[tribal21]

Ok guys I am now ready to put some fish in the tank.. I have had it running about a week and all levels are in great shape.. I was going to the lfs to get some cheap damsels to cycle the tank with and get everything running. My question is there anything that I need to do when I get home to do to the fish before putting into the new tank..I know that I need to slowly change the water in the bag with tank water and get the fish use to it.. Is there any thing else that I need to know about so I don't stess the fish out..


Please let me know..Thanks

[SeaBoy]

Dont allow water from bag to enter tank b/c many fish stores treat their water with copper.

[msbdiving]

You could just cycle the tank with live rock/sand, or a shrimp from the store. No need to waste fish.

[Tonz of fun]

Saltwater Fish Superstore - Saltwaterfish.com use this site for expensive fish in the future. With cheap fish like 4 dollar damsels i would stick the whole plastic bag into the tank and let it float like a bobber for about an hour then release the hounds. DO NOT LET ANY FISH STORE WATER GET INTO YOUR REEF TANK

[reefnoob1991]

Don't cycle with fish, it's inhumane. Let your live rock cycle your tank and not be impatient...keep testing your water also.

[Tonz of fun]

I guess I read it wrong I thought he said his levels have stabelized for about a week. Not it was a week old...My bad

[reefnoob1991]

Also, unless you like having your fish fight with each other/new tankmates i'd suggest chromis's but the best thing to start off with would be keep checking your levels for the next week or so...if they remain good then pick up a couple snails or crabs and then after that a couple weeks later you could add any regular fish you want...slowly though not all at once.

[tribal21]

Well the fish are in and seem to be doing well..I bought five damsels and we will see what happens...thanks for your help guys..

Any one got suggestions on what temps you all are running for FOT.. Set on 76 and LFS said to bump it up to 80..

[reefnoob1991]

Well if your readings stay fine that will be very surprising

[lynnvangsnes]

Forget the damsels. They will rule the tank when you put others in...they are very territorial and can attack any other fish that goes in after them; including triggers. As mentioned above, just cycle your tank with LR, not fish. When it finishes, the fishies will not have to stress with brand new water, and get their gills filled with ammonia. Even hardy fish suffer when they are cycling a new tank.

[reefnoob1991]

It's too late, we tried to tell him earlier ...5 fish 1 week after a tank has been started is way rushing it. Be patient next time.

[Salt-lick]

yea, I listen to these guys b4 my lfs, they just want to sell and make $, our collegues here just want your tank to be healthy and beautiful. Take thier advice next time.

[tribal21]

Hey guys I am sorry that I may have offended some people on adding live fish to the tank for cycling it.. I have done alot of reading on this and I am no expert on saltwater..I was skechy on even doing salt over fresh..I needed alittle help and joined RB to find out info.. I have no live rock in the tank and was waiting for a while to get some... Don't have extra 400-500 dollars to spend on rock after I just spent 400.00 dollars to get water in it.. Every where I have read told me to cycle with cheap fish like damsels..Except here and I still get mixed reviews on this...I know that it is hard on the fish and that some may not make it through this cycle..So now I know that some people don't cycle with live fish... That is fine please don't bust me for doing what 90% of people do to start the tank...

As far as the LFS Yes I understand that they are in the busseness to make money.. But thay also are the highest rated LFS in the area..They have over 100 tanks between fresh and salt.. They were the ones that had told me to hold off on the LR till the tank cycled and start off slow...They told me of stories that customer would come in and buy 1000.00 of LR and LF to get going and Tank would be wiped out week or days later...So in there defense I am going to lisen to them...They could have sold me 1000.00 worth of fish supplies but they didn't I am running the same set up as the owner on his one of his tanks at his home...Said that it has been going strong for 6 years..


Thanks for some of you on here that want to help and the others who think I am doing a bad job!!

[reefnoob1991]

Lol....your supposed to add live rock to cycle or else your going to have ANOTHER cycle after that. LFS's hardly know what they're talking about...which is why these forums are setup to question the skeptics. You could've gotten biospyra or seachem's stability which makes your cycle overnight or up to a short few days. Cycling with fish without live rock is like buying furniture for a house you don't have...You can't make waste without having any biological filtration to get rid of it...the fish are producing ammonia which the live rock converts to nitrite then nitrate. Without liverock your ammonia will start to build

[Salt-lick]

Absolutley not offended, EVERYONE has thier own way of doing whatever it is they do.. there will ALWAYS be conflicting opinions... the best way to do it is to get the info you need form different sources and get a plan together, but I will take these guys opinions here over my lfs as they told me to cycle all i need is salt and sand..

Just so you know where I stand on this and good luck with your tank, and remember we are ALL here to help.. even the n00bs have somethings to offer.
*Cheers*

[lacybiker2000]

Yeah, my LFS said I could put a mandarin in a tiny 8 gal. He had lots of tanks, is going to set up a frag farm and so forth. No way would he have survived in my little tank. But thanks to all those tried and true people on here that generally know what they are talking about for us little guys. They said absolutly not and told me why. I have gotten an abundance of great info from these forums from people who are out to help from their own experience. Remember the LFS has many tanks all running off the same cycles so there is not as much trouble as with a smaller system, where the polutants are more contained. Just my opinion, but hope your tank does well anyway.

[tribal21]

OK maybe I am and maybe we are getting off on the wrong foot here...Let me explaine what I have and try to figure this out ... I hav a 55 gallon salt tank.. 40lbs live sand and 20 lbs agrogate in very bottom w/ live sand on top... Every thing was started last weekend..
Now The tank ran for about two days untill water was clear and then I added the LS in bottom...Checked the PH,ALK, Salinity, all good had to add some PH buffer to bring PH up a little bit.. Then the tank ran for about three days and went and bought some damsels to cycle the tank..I think... was going to buy the live rock in a few weeks when everything cycled...This is what I was told by friend with salt water tanks and LFS... Was going to cure the LR in a seperate tank and let every thing cure before putting into MY tank..So if I have this right and please correct me if I am wrong the live rock needs to be put in first to cycle the tank?? Are you talking about cured or uncured rock...If it is uncured I could under stand..

This is why I need alittle help...

[reefnoob1991]

Cured or uncured some die off still be will present... just from switching tanks. Let me try to go through this again. When people cycle with fish they cycle with live rock too. Therefore when the fish produce ammonia there is something to remove it. If you have no live rock then basically all your doing is producing a ton of ammonia into your tank with nothing to remove it because you have no biological filtration. As explained before (i'll quote it)

Cycling with fish without live rock is like buying furniture for a house you don't have...You can't make waste without having any biological filtration to get rid of it...the fish are producing ammonia which the live rock converts to nitrite then nitrate. Without liverock your ammonia will start to build

[rlcline76]

Originally Posted by tribal21

Hey guys I am sorry that I may have offended some people on adding live fish to the tank for cycling it.. I have done alot of reading on this and I am no expert on saltwater..I was skechy on even doing salt over fresh..I needed alittle help and joined RB to find out info.. I have no live rock in the tank and was waiting for a while to get some... Don't have extra 400-500 dollars to spend on rock after I just spent 400.00 dollars to get water in it.. Every where I have read told me to cycle with cheap fish like damsels..Except here and I still get mixed reviews on this...I know that it is hard on the fish and that some may not make it through this cycle..So now I know that some people don't cycle with live fish... That is fine please don't bust me for doing what 90% of people do to start the tank...

As far as the LFS Yes I understand that they are in the busseness to make money.. But thay also are the highest rated LFS in the area..They have over 100 tanks between fresh and salt.. They were the ones that had told me to hold off on the LR till the tank cycled and start off slow...They told me of stories that customer would come in and buy 1000.00 of LR and LF to get going and Tank would be wiped out week or days later...So in there defense I am going to lisen to them...They could have sold me 1000.00 worth of fish supplies but they didn't I am running the same set up as the owner on his one of his tanks at his home...Said that it has been going strong for 6 years..


Thanks for some of you on here that want to help and the others who think I am doing a bad job!!

It's not about you doing a bad job. This is a tough hobby and you need to be able to take the good with the bad. My husband cycled with fish, and I am sure we paid for it in the long run. A lot of us went this route and that is why we try to help others before you spend too much money or hurt little creatures while our natural reefs are in danger.

It is OK to listen to the LFS, high rating, I don't think there is one. But you will find that it is even more beneficial to slow down and carefully research everything that you put in your tank and all of the processes that go with being part of this hobby. We are not always going to be right...your LFS is not always going to be right, I don't care how many tanks there are in one space. But it is your responsibility to check into everything. You. Not the LFS, not us.

If you need to buy $400 of LR, you will be recycling your tank. So yes, if people are adding all of this rock and then expecting all of their fish to do swimmingly a week later, I can see where disaster might strike. The LR will have die off and you should get spikes in just about everything that will be hard on the critters.

If you want, we can help get you where you want to be. But you will need to learn to take the criticism with the praise. That's life. You have already admitted that you are new, that you need help. So don't get upset when one of us says: Ehhhhh....this is what it is all about. AND give us at least 48-72 hours to respond before going shopping. We can save you oodles of money and heart ache. You have a new tank, you have nothing but time!



Becky

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Looks like another example of an lfs telling those little fibs to sell something,or the person that answered his questions came over from the cat department.I predict that 24 to 48 hours after you put the live rock in tank everything else will dead.And the guy from the lfs will say, hmmmmmmmm.....I wonder what you did wrong.

[Tonz of fun]

I think we may not be giving the LFS enough credit. This dude said he didnt have 400-500 for LR. Im sure the LFS would have suggest it. Hey bud I know you may be "getting by" with only spending 400 bucks but I have spent close to $3000 and I dont have a single fish or coral in my tank yet. You need to slow down and do things right the first time. What I do personally is listen to what people have to say. Everyone has there own opinion. There are tons of them out there. What you should do is decide what is bs and what is not. If 10 percent say cycle without LR and 90 percent say do...Who do you think has more success? Best of luck either way you go.

[tribal21]

OK I am so confused on this it is not funny and it is starting to take the enjoyment out aready.. It is hard to figure out how I need to lisen to .. Books,LFS,Internet,Here I know that there is alot of missinforation on the internet that is why I was putting my trust into the LFS..This is not petco,petsmart,or anything like that.. This is a reputable saltwater store that is pretty much all they do...I now understand alittle bit more about the cycling thanks to you all...Especially that guy form the cat dept. at lfs..NOT!!! anyway don't know what that is all about but any way..

I am going to start this over and try this again and take your advice...I have found a home for the damsels...My buddy is going to take them...so I can start this over and not harm them..unless they are all right where they are..

I am going to order 30lbs of live rock and start over cycling w/LR

So now I need you all to let me know what else is needed... What I need to do when LR gets here and tank setup form here on out...

And is there any websites that you all go to to get info on this subject that is not BS

[Tonz of fun]

Originally Posted by tribal21

OK I am so confused on this it is not funny and it is starting to take the enjoyment out aready.. It is hard to figure out how I need to lisen to .. Books,LFS,Internet,Here I know that there is alot of missinforation on the internet that is why I was putting my trust into the LFS..This is not petco,petsmart,or anything like that.. This is a reputable saltwater store that is pretty much all they do...I now understand alittle bit more about the cycling thanks to you all...Especially that guy form the cat dept. at lfs..NOT!!! anyway don't know what that is all about but any way..

I am going to start this over and try this again and take your advice...I have found a home for the damsels...My buddy is going to take them...so I can start this over and not harm them..unless they are all right where they are..

I am going to order 30lbs of live rock and start over cycling w/LR

So now I need you all to let me know what else is needed... What I need to do when LR gets here and tank setup form here on out...

And is there any websites that you all go to to get info on this subject that is not BS

Ok first...I would try to get more LR if you can. If your budget soenst allow it that works. I got 100lbs from ebay for 270 shipped. It was already cured but all your rock needs to be cured again because of the dyeoff during shipping. Place it in your tank before your substrate and make it look cool. Its going to be your blank canvas. If you have lights and a skimmer use them I dont think you do. I would run your lights for about 4 hours a day. Your going to do your first 20% water change in about three days. Then about every week do another one. then in about 4 weeks you maybe able to add fish if your levels have been good for a week. Anything Im leaving out guys?

[rlcline76]

Get the rock you need, let the tank cycle (a whopping 6 weeks), check your parameters (RyanG has a list of the parameters listed in the Guides Forum down below) regularly...pretty much daily until your tank is cycled.

I use websites, but most of it is just for livestock and disease questions. If you know what you want, you may start researching when you are not testing your water. I like www.wetwebmedia.com...and sometimes when I am lazy I look at Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums.

[rlcline76]

Originally Posted by Tonz of fun

Ok first...I would try to get more LR if you can. If your budget soenst allow it that works. I got 100lbs from ebay for 270 shipped. It was already cured but all your rock needs to be cured again because of the dyeoff during shipping. Place it in your tank before your substrate and make it look cool. Its going to be your blank canvas. If you have lights and a skimmer use them I dont think you do. I would run your lights for about 4 hours a day. Your going to do your first 20% water change in about three days. Then about every week do another one. then in about 4 weeks you maybe able to add fish if your levels have been good for a week. Anything Im leaving out guys?

You'll probably need to consider the clean up crew before the fish...you have time.