polarbear Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 What would be a good fish to cycle my tank with? Also, can I place coral and anemones in there now or should I wait? Has anyone used saltwaterfish.com before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 GOW LONG HAS YOUR TANK BEEN UP AND RUNNING? AND HAVE YOU TESTED YOUR WATER? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Better to cycle your tank with a piece of shrimp from Whole Foods. No need to put a fish in jeopardy. Once the tank has fully cycled (usually about 4 weeks) then you can add whatever fish you want. But remember to add fish slowly. One or Two at a time. Otherwise you won't have enough bacteria to support the extra load and you will start a new cycle. Most corals and anemones need a stable tank. I would wait for about 6 months before adding any. You could probably get away with some soft corals sooner though if that is the route you want to take. Mushrooms and Xenia are pretty hardy and could be added sooner. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 Thanks for getting back to me so soon. What if I have live sand and live rock that has already been cured? Also I bought salt water from the pet store that was already mixed. I know I still have to let it cycle but does this help as far as adding dasmiles or clown fish now? Also what is your take on purple up? Better to cycle your tank with a piece of shrimp from Whole Foods. No need to put a fish in jeopardy. Once the tank hfully cycled (usually about 4 weeks) then you can add whatever fish you want. But remember to add fish slowly. One or Two at a time. Otherwise you won't have enough bacteria to support the extra load and you will start a new cycle. Most corals and anemones need a stable tank. I would wait for about 6 months before adding any. You could probably get away with some soft corals sooner though if that is the route you want to take. Mushrooms and Xenia are pretty hardy and could be added sooner. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 I just put the water in there on Friday. I have live sand and live rock that has already been cured. The water was already ore mixed from the fish store as well. Does this help? I know I still need to cycle it but do u think I could add dasmiles or clown fish now? Thanks for you input. GOW LONG HAS YOUR TANK BEEN UP AND RUNNING? AND HAVE YOU TESTED YOUR WATER? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Maybe. I would take some water to the store and have them test it. If the numbers are right add one fish. Then test it every couple days. Purple up is Calcium. I prefer B-Ionic for a calcium supplement. I know others have used purple up and liked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Remember when using Purple Up (or any calcium additive) that you actually need some existing coraline algae in the tank to get it to spread. Purple up does not contain any corlaine algae. But with that said, I have/do use it and had good results in my old 24 gallon tank. I am using up a bottle of it now in my new 75 gallon, which has my old rocks from the 24 gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hold on there a minute, slow that roll. Last Friday? Unless you already have a lot of experience under your belt and can slam a system together in a day, just take a moment and relax. This hobby is stressful enough as it is, take your time, have lot's of patience and the rewards are much much higher. I know several folks that won't add anything for 6 months to a new system. It is possible to minimize the amount of time and or the severity of the cycle but it's risky and is not a good idea for the first tank. Let your tank sit vacant for about 1-2 months. You want that coraline to grow right? Then leave it alone without anything to disrupt it's growth. You hear about "pods", mini "stars", hitchhikers and all that right? Let them populate the tank without any predators. The longer you wait, the better off you'll be. If your rock was of good quality then I wouldn't even add a dead shrimp to the tank. Let it naturally cycle out for a minimum of 4 weeks. I've never liked, or even considered, the idea of adding a "dither" fish to cycle the tank with. AFter you cycle the tank what would your plans be to deal with that fish? Many people have stated that they used a damsel, but the damsel then killed all new tank mates. Not to mention getting a fish back out of a tank full of rock is near impossible, just read all about removing unwanted fish in previous posts. Take samples of your water to the store you bought the set up from twice a week to be tested. Unless you are testing the water on a very regular pattern, then you will not have any baseline as to what is going on. If you just take a sample in 4 weeks they may find that your water is perfect, yet unknown to you and the LFS your tank is just about to cycle. You need to watch the tests get nasty and then slowly clear themselves up over time. As to answering any sort of questions about adding anemones, corals or fish to your tank would be moot right now as you did not mention anything at all about your set up. Sure you mentioned it in another thread but that does not mean that members reading THIS thread will know anything at all about this set up that you are now talking about. In fact I keep 4 saltwater tanks running at any time, unless I explain what system it is and how it is setup then the members may give conflicting advice as one will think of my 75g tank, another will talk about my 400g tank and another will end it with advice for my 8g octopus tank. It is that important to remind us in every post asking advice about a particular tank to give information about that tank. As far as anemones go, they are very difficult in a "fresh" tank. Take your time, wait about a year to establish the tank and get some good research under your belt before placing one of these captives in jeopardy. In time you will learn if you have the proper lighting, you will find out if you have the skills necessary to prevent a tank crash, you will learn the importance of good husbandry techniques like water changes. These are very sensitive creatures that will reward the owner with many years of growth, in fact they are considered to be "eternal" by some scientists researching them as they seem to be able to split and continue growing without dying "forever". Some fish will kill them, it is important to choose tank mates wisely. Some equipment will harm them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I've heard that by gently scrubbing existing coralline with a toothbrush (a clean one, naturally) inside the tank, you will agitate/stress the algae and make it sporulate, making it spread. Any truth to this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I've heard that by gently scrubbing existing coralline with a toothbrush (a clean one, naturally) inside the tank, you will agitate/stress the algae and make it sporulate, making it spread.Any truth to this? I have heard of this... but not the gently part. What I heard was to "grate" some coraline algae in from of a powerhead to make it spread faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Very stiff bristled nail brush is better than a toothbrush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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