Question something like cycling my aquarium?
It is a 5 1/2 gallon tank. I started it up a week ago with Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand. Today I also added a small bit of bacteria I bought at petco.
My ammonia horizontal is zero
nitrite level zero
nitrate height zero
When should my tank be cycled, what else should I do?
It is a saltwater tank.
why you have 6 adult seahorses in a 10 gallon reservoir is the MUCH bigger question here
yes you will need to start the cycle. throw a bit of food or uncured live rock in in attendance to get it started and it should take about 6 weeks.
when doing a river change on your current tank put some of the water into your cycling reservoir as this will have good bacteria and will backing your tank cycle faster.
hope this helps
Answers: With such a tiny cistern you will only be able to put a couple small fish in it. It sounds similar to it should be ready for a fish as long as you have had the filter going and a fluffy on while it has been cycling. Also an air procession or some type of current in the water. The good germs need oxygen to live. Get only one small fish and only nurture it once a day (only as much as it can eat in a couple minutes) for a week. Test the sea every other day. Then as long as that fish is doing good after a week and the water have been right, you can add another fish. If the nitrites spike at any time, just do a 25 percent hose down change and continue watching the levels. Ahh i see.. Then yes try putting a bit of food contained by the water every day. That will help the cycle. Also transport a a couple handfulls of the gravel in the seahorses tank and put it in the topical tank. Than you have a head start on the germs and as long as the levels dont fluctuate after the food and gravel (test every other day) then id utter its safe for the little guys after another couple weeks.
Your tank should be cycled within 6 weeks or smaller amount, the bacteria is a good thing to use. Just preserve an eye on everything and it should be fine.
you need a source of ammonia. Yes totalling a little food will help, once it decays it'll pass off ammonia, yes ammonia goes up, as it goes down nitrite rises and so on, I hope you've done this past if you're keeping saltwater..
