is this right???

[themedic]

Ive got a 42 gallon cube that exactly 1 week ago I started with live rock and sand. Ive also been putting in Microbacter 7 (1.5 cap fulls a day), no lights, skimmer running, and no water changes yet.

I know how long the cycle should take but I checked my levels today just out of curiosity and found .5 ammonia and 0 nitrates/nitrites according to the tests. something tells me this isnt right? like I said that tanks only been set up for a week. I have lots of algae growth already, and 2 crabs that came out of the rock when I first put it in that look to be doing good.

So Im just wondering whats going on here with the levels Im getting... normal? not normal?

 

[BL1]

Nope, they look normal to me, your cycle is just starting. You'll notice that your ammonia will probably go up a little higher before it drops and your nitrites spike. You don't really need to add the microbacter, your LR and LS will run the whole cycle for you.

 

[themedic]

ive also been told by people to run the skimmer, and told not to by others. so ive decided to not run it for the time being. correct?

 

[BL1]

You can run it but, since there's no bioload in the tank it probably won't pull much out.

 

[dcantucson]

I would run it to get it broken in. Sometimes it takes a few weeks.