Getting my first fish tomorrow!!!

Yeah you need to wait. The reason why the parameters are ok is because there is no bioload in there yet. You need to build up the bacteria with shrimp or something for another week to 2 weeks.

 

I agree..

If you start adding livestock(fish) then your params(nitrates mostly) will not be able to handle it..

 

this is off topic but just wanted to say your clarkiis are awesome and I love the names, have you experienced any aggression with them concerning other fish?

 

well the test kit I have doesnt have a test for ammonia, but i watched for the nitrite spike that is supposed to come after and it never happened. I have nitrate reading of 20 though. but the salinty, alkalinty and pH are all stable and right. and I think the reason i skipped the spike is because i put water from a mature tank ( not a lot, just a little bit from the tank my LR came from) and so it kinda cylced my tank without cycling it? I dont know for sure. but its be like this (the above description) for a week with really no change. and I had everything in it for about two weeks before that.

the clarkii clowns are awsome

 

I would get an ammonia test kit and check. I let my tank cycle for two months before adding fish. We arnt trying to be smart guys, just trying to save you money in this costly hobby. The best advice i can give is to go slow.

 

First don't use test strips they are not reliable. Get a liquid test kit that includes amm. Even if you started with some water from a mature tank it would have to be more significant than a "little bit". The tank would not have cycled or even started to cycle unless you started with 50% or more volume from the mature tank along with LR and LS. You need to build up a bacteria base on the rock and sand to deal with the waste (amm, nitrite and nitrate) your tank is creating now. If you test every second day or so and get zeros for 2 weeks then I would say your cycled. This would be adding in the 2+ weeks your tank has been running.

 

ok. well I have live sand in it, and thats been in there for oh,,,two weeks? maybe more? And then I added the LR and mature water a week ago. So its had bacteria in it for three weeks now.

so, the nitrates shoulde be 0? I thought it wasnt suppoed to be that low?

 

That changes things slightly.

But you probably still do not have enough nutrifying bacteria to sustain fish without a possible ammonia spike.

Did you do a water change yet?

 

no I havnt. I have some water from the mature tank left over, (1) should I do a water change? and will that help? (2) can I do the change with that water or should I use the filtered freshwater?

 

Yes you should do a water change with saltwater that was mixed for 24 hours so it has time to mix throughly.