Tiny air bubbles!

[ChateauPoisson]

Hi everyone! We have been cycling our tank (10 Gallon) for awhile now, and have recently bought a hermit crab. Lately, one of the rocks has been getting this slight orange tint to it, while the other is purple and green. Now, we've noticed tiny little air bubbles trapped on the rocks, and at the top. Is this supposed to happen? We are such newbies, we want to make sure everything is going well before we start adding to the tank.

[Dearth]

Here is another post about air bubbles might be similar to your issue also pictures say a lot more than words could just for future knowledge and can better discern your issues

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=100231

[JmeJReefer]

Part of the nitrogen cycle. Do you have an ammonia/nitrate/nitrite test kit for saltwater? A must for any saltwater tank. It will let you know what your water parameters are doing so you can safely introduce livestock later on.
Your cycle should be almost done tho... Keep patient! Any serious salt head will tell you the same!
And welcome to the Saltside....prepare to spend many hrs staring into a glass box of water! (and dumping ur wallet right into it...)

[ChateauPoisson]

Originally Posted by JmeJReefer

Part of the nitrogen cycle. Do you have an ammonia/nitrate/nitrite test kit for saltwater? A must for any saltwater tank. It will let you know what your water parameters are doing so you can safely introduce livestock later on.
Your cycle should be almost done tho... Keep patient! Any serious salt head will tell you the same!
And welcome to the Saltside....prepare to spend many hrs staring into a glass box of water! (and dumping ur wallet right into it...)

We haven't bought the test kit yet, we have been taking our water into the store to test it for us. I will buy a test kit next time we are in. How long does the cycle take, and what is the next thing we should introduce? Do you typically start with corals? Or fish?

Thanks!!

[JmeJReefer]

The test kit will tell ya if the cycle is over. When readings in ammonia/nitrate/nitrites are zero or very close to, the cycle should be over or near. Wen it's stable, wait another week just to be safe as sometimes a tank will "spike".
Additions: Clean up crew. Snails, hermits etc. they will clean up the algae and detritus.
Add livestock little by little as the system needs time to adjust to the bio load.
10 gal will limit ur livestock but the goby/Blenny/shrimp route is preferable by most.
Good luck.

[Magickiwi]

One word of advice from a relative newbie: Don't buy cheapo test kits. The API/Hagen ones aren't very accurate and their colours are much harder to discern between.

Pay for a decent test kit now (Seachem, Salifert, Elos, Red Sea, etc.) and save money in the future on lost livestock and wasted time.