Tank cycling

[vtech2]

Hellow fellow reefers!

Just started my 2ft FOWLR tank on 29/12/05. Finally got my Lrs and all equipment running today. Intending to keep mainly hardy fishes namely damsels and hopefully Clowns that if the damsels wont be too aggressive towards it.

1)How long more do i roughly have to wait before adding livestock 2 wks more enough?

2) What is the max amount of inhabitants recommended for my tank size?

3) The amount recommended to add livestock each time eg. 1 damsel per every 7 days or so till achived desired livestock?

Valuable inputs really appreaciated!

[cityofangels]

I'd highly suggest you wait a month before adding live stock into your tank. 2 weeks isn't enough for the good bacteria needed to grow. Do you have a sump tank for your FOWLR tank or are you simply running a cannister filter? If you're running a sump tank, what do you have in your sump tank (e.g. bioballs/ceramic rings)?

I advise not to keep damsels as they are highly aggressive fishes. In a 2ft tank, they'll more than likely dominate your tank and terrorize all the other fishes in your tank.

[vtech2]

For my filtration i'm using a simple overflow filter running with coral chips and wool and also a skimmer...

Yeah agree that damsels are very aggresive fishes but they are damn hardy their survival chances are very good... For a fact i love clowns all the different types and Yellow and Blue tang. Boy are they Gorgeous! Hmmm.... what are the chances if start up with any of those fishes?

[Qxnviolet]

Hi vtech2,

Im relatively new in this hobby too. My total cycling time took around 3 weeks, from the time i added in uncured live rocks to my tank. I guess cycling time is very subjective, i'll try to give a brief desc of what i did when i started my tank.

Day 1 > Added in uncured live rocks

Day 3 > Spike in Ammonia

Didn't really moniter the nitrite level but nitrate levels fell to acceptable levels (approx 25 mg/l) around week 3.

Finally, transferred my LS from old tank in week 4.

P.S. Added live nitrifying bacteria to speed up cycling.

[Alvin Tan]

try the nitrifying bacteria from tropical science nitromax..a veri good two part solution to spped up the cycling process....

[mUAr_cHEe]

There are many similar tanks in this site. Just do a search. Do not be lazy.

[cityofangels]

mUAr_cHEe: Give him a break.. He is still a newbie in the forum.

vtech2: I love damsels too but I would definitely not make the same mistake by putting a damsel in my tank. I had such a headache trying to remove my zebra damsel. Damsels and other fishes just do not seem to cohabitate well. Esp, with docile fishes like clowns and firefishes.

[vtech2]

Noted! will add nitrifying bacteria to speed up the cycling process...

Damsels...hmmmmm there aint much reefers or in fact any reefers that are fond of their characteristics due to over aggression, well perhaps i'll start to reconsider other species in replacement hopefully a pair of true percular clowns for starters after water parameters have stabilised...

Cheers!

[Elune]

bro vtech2:

damsels wise, if you really want them for their blue color, then make sure you buy ONLY ONE and ONLY the SMALLEST one and the rest of your fishes are bigger than it. it will decrease the chance of them getting attack by your damsel.

alternatively, try the Chromis damsels. They look whitish-green, but under proper UV lighting, they look Chromis green (hence their name). More importantly, these Chromis are non-agressive yet hardy and they coexist with other fishes.

I suggest against true percula for newbies' tanks. They're many times more expensive than false perculas. should they die, its a waste to a true pedigree breed. buy those aquacultured false perculas instead and help save those true perculas and leave them alone in the ocean.

[shaohui75]

With this size of your tank and setup, at most you can keep 4 or 5 small fishes. That is unless you change water really regularly. I used to start off with a 2feet tank as well and change water once a month, found that beyond 5fish, any new addition will cause water parameters to detoriate and eventually the new live stock will die.

Cycling min 2weeks. Addition of fish at least a week interval.

[vtech2]

For my livestock wld start off with a green chromis, followed by 2 false clowns at intervals... tinking of a cleaner wrasse but does it really help in dealing with parasites?

Will be getting a cleaner shrimp btw.

Hmmmm…. Love a small yellow and blue tang but holding that tot for awhile until able to find a better suitable replacement…Any suggestions?

[gift05]

clearner wrasse and cleaner shrimps need very very good water parameters. so i suggest u add them later.

[Maxstar81]

vtech2,

IMO, the longer the cycling period the better.

My 2ft cycled for more than a mth even though

i used water from my other tank. Mainly due the

fact that i used uncured LR. Giving the tank

more time to cycle also gives time for your pods

to grow. Depending on wat type of LS, some might

like it to supplement their diet.

(many say only want FOWLR but sooner

or later, it always turns into a mini reef)

Um, I'm a little confused....

U talking about damsel & clowns right !?

Aren't clowns also under damsel family !?

(clowns? wat about anemones for them?

U think clowns not aggresive ???)

Lastly, 2ft not really big enuff for tangs.

U can buy them while they're small but

U have to sell them when they get bigger

& i find that pointless.

Read more b4 committing.

It saves U much $ & frustration.

Hope to see ur tank in the members tank thread soon!

[cyberpig]

pardon my stupid question.. read somewhere that some people use damsels to cycle their tank cos its a super hardy fish.. since he intends to keep damsels, can't he thrown them in right away??

[Maxstar81]

cyberpig,

Old birds used to do it.

Nowadays, we use prawn in sock.

Its just to kick off the ANN cycle.

It cause undue stress to the fish.

That would be cruel wouldn't it?

We all love fish don't we.

So theoretically speaking.

The answer is:

"Yes, he could but he really shouldn't."

[cityofangels]

So theoretically speaking.

The answer is:

"Yes, he could but he really shouldn't."

That's very true.. I must admit, I'm one of those who used a damsel to kick start my ANN process. But I truly regretted it because trying to capture the bugger out of the tank simply isn't worth all the trouble!

[vtech2]

Well I'll gv my tank abt a month to cycle first and hopefully the water parameters wld be stable by then... Will probably slowly start to include a couple mixtures of false, tomato, clarki clowns in my tank then but without the anemone as not too sure abt it and wldnt want it to die and pollute the entire tank....i'll read up more abt clowns if things initially dont turn out too well then i'll just turn my tank into a Damsel Paradise!

It's not too bad u know not familiar with the actual names but there is blue damsel, a yellow bellied blue damsel, zebra damsel, green chromis, dominoes damsel. With them being extremely hardy, chances of survival are good and their different vibrant colours are quite interesting too. Just hope my tank dun turn out to be the stage of WWIII.

Decided to forget Tangs they do tend to grow big and it wld be sad to give them up and besides i always find them to have Ich problems.....

Reefers!

[mUAr_cHEe]

Personally, I will keep it Zen.

Some SPS, with a helfrichi, and maybe some nice shrimps.

But then again, since you are only beginning. I'd suggest you try to keep it simple also.

Maybe you can try anemone with mated clown pair.

Otherwise, some nice corals with a frog fish would not be too bad.

Then again, all this is my personal preference.

noticed that I like to use alot of back ground, but just one nice outstanding centrepiece fish?

That is my style. So what is yours?

Try to keep in mind that you need both background and foreground to work together. One have to supplement the other and really bring it out.

Just my advice and 2 cents. No need to listen if you think I am talking rubbish. I usally got alot of nonsense.

[leochngyh]

Last time I use a market prawn to cycle my tank for 1 month. After only add 2 nemo crown. and slowly add LS after every 2 weeks.

Until now, my tank para is ok. Ammonia - 0, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 5-10....

Hope this help. One thing, DONT rush. After cycle, test the water parameter first. Then only add LS, abd stop go to LFS for 2 weeks (then you wont have the impulse to buy fish )