BettaGammaDelta

I've been doing the fishless cycle via the prawn method for the last two weeks. My ammonia is now 0, my Nitrates are 10 and my Nitrites are 0. Does that mean it's done now? Can I start adding fish yet?

Also, should I vac the tank since it looks like attack of the horrible brown algae in there?

Lucy

Hi, Hope you don't mind, I moved your question to a thread of it's own.
It sure looks to me like you're cycled. Good job.

It would be a good idea to do a water change and gravel vac before adding fish.
This link explains brown algea:
Algae - An Overview

BettaGammaDelta

lol, didn't notice when you did this the first time, sorry~

But yeah, I've got a sand-gravel mix of substrate. Is there anything in particular I need to watch out for with the vac? Will it suck up the sand?

Lucy

I don't have experience with sand but this thread might help you a bit until someone can better answer you question:
Gravel versus Sand

You might find through cleaning and vacuuming your sand is going to end up under the gravel.

agabr123

yeah, eventually the sand will all settle on the bottom and gravel will make its way up to the top, it's not really a problem except if it bothers you visually. as far as cleaning the sand, you'll basically want to just hover the gravel vac directly above the surface. it'll take a few tries to get the hang of it and not fill half of your bucket with sand, but eventually you'll get pretty good at it