Apwhite
New Member
Hi there. Iām a new aquarist who is cycling her first saltwater 10g nano tank. I originally cycled it throughout the month of January, and purchased a sweet baby clownfish mid-February which seemed fine until it died sometime overnight. I was very confused as to why this happened and received a lot of helpful suggestions from more advanced aquarists. Iām still not sure why my clown died (some said it couldāve been shock from a new tank, the babies are pretty fragile, etc.) but Iāve decided to move on and completely re-cycle my tank in preparation for getting a new fish. I started by adding 40 drops of dr Timās ammonia (raised ammonia in tank to 2ppm). Before adding, ammonia/nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 2ppm. Two days later, I tested again to find 1ppm ammonia, unknown (?) nitrite levels (didnāt seem to match chart, Iāve attached an image below), and 40ppm nitrate. This seems like a big step in the tanks cycle to occur in just two days. Is this normal? Do you think thereās bacteria left over from my previous cycle/the fish? Also, once my ammonia and nitrite read 0, how long should these numbers stay stable before I add another clown? Thanks in advance!