At What Point in the Cycle do I Add Something Alive?
- Thread starter joeyprice
- Start date
Do you have cycled live rock from LFS and crushed coral Or was it all fresh/dry? Haha if it was up to me. I would still put something small in there. Feed very very little. Like once a day or once 2-3 days. Buy the bottles of bacteria to speed up cycling. Use a friends with cycled tank filter media (rinse off with tank water). If you are using crush coral. You can get someone else’s cycled crush coral and mix in with yours. The best is cycled clean live rock. Haha I was up at 5am
Good question. Yes and no. The cycle needs input in order to grow the nitrifying bacteria load. Without input, it will survive for a long time, and then slowly decay.
When should you add fish? That depends. You don’t need to add fish. Your ‘input’ could be extra waste (fish food to decompose, or an ammonia source).
If you do wish to add fish; you would do so after Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, and Nitrate is NOT = 0.
When should you add fish? That depends. You don’t need to add fish. Your ‘input’ could be extra waste (fish food to decompose, or an ammonia source).
If you do wish to add fish; you would do so after Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, and Nitrate is NOT = 0.
The bad thing is if you do add an animal. You will start to keep adding more. You must resist. Patience is the name of the game. If anything. For sure. Invest in more live rock. Like I said. I would add something really small now haha
Add a snail
Mike is on point; but we need to define ‘best’.
Adding rock from another’s tank is best for helping to cycle, but it can be worst in terms of potential contamination. Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to be considered.
And absolutely!!! Patience is key in this hobby.
Adding rock from another’s tank is best for helping to cycle, but it can be worst in terms of potential contamination. Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to be considered.
And absolutely!!! Patience is key in this hobby.
True, I should say good live rock haha
Can I say I hate aptasias
Just curious, is it going to be a reef tank or mainly fish?
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I'm starting to get some diatoms as well, safe to add some snails with these numbers?
Nitrite is down to .25 Nitrate is really high at 10-20.
Going to be a reef. LPS and soft until I learn a lot more (and dump more $ into it.)
Nitrite is down to .25 Nitrate is really high at 10-20.
Going to be a reef. LPS and soft until I learn a lot more (and dump more $ into it.)
I was just reading some of your last post. That’s a nice tank!! Haha I know what you mean. I would totally cry if I buy something really expensive and it dies. Haha anyways, best practice. Wait for all zero, throw in fish. Or not best practices. What I would do. Haha Buy a $10 fish. If you lose the fish you won’t cry. I think. Fish can actually go a long time with out eating. A very long time. Fish food is your worse enemy. Especially uneaten fishfood. But with the little guy swimming in there. You will have some joy. I would have a lot of joy
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The real numbers to look at are ammonia and nitrites. You want them at zero. And you want them to stay there for at least a few days to make sure they are staying at zero. What ammonia source are you using to cycle?
No I would suggest against buying a fish even a $10 fish. You can buy a bottle of ammonia as your source to feed your bacteria for that same price.
https://www.marinedepot.com/ammoniu..._campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=DQ8311
Haha yeah, that’s why I said best practice vs. my crazy ways.
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I have a bottle of ammonium chloride that SaltwaterGardening was kind enough to let me borrow. I was wondering bout spiking it up and down vs providing a steady lower dose source.
Those $10 fish usually turn into a pain in the ass anyway. Damsels, chromes, etc. just get in the way of longer term stocking down the road.
just my experience.
just my experience.
Agreed. Wont add a $10 fish at any point, and don't want to add something as a sacrificial lamb. Whatever I add first I plan on keeping, so don't want to add it if the chemistry is going to kill it.
I just give it to a relative most of the time. But actually, this current tank. Which is my first reef tank. My 2 $10 damsels, I still have and am actually quite fond of them. They leave everyone else alone. I even added a springer damsel and they all get along. If I knew. I would’ve started with springers. I heard they eat flatworms.
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I have never had a $10 fish die on me for starter fish as well. Usually, it’ll be an expensive fish when the tank is doing its best. Haha
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