New to this. Help!

[mattnano13.5]

So I set up my Evo 13.5 on the 20th so 5 days ago and today the 25th I just added 1oz of turbostart900. I’m doing a fishless cycle. When do you believe I can add a fish? Or do I need to dose 2ml a ammonia in my tank a few times and check to make sure? Just wondering what my next step is from this day on. 

[jambon]

Did you use live rock in the system? It should be well inoculated if so. 3 or 4 weeks should be plenty of time to add a fish or 2. Add the less aggresive fish first to avoid fighting.

It would not hurt to add ammonia if you want to monitor how effective the system is working before you add fish.

[Xj reefing]

Adding ammonia to make sure your tank can handle fish before adding the and all so allowing the good bacteria to have a food scource and multiply would be a good idea.

[W1ll]

On 1/26/2022 at 10:28 AM, mattnano13.5 said:

So I set up my Evo 13.5 on the 20th so 5 days ago and today the 25th I just added 1oz of turbostart900. I’m doing a fishless cycle. When do you believe I can add a fish? Or do I need to dose 2ml a ammonia in my tank a few times and check to make sure? Just wondering what my next step is from this day on. 

If you used dry rock to create your hardscape, personally I would add 1-2ppm of ammonia and just let the tank sit for about a month, testing your water regularly for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Generally using this method your tank would be ready for fish in 2-3 weeks. Dr Tim has a comprehensive guide on using this method here: https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling/ 

 

However, if you used Live Rock, purchased wet in a bag from your LFS, your tank is probably already suitable for fish. I would still wait a week or two and maybe perform some small water changes to account for any nutrient spikes caused by live rock die-off. It is still crucial to check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before adding fish when using this method. The acceptable ranges for these parameters is explained more in the link above. Good Luck!

[BioBoy16]

I just cycled my tank with dry rock and sand. After about 2 weeks I started testing for ammonia and nitrate. On week four i was seeing good results. Went to a LFS to test my water and double check. Only after you are reading 0s on ammonia and nitrate can you put in live critters. Start slow and definitely not a bad Idea to double check with a dose of ammonia and make sure it just goes down to 0. After that you are golden.