As far as your question about adding more live rock after the tank has cycled you might get another major spike in ammonia. Due to the die off of the freshly added new rock. If you are going to add more rock it is best to add during the cycle stage. That way you don't create a new cycle, that just creates stress on the inhabitants of the tank. This I learned by trial and error killing off several fish in the process.

Not sure what you think I don't understand.... I am trying to help. Based on the info you gave, I would not assume the tank is fully cycled. Like I said, I would like to see your nitrates show up, and be brought down by water changes, not a subsequent test. Sounds more like a bad test.

With testing, be sure to read the instructions carefully. With the API nitrate test, you need to really shake the solutions well for the specified times after each step, and wait the 5 min at the end, or again you will get false readings.

Yes my test kits are brand. I do shake it for more than 5 secs. About 10 or more because I thought that would make it mix better. Mybe that's y my readings are weird. Ill try again later when I get home. I added 3 bags of carribe pink sand in mybe that's y my nitrate is low? Also my rocks are pretty white and not many diatoms on it. I read that rocks should be pretty covered in diatoms before it finishes cycling. I Havnt seen that yet.

whats hes saying is he cycled the rock outside the display , he had high everything and used all new water when putting his rock into the display except for about 10% of the water that was in his rock bin , this is why theres no nitrates and very little amonia.

by moving the rock to the new tank a mini cycle is happening again , let a week or two go by it should even out....no chems needed.

the fish and coral can stay in a bin for now provided water quality is very good and other needs are met like food,nutrtient export,flow,proper parameters, lights etc...


cheers

denny

your nitrates are low because you added the rock to a new tank with mostly new water , nitrates are removable simply by removing water and waste.

if theres amonia now its going through a mini cycle and nitrates will show again shortly.

Thx Denny for telling me about the mini cycle. Was my English retarded or something that ppl couldn understand me? Lol

Just wait. Biggest rookie mistake is trying to get going too fast. Wait for the Zeros. this is a hobby where carelessness costs. A LOT.
I have a 9 gallon diy nano that i let cycle for nearly 3 months. I added livestock over another yrs time and have had minimal casualties (stupid jumping fish) but nothing from a crash or spike.
Two words. Water changes.

Nuff said.

Like I said, go back and read those instructions again. They need to be shaken hard 1st time for 30 seconds, both the solution and bottle 2, then 1 full min for the solution after adding drops from bottle 2. Then you need to wait 5 min before testing. 5 or 10 sec won't cut it.

And Denny, I do understand about his moving the rocks and water from the container to the tank, although he didn't make that clear in his 1st post.

I am just trying to get him to err on the cautious and be sure the tank, not just the old container with the live rocks is fully cycled. Even in the container, doesn't make sense to me that he had nitrates, and then they disappeared with another test. He said this happened before transferring to the tank. That's why I suspect the testing procedure.

And yes, he could have another mini cycle, but a cycle is a cycle to me..... Until I see nitrates in the final tank after putting organic matter through the cycle, I wouldn't assume anything. And to prevent further "mini-cycles" I would get the rest of that live rock, and put it through the cycle, long before buying any fish.

Hate to say it, but I see a lot more trouble down the road, with ich and other diseases, if this thread is any indication of things to come...

after doing my test again extremely carefully the results are... ammonia 0.25/ nitrite 0/ nitrate 10ppm

OK, that sounds better. It does mean your tank is cycling. Still not sure why you are seeing any ammonia then. It could be your test kit. Some are hard to interpret the lowest color reading.

I would still go slow, though, as your cycling capacity may still be pretty limited. IE, you may not be able to handle a larger bio load. As mentioned before, get all your live rock in place and monitor again for any "mini cycles". If your ammonia increases, that is a bad sign. If your nitrates increase, that is good.

Then change your water, and if your parameters are stable, you can try add come corals and a couple fish. But again, go slow, and monitor. Some nitrates are OK. Water changes will reduce them.

You should also consider setting up a QT. Otherwise, you are in for a lot more grief down the road. I recommend the hyposalintiy route. Here is a good article about that.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish