15 Gallon Nano Build

[TheMikey]

UPDATE:

Hey all,

Setting up my first saltwater tank after a massive amount of research on these internets. Anyway, I finally got all my testing kits together except for Calcium and Phosphates after having live rock in the tank for five days. Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia: 0-0.5 (about halfway between colour bars on the chart)
Nitrates: 10
Nitrites: 0.2
KH: 180
PH: ~8

I'm really confused about these numbers as it looks like the tank might be nearing the end of the cycle. Is this at all normal for parameters this early in a nano?

Using RO/DI water and 15lbs of bagged live sand as well.

Our lone LFS in the area is one of the best though, and they keep all of the rock in a large heated rubbermaid container without any light and lots of flow. The guy at the store said that some of their customers have had rock cycle within 10 days. Regardless the incredulity of such a fast, I completely trust Colby and Gustavo - they're some of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met about this hobby and they've helped me out since I started researching in June. Incidently, I'll put a plug out for them anyway - hit Bayside Corals for all your reefing needs (:

[Ryan_Lap]

The rock I got from Colby completely cured in less than a week.

[TheMikey]

Originally Posted by Ryan_Lap

The rock I got from Colby completely cured in less than a week.

Did you mean cure or cycle?

[Ryan_Lap]

yah sure cycled....

[lorenz0]

do not rush. let it run for 3 weeks before cosidering snails in that tank. your cycle is not near being done.

[pastout]

give it a realy good cycle you will be very glad down the road i set up a 10 gallon nano let it cycle for 2 months its on month 4. this tank is bare bone to no mechanical filter or skimmer and its running better then my90 gallon with all the bells and whistles. i truly apreciate a good cycle now

[TheMikey]

I'm not planning on adding any part of a cleanup crew for at least two weeks yet, regardless of my parameters. I'm just a little wary about the potential of *not* seeing an ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate spike that would let me know about the cycling in general. As I mentioned, I wasn't able to pick up a test kit for almost five whole days of running my aquarium so seeing safe levels of ammonium and nitrite set me on edge - which is why I updated with the question.