questions on part of N cycle

[waterdog1]

quick questions:

 

1.)do diatoms indicate water quality is going up in a new tank?

 

2.)is it normat to never see a nitrite spike.?

 

3.) Amonia is currently at .25ppm, is this safe enough to add a small clean up crew?

 

 

extra info. All live rock is already cured, sand is new. 20H tank pH 8.1

[Pinchy]

1)not necessarily, diatoms indicate poor water quality typically, but as water ages, it disappears

2)yes, you should see a nitrite spike- as a matter of fact- ive never seen an ammonia spike when setting up my tank- i used carbisea's livesand and a 5lb live rock (12gallon were talkin about) nitrite typically stays around much longer than ammonia- although its different each time around.

 

3)if you added your cleanup crew b/f the ammonia showed up- i would say that would be ok- but since ammonia's alraedy there- your crew may get shocked.

[nalbar]

if you have ammonia at .25 it means you are not cycled. that ammonia will turn into nitrite, which will turn into nitrate. and the nitrate will probably kill your snails. they dont like nitrate.

 

wait it out, its the best way.

 

read myth 15 in this article;

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.htm

 

 

nalbar

[bikinibottom]

I can tell you from experience that you don't want to add a cleanup crew until after your tank is completely cycled. Have patience, it'll get there.

[Physh1]

Be patient and wait for the cycle to finish. Pushing it will come back to bite ya in the near future.

 

Cameron