[afederico]

Hello,
I understand the steps of cycling but I am not sure what the steps look like. I have a 24 gallon aquapod with 30 lbs lLR. Right now I am starting to get brown covering everything(I assume that these are diatoms) I have been cycling for about 2 weeks now. Can someone describe to me what I will see visually as the tank cycles so I can keep an eye on it. I am testing every 3 days. I assume everything will resolve itself, let cycling do its thing,????????? Should I do anything or just wait. When can I assume that my tank is cycled. What to look for. Please name steps and also give description of what it looks like.

Thanks
Antonio

[glampka]

The only way you'll know if your tank cycled to is test the water & watch the values. Start off testing for ammonia, you'll see the ammonia value spike then come down. Once the ammonia spikes, start testing for nitrite - same thing - it'll spike & then come down, then start testing for nitrates. Once the nitrites hit 0, you can do a partial water change & start adding things.
Diatoms are part of the process. They'll come & go.
Sit back, take it easy, start reading everything you can.