on the way... Parameter update

My tank is still undergoing cycling, but at such a rapid pace. I tested the water today and check out the results!

The ammonia levels have gone down, while the nitrite and nitrate is peaking. The nitrite is reading at about 2.0 ppm and the nitrate is at 20 ppm. I'm thrilled the ammonia has gone down!

Although ammonia and nitrite are both toxic, the hermit crabs, snail,  and sea stars are all doing very well. Since they are toxic I have been adding Prime, which removes the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite, but without removing it from the water so it still shows up on parameter tests.

As for the speed of the cycling, I accredit it to NutraFin cycle-- I have been dosing twice a week at 5mg.  It is building up the bacteria in my tank that will turn ammonia --> nitrite --> nitrate(which I can remove.)

So far, the cycling process is going very well. I will post some sea star information later.

Parameters

Making progress! The water quality check showed that my tank has started cycling! The process of cycling goes as follows:
1: Ammonia- ammonia levels start to build up in the tank because the good bacteria that eats it isn't yet established in the tank.
2: Nitrite- Nitrite starts to spike while ammonia is still high, because the bacteria is converting the ammonia into nitrites. The ammonia starts to go down while the nitrites are still high.
3: Nitrate- No, not nitrite. Nitrate. The last step, when the nitrites turn to nitrates and then they are absorbed by plants or removed by water changes.

Once all of these have gone through their corresponding spikes and the testing consistently reads 0 for all of them, the tank has been fully cycled. 

My pH test is perfect, reading at 8.0. Ammonia levels are still high, but that is to be expected with my tank undergoing cycling. I'm excited because the nitrite levels are higher than my last test, which read them at 0, and now they are at 1.00 ppm. (I shouldn't be excited over this... nitrite isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm just happy my tank is starting to become established.) My nitrate is still at 0, but I expect it to start going up soon.

The tank

This is a picture of the tank set up. It isn't set up for aesthetics, just for efficiency.

The tank has a digital thermometer currently reading at 77.5 degrees F. It is equipped with biological filtration, which means there is no mechanical filtration. This is important in this project because mechanical filtration cleanses the water too thoroughly, and sea stars derive most of their nutrients from the water.

Brittle Star video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Pjh1e66BQ

This is a video I took and uploaded to YouTube of one of my mini brittle's waving. 

Water parameters

The salinity is at about 1.025-1.026, which is perfect.

My ammonia test came back very high. It is at 1.0 ppm.  I have added Prime, which detoxifies water and even though the ammonia level is still very high and reads high in tests, it isn't toxic to the sea stars. The reason my ammonia is so high now is because I didn't cycle my tank. The reason I didn't cycle before adding the stars was because these types of stars usually come in as hitchhikers anyway, so I knew they were extremely hardy under changing water conditions. The ammonia levels will decrease and eventually be 0 as my tank levels out.

The pH of my tank is currently 8.0. This is the perfect acidity for sea stars and other inverts.

The nitrate is at 0, which is very good.

The nitrite is also at 0.The nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia all need to be at 0. Once these are all at 0 consistently through several tests though, that is a sign that the tank has gone through cycling and is stable.