ath0tmail.c0m> wrote in message
...
> I've been cycling my first 180L tank with 4 damsel fish for 10 days now, I
> have been testing the water every 2 days with 'red sea' test kits but I'm
> either not reading the results correctly of I'm misunderstanding the
> concept.
>
> My readings
> ph 8.2
> ammonia 0.2
> nitrite 0.2
> nitrate 0
>
> I got those readings 2 days after setup and the same set of readings on
> every other occasion (5 times now), I was under the impression that the
> ammonia level should rise faster than this? or do these results seem ok,
has
> anyone got any tips on reading testkits as I'm a total beginner I seem to
be
> having a bit of trouble (no I'm not colour blind!)
>
> I am using an external filter for the bio filter and a skimmer if that
> helps. I've got no live rock either. I have been feeding the fish just
once
> a day.
>
>