Red Sea Max Nano First Tank Ever

[Twinturbo]

Hey guys I’m new to the hobby and I was wondering if you guys can give me some advice as well as help me out? My tank has been cycling for about two weeks now. I test the (Ph) which was 8.0 and the (Ammonia) was 0.25ppm and (Nitrite) 0ppm and (Nitrate) was 0ppm. Does this sounds about right for 2 weeks of cycling? What is my next step

[Yachaq]

Hi there. Welcome to WAMAS!!

Can you tell us how did you start your cycle? Have you done any water changes?

I would have expected to see some Nitrates if your cycle was done

[Twinturbo]

29 minutes ago, Yachaq said:

Hi there. Welcome to WAMAS!!

Can you tell us how did you start your cycle? Have you done any water changes?

I would have expected to see some Nitrates if your cycle was done

No I haven’t done any water changes as of yet. I added Brightwell MicroBacter Start XLM added CaribSea Arag-Alive sand with my CaribSea Life Rock and that was it. It’s been cycling for 2 weeks now

[WheresTheReef]

Welcome to the hobby. One of the hardest part is waiting with a tank of rock and sand. Did you test ammonia at the beginning? What is your ammonia source? It has taken me up to 6 weeks to cycle a tank even with bottled bacteria. It took my tank around 3 weeks for the nitrites to drop to zero. Since you are not seeing any nitrates your tank likely isn’t cycled. I like to add around 2ppm of ammonia and let it do it’s thing. I like to see 2ppm ammonia be processed in ~24hrs without a trace of ammonia or nitrite. I’ve never used life rock or live sand. I have seeded with a small piece of live rock from an established tank and it sped up the cycle. The best thing to do is to take this time to research the hobby and plan out the tank.

[Yachaq]

Seems that there may be not enough ammonia for the bacteria you seeded. What are you using as the bacteria food (hardy fish, ammonium chloride, raw shrimp)? The manufacturer has a few restrictions in what substrate you can use for the product. They don't seem to like "live sand" or "seeded dry rock" (https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-start-xlm.php). I would add some source of ammonia and wait to see if your cycle moves forward.