Need answer swift!saltwater assessment?
I was wondering is it safe to add FEW fish?
ammonia - 0
nitrite - between 0 -.25 i guess more nil though
nitrate- 60
ph - 8.0 -8.2 close collors
Do i just do a water change to remove some of the nitrate? Right?
or do i dally till nitrate drops (which i highly doubt)
( im a begginer to salt but not fresh and i just want assurance)
Whoa, your nitrate is way, approach high.
Do something about the nitrate before you put any animal within that water. You could do a water change, or use one of those filtration medium that absorb nitrate, or one of the water treatments (e.g. Prime or AmQuel Plus) that neutralize nitrate.
No. Nitrites must be zero and nitrates are way too high.
I can sympathize near your impatience, believe me, but it's not worth it. SW fish are expensive and sensitive to conditions and hard to medicate.
Do you have liverock?
How are you filtering?
Protien skimmer?
Are you doing a reef, fish next to live rock, fish without live rock?
How old is the tank?
How big is the cistern?
Give your tank time to mature. It has algae blooms to move about through and everything. Spend the time doing more research and making sure you have a handle on what else you want contained by there. If you don't know that you can't add fish, (again, I sympathize with the impatience), consequently you need to keep researching and learning.
If you want more input, be in motion to one of the many SW forums on the net.
If your tank is 30 gallons or smaller number, I recommend
http://www.nano-reef.com/
Take deep breaths, and have fun!
Answers: yup hulking watewr change and you're ready for a few start fish..
i wouldn't suggest damsels.. possibly some gobies or a gramma (of course dependant on the size of the tank)
the 0-0.25 nitrite is probably due to an errentcy in the test.. or the poor readablilty of the test charts...
i bet you're using the API master saltwater question paper kit huh?
i have that and the test cards look nearly nothing like any result you will ever get...
i recomend the Elos solution test kit.. a little pricier and harder to find but most manifestly more accurate..
If you have large NO3 level and zero NO2 and NH3, then your cycling process have completed.
You are ready to add fish.
Damsels are one of the most hardiest and easiest fish to keep.
