cycling tank

[takumee]

i never on my skimmer but think i should now.

just both 2 damsell to run the water lo...

too tempted everytime ii go to these fish shop.

hehe

[onizukaa]

we had given our advise to you, but you still didn't listen.

Nvm, it's your tank and all the best to you

[Thexder]

You ask for advice but don't want to listen, so next time I think you come and ask again nobody is going to bother to help you

[takumee]

not i did not heed advise and i appreciate all help given.

really hope you guys can give me more pointers.

dont condemn me ya. still got a long way to go.

[pauline]

not i did not heed advise and i appreciate all help given.

really hope you guys can give me more pointers.

dont condemn me ya. still got a long way to go.

pointed 4 wat?? in the end u still wont listen!! it's just like wasting our time

[yikai]

u really should not haven done that...not only are u giving stress to ur fish, ur damsels are going to give hell to ur livestock the next time. its their revenge.

[iskay]

Vary sad and Very disappointing. Expect no more advise on this thread.

[takumee]

apologies to all in anyway.

im going to return the damsell once my water is in goo parameters.

right now ust making use of them to help cycle my water.

moderator kindly please close this thread

[yikai]

can see even at the earlier pages. advice given to u, u just give us more suggesstions. most of the reefers here are very senior and knowledagble. not that i want to say, but by not listening, u will just make ur cycling harder and u also disrespect the reefers here.

i did say to add LS. but i said "wait a few weeks and make sure ur water parameters are clear". which essentially means, finish cycling first. i hope u read properly and did not jump into getting livestock! learn to read please. we are only trying to help u. what u have done now, is going to prolong ur cycling period, and u will need to wait even longer.

[yikai]

apologies to all in anyway.

im going to return the damsell once my water is in goo parameters.

right now ust making use of them to help cycle my water.

moderator kindly please close this thread

hope that u learn ur lesson. i suggest u return ur damsels ASAP and stick to the advice we have given u. making use of them to cycle ur water is going to make them suffer and PROLONG ur cycling.

[albinosage]

What's done is done already, so let's not be too harsh on threadstarter too, since he has the humility to admit his impatience and for lack of a better word, "mistake".

As said by bros earlier, it is indeed disappointing that you've gone ahead and done exactly what we told you not to do. But I believe we have all been there, and we all know how exciting it feels to start a new tank and succumb to temptations to introduce fish to an empty tank.

Regarding your current situation, it is not entirely a "mistake" or a wrong way to cycle, just as we have pointed out earlier, it is regarded as a cruel practice. A complete ANN cycle can still be done if this is the path you've chosen. From this point, you would have to feed them daily as you would normally, but you cannot change the water, no matter how polluted it becomes, because that would prolong the cycling period, or cause your tank to be unstable in future (read up on new tank syndrome, this is the point where newbies usually post on the forum asking why their fish keep dying). You can only do a water change once ammonia and nitrite peaks and disappears to zero, and nitrate (NO3) appears, that is when you know that the cycle is complete.

[jyoon]

I agree with binosage bro, all mistakes can be forgiven and not forgotten.

I am sure takumee bro will pay attention on the next tank he setup.

It is a pleasure to see so many senior reefers giving advice and tips. I learn from this thread too.

[MarcoVan]

Another advice:

Throw in a LR dude. Why?

Reason: You are currently using calcium carbonated dead rocks, aka limestones. They are good pH buffers, will definitely help in maintaining your carbonate hardness aka dkh in your tank for the future. However, they hold NO bacteria on them which is necessary to cycle your tank. Therefore, the LFS uncle told you to throw in a market prawn. Correct procedure, but slow process. The bacteria at least need more than 1 month to colonise fully on your liverocks. I doubt you can wait that long. So my advice is above. Go to any LFS (I recommend T95). Buy a LR from there. Can be of any size, shape or colour as long as it fits your tank and your wallet. Just 1 and throw it into your tank and leave it there forever until you decom. The LR will provide you all the necessary critters and bacterias needed as biological filtration for your tank and before long, you will see your white rocks turn brown, then green and hopefully abit purple. When you see that, you will know you are almost done (:

Anyway, there is no time limit to how long a tank needs to be cycled. I have friends who own 5 and 6 feet tanks and they practically cycle their tanks for 2 years or more! The idea is take your time and don't rush. You can of course rush, but you have to be prepared to deal with the consequences later. As much as consequences go, there are 2 options: either your tank gets a terrible algae boom or whatever you put inside will die shortly. BUT, usually after the 2 options if either one occurs to you and you are not discouraged by the fact you have more work to do for the tank and you diligently go forth and rectify the problem and causes, your tank will come back stronger and better (:

Happy Reefing

[MarcoVan]

Also, please remember to smell your rock before buying. It should smell quite much like the ocean (: However, if you get a stinky one, then forget it. Throw it back into the tub and pick a new one. Most likely, that rock has decayed from within (:

Happy Reefing

[takumee]

thanks for all advise despite my stubbornness.

yah, i have to be blame for all the uproar in this thread.

throwing a market prawn can only be done by experts like all seniors here and definitely not me.

i did ask the shop along lavender and they said it is better to be able to put some hardy and prolong my cycle since i am considered nuts in this addicted hobby.

upon considering the above factors, i will see how my damsell is coping and might return to the shop and buy a test kit to test.

well, we all learn from mistakes and some have to learn the hardway. guess im the latter.

sorry to all. cheers..peace..

[albinosage]

thanks for all advise despite my stubbornness.

yah, i have to be blame for all the uproar in this thread.

throwing a market prawn can only be done by experts like all seniors here and definitely not me.

i did ask the shop along lavender and they said it is better to be able to put some hardy and prolong my cycle since i am considered nuts in this addicted hobby.

upon considering the above factors, i will see how my damsell is coping and might return to the shop and buy a test kit to test.

well, we all learn from mistakes and some have to learn the hardway. guess im the latter.

sorry to all. cheers..peace..

Actually, there is no difference between using market prawn or damsel fish to cycle a tank, as mentioned much earlier, the purpose of this is to introduce decaying organisms to set off the ANN cycle. The only difference is of course, the excitement of having live fishes swimming around in a new fish tank. I understand most people who are starting this hobby would want to see instant results by having some life form in the tank. It is that "shiok" factor of visually seeing something inside, after spending so much on the set up already - as opposed to switching on the pump for weeks in an empty tank.

That said, you would have to consider if you are in this hobby for the long term or is it just a passing phase. You would be tempted to buy other nicer fishes once the tank is cycled and would have to consider what you are going to do with the damsels after your tank is cycled, because damsels are extremely territorial and aggressive, and hard to catch once you have set up your rock scape.

Do get yourself a set of test kit, at the bare minimum if you don't want to spend so much in the beginning, get the NO2 test kit, if read properly, this can indicate the completion of the cycling. If NO2 peaks and then disappears to zero, the cycle is most probably complete. Not a perfect solution and definitely not recommended, but better than nothing at all.

Contrary to what you believe, what we have advised is actually the most basic knowledge, and is not something done exclusively by senior or experienced reefers. Although I have helped my friend maintain his tank for more than a year, I'm considered new to reefing myself, having owned my tank for 3 months, and the information I have were all gathered when I started researching 2 months before buying my tank. Never had any livestock die at my hands, besides some corals that were unhealthy when bought.

Good luck with your new tank, and do read up more if this is not a passing phase.

[chtan23]

His tank is not that big and not many rocks. Hence, once the tank fully cycle, shouldn't be a big problem to net out the 2 damsels.

[albinosage]

His tank is not that big and not many rocks. Hence, once the tank fully cycle, shouldn't be a big problem to net out the 2 damsels.

DOH! Forgot that it was a nano tank

[takumee]

ya.mine is just a 2 footer.

hmm. i will return the damsell once my tank is cycle. your right, nice to see just 2 fish swimming round to get the shiok factor.

ok. i will get the no2 kit and test for the bare minimum.

i also got some bio ring and dose my multi bacteria once a week. hope to let all seniors see my end result soon.

cheers

[MarcoVan]

bro,

test kit just get API aka Aquarium Pharmaceutical Industry test kit. They are cheap and easy to measure. I do know Aquamarin at Jln Kayu sells them (:

Cheers

[chtan23]

ya.mine is just a 2 footer.

hmm. i will return the damsell once my tank is cycle. your right, nice to see just 2 fish swimming round to get the shiok factor.

ok. i will get the no2 kit and test for the bare minimum.

i also got some bio ring and dose my multi bacteria once a week. hope to let all seniors see my end result soon.

cheers

Get the 2 in 1 Tropic Marin Nitrite-/Nitrate test kit , once Nitrite zero, you can use it to check Nitrate too.

[iskay]

Although I'm still appalled by your insistence to let those damsels suffer, I do hope you succeeed to be a responsible reefer. In reefing, patience is key.

[dumdum]

for my case when i switch to a bigger tank..

i cycle my new tank for 2 months without adding any LS/prawns or bacteria. just added all my LR from old tank to new tank.

my fish n corals had to live in a blue tub for 2 months...lol

[TFMANIAC]

Let me add my experience..

I got myself a 3 foot tank and it was cycling time.

Got myself 3 large pieces of Live Rock and some normal sand.

Decided to let my tank cycle for a month.

I didn't put any market prawn in the water though. I spotted 2 of those idiotic hitch-hiker crabs and squashed them. Placed them in a glass in the center of my tank. Removed them once I noticed that they were significantly decomposing.

All this happened till week 2. According to my plan, I had wanted to leave it for one month. Just like that, no fish, nothing.

My dad returns from overseas, gets all excited about the new tank and insists that I put fish in. I knew it would be a bad idea but had to do it.. you know.. my dad.. good God. So the tank claimed the lives of a large Yellow Tang, a large Powder Blue Tang, 2 Watchman Gobies and a false Clown. It killed me knowing that all those lives were wasted. Almost wanted to end the hobby there. Tank was left lifeless for a while.. Dad goes back overseas. Tank finally got to cycle properly. Dad returns. This time Test Kits were smiling at me and everything seemed pristine. Went to get a pair of a pair of maroon clowns, 1 canary wrasse, 2 cleaner wrasses, an Algae Blenny and a large orange starfish. The tank looked awesome for a whole... but I did not notice that the starfish had vanished till about a month too late when the clowns and the wrasses died. Checked the cave under the large piece of live rock. A mushy orange mass was there covered in worms and wierd bugs. Siphoned the whole lot out including the pests. Soon even the Algae Blenny died.

I learnt 2 things from these experiences,

1. Never add Livestock until you are completely sure the tank has cycled.

2. Stock your tank slowly.

[ReDDeviLs]

everyone got bad experince,make bad mistakes, some stubbon ones too. LOL

just make sure to change for the better! dont be dishonest cheaters!