I have been reading up on Cycling and have a couple of questions. I have a 55g with a 15g sump. It had only been cycling for 2 days now and I just wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations on adding anything else. I currently have in there 45 pounds of live rock in the tank and 10 pounds in the sump, 60 pounds of live sand, pored Nitrafying Bacteria bottle into the tank (Enough for 55g) and I put two clown in there, That is the cheapest fish they had at any shop near me. I currently do not have the protein skimmer turned on but am planning on turning it on tonight. Any recommendations on what I should change or add? Any advice would be appreciated!
Cycling my New Tank
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Have you been testing the water?
My advice would be to do nothing else except test daily at this stage.
My advice would be to do nothing else except test daily at this stage.
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BellaCoop
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I was told to just let it cycle for a week before i start testing. Also one more thing should i try to find some cheaper fish to add? I feel bad basically condemning them to death but does it really help the process that much?
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BellaCoop
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I am going to turn my Protein Skimmer on today. Other than that I am going to just let it cycle. I just found out one of my clown fish has died. I'v heard I should do a few things when this happens in a new tank. 1 Keep the dead fish in there 2 Take him out, and 3 put a cleaner shrimp in there to eat the body.
Remove the dead fish. Do not add any further livestock until the tank is completely cycled that includes fish, inverts......
There is no need to cycle the tank with live animals despite the price of that animal. Remember your local fish store wants to sell you stuff.
If you're going to cycle the tank with fish already in it I would turn on the skimmer.
HTH
There is no need to cycle the tank with live animals despite the price of that animal. Remember your local fish store wants to sell you stuff.
If you're going to cycle the tank with fish already in it I would turn on the skimmer.
HTH
Psustein
Community Member
Yeah keep the skimmer on, and definitely start testing. Don't forget even when doing everything right you can still have problems. Testing the water just will assure the fish didn't die from something like ammonia.
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
Man, take those poor clowns out of there and take them back to the fish store... then smack that guy who advised you to cycle with a live animal...lol (but seriously, don't smack him... just give him the evil eye). I know it's done, but ethically its not right. Go to the store and pick up a raw piece of shrimp and toss in there to bet your ammonia source... or pick up some janitorial grade ammonia from ACE hardware and dose it up to 2ppm. Both of those options are way cheaper than 2 clowns! Advice like that from a LFS would turn me off to using them. But, that's just my .02 cents worth of advice.
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deedubz
nuttier than a squirrel turd
If you mean to cycle, then no. Knowingly and willingly using a living animal to cycle a tank is cruel. Period.
First step- Return the living clown and let the tank cycle without fish.
Second step- Find a responsible lfs or online retailer that'll give you solid advice and guide you into good saltwater practices. If the guy is selling you clownfish to cycle your tank, he'll likely be giving you ich/velvet/brook with your future purchases.
Third step- While your tank is cycling read up on, invest in, and setup a quarantine tank. This will save you substantial amounts of money over constantly replacing dead fish. More importantly, it'll save you the heartache of buying fish and watching them wither away.
First step- Return the living clown and let the tank cycle without fish.
Second step- Find a responsible lfs or online retailer that'll give you solid advice and guide you into good saltwater practices. If the guy is selling you clownfish to cycle your tank, he'll likely be giving you ich/velvet/brook with your future purchases.
Third step- While your tank is cycling read up on, invest in, and setup a quarantine tank. This will save you substantial amounts of money over constantly replacing dead fish. More importantly, it'll save you the heartache of buying fish and watching them wither away.
tdileo
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I’m probably going to get s**t for saying this, but my preferred method of cycling is with fish because I can’t stare at an empty tank for a month. I take a few pounds of pest free, established rock from another one of my tanks (you can probably find a local reefer that would let you borrow some and return it) and let it sit for a day before adding fish. I will never add more than one fish for this, but in a good sized tank with a few pounds of rock already full of bacteria you won’t experience much of a cycle, if any. Then in a few weeks you can return the rock if they want it back and your tank will be seeded with lots of microfauna including the nitrifying bacteria you needed and the nitrogen cycle is 100% complete.
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BellaCoop
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I got a 20g tank that I am going to be setting up this weekend. 20g's should be plenty for what I am looking for. With you're QT tank do you always keep it running or only set it up when you know you are considering adding a new fish?
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BellaCoop
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@tdileo I have heard of a lot of people doing it that way. Iv heard a lot of push back on it from here so I am try to stay clean. But now the clowns are removed and I keep seeing a lot to add Chromis, but like @Idoc said its possibly putting them in a tank to their Death. But it is hard to see the tank empty. Chromis are really hardy little fish though i'v heard.
deedubz
nuttier than a squirrel turd
A 20g would be a great qt. That'll give most fish, except an adult tang or something, enough room to adapt to captivity. To give you an example.. I currently, unfortunately, have 8 fish in my 29g quarantine tank. I didn't qt a few snails/crabs and managed to get prazipro immune flukes and possibly ich. I had to ttm all 8 fish while simultaneously doing hyposalinity (you can imagine how much fun that was). Once I get salinity back to 1.026, I'm going to buy another temporary 20g tank to split the bio load in half. I personally run my qt tank 24/7. Some people opt to run more of a hospital tank that gets setup in emergencies or when purchasing new fish and then gets broken down when not in use. Either way, I'd recommend a hang on back filter such as a aquaclear(or something similar) and soak the filter pad and biomax balls that come with it in biospira/similar product over night in a Tupperware or glass bowl (I bought a couple large bottles but you can use one and fill the rest of the container with fresh saltwater). Then just keep an eye on ammonia for a couple days before adding a fish.
deedubz
nuttier than a squirrel turd
And for the record, I didn't intend on barking orders or yelling at you. My lfs led me astray and until I joined this forum last summer, I had nothing but problems. I don't go there anymore.
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
I only set up my QT when I need it. But, I use BioSpira soaked in the Aquaclear HOB filter sponge and monitor ammonia closely that first week or so. I use a 10g for smaller/single fish, but have a 20g long to use in case I am going to quarantine 2 fish or a little larger ones. Advice...make sure you have a lid. I just quarantined a Diamond Goby for 6 weeks...the day before moving to the DT, he jumped! Egg-crate didn't even keep him in! Now, starting over!!!
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