5 Questions To Ask About Cycling a Saltwater Nano Tank
If you haven’t attempted to cycle a saltwater aquarium, you maybe able to learn from my mistakes!
Nano Saltwater Cycling Questions
- Do I have something to test my water with?
- What type of water should I use?
- How do I know my cylce is done?
- When should I do my water changes?
- What can I do to speed up my cylce?
Do I have something to test my water with?
- Buy a test kit…you will need to know ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels “a tri tra”.
- If you are using an untrusted water source, you should test for chlorine, since it will kill the nitrifying bacteria.
What type of water should I use?
This varies by location. I’ve seen tap water treatment additives out there, but I don’t know anything beyond that. I sometimes pickup reverse osmosis deionized water or reverse osmosis.
How do I know my cylce is done?
What I learned from my LFS is that once the nitrate levels drop to tolerable amounts (<20ppm), you are ready to add your cleanup crew of invertebrates.
When should I do my water changes?
Do not do water changes until your cycle is complete. There is much talk on the internet of nitrifying bacteria only living in the live rock, sand and filter, with little in the water. This maybe true at some point in the process, but if your tank hasn’t completed it’s cycle, large water changes can cause the cycle to restart.
What can I do to speed up my cylce?
Dr. Tim has a bunch of information and products on his website. I haven’t used any of his products yet, but from what I’ve read in Reef Hobyist Magazine, they work. His video walkthroughs are well done. Here is an in-depth scientific article on aquarium nitrogen cycling from his website.
I also recommend gathering information from Local Fish Store (LFS) and being careful about information you find on forums. I found much of the information I found in forums was contrary to what my LFS owner told me. The LFS owner turned out to be right and that is why I ultimately compiled this information.
