Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Maybe it's cause for celebration but it seems weird that for two weeks my new tank has not registered any spikes in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or pH. I have a new 55 gal, running a protein skimmer out of a 20 gal sump tank. On 6/25/05 I added the first fish, (two blue green chromis, one died) plus a small Green Star Polyp, 3 small hermit crabs and three turbo snails. I did water tests 6/28/ and then today, 7/10. Everything came up zero both times except for the pH which is in acceptable range, 8.2, dropping to 8.0. The test kit is new, good until 2/07 and I followed the directions carefully. My book says it is normal for tests to be high, then drop when tank is cycled. So did it cycle that fast or has it not started yet?

Thanks,
Ev

I don't know too much about saltwater but I doubt that it's cycled yet. Check out faq.thekrib.com/sbegin.html which discusses cycling.

I assume you have live rock in the tank. If you got your live rock from a local fish store and it was precured it is possible that your tank is cycled as the live rock will provide all the biological filtration you need.