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Hey guys,

I started up my tank last weekend and I did a test today to see what things were like. The nitrite test proved that there was none in the tank. The ammonia test proved to be in the lowest range <0.6 and the ph test pointed around 8.5.

I did a salinity test with the hydrometer and it's sitting around 1.021-1.022.

I want to wait as long as it takes for the tank to be ready, but it seems like it's reading around appropriate levels. I am concerned with the temperature of the tank ( it's around 82 ) but the heater is at a pretty low setting. I'm guessing that when I make the switch over from the little tank ( 16 gallons ) to the bigger tank ( 30 gallons ) it might be easier to regulate the temperature, even though I'm a bit curious about how the MH light is going to influence the temperature ( but it has some nice fans on it, so I hope it won't be a big deal 150w ).

I also picked up a bunch of LR this weekend from Jus68 and it seems like I picked up on some brittle stars or something, they are really tiny. They have been in the tank now for a couple of days and they seem to be doing ok.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/IMG_4294.jpg

I'm thinking that if I am to grab anything, possibly some hermits to move the sand around a bit and put some life into the tank.

What do you guys think?
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VTX1800T

I would try out a hardy fish before moving to crustations. Crabs, snails and the likes are more sensitive to water parameters.

Your cycle is just starting. The brittle stars are a good thing.:wink:
Just wait another two weeks before adding something else and you should be good then. Only bad thing happen fast in salt water so go slow in adding anything. 82 is OK but at the upper end.
Before adding fish add some cleanup crew ones your algae stage happens.
You will go through a few stages of those brown then green then you get your coraline.:biggrin:

Ohh bump your salinity to 1.025 if you have a hydrometer other wise keep it where it is if you are using a cheap plastic one they tend to read on the high side. Most animals will be happier at 1.025

to stir up the sand you could try a sand sifting gobie but I would wait abit , also sea urchins are good for eating rock clean when you go through your algae cycle. Are you using rodi water?
You may run into lots of algae problems later on if you're not also another fish to look into getting once the tank has fully cycled is a golden rabbit fish. I swear by them their great for keeping rock clean.

As I understand your post your tank is one week old. It is just starting to cycle.

Under no circumstances should you put any fish, hardy or otherwise in your tank until the cycle is completed. Put one small fish in one month apart.

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I guess I'll wait a little while longer, I'm in no rush.

I guess I should really get the 30 gal tank first anyways.
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Honda Mantis

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I do have a cheap plastic hydrometer by the way, did you mean that it reads on the high side or on the low side? Does it mean that 1.021 reads lower than it should, meaning that it's actually ~1.024, or do you mean that it reads on the high side and it actually means ~1.017.

I'm using RO water, but it's not RODI. We buy it at work and it's ozonized ( I asked questions about this earlier and it seemed like it wouldn't be a problem ).
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vaporizers

Im in the same boat as you bud. I recently started up my tank a couple weeks ago and am in the process of cycling.
All of the live rock that I added to the tank was already cured and well established. I myself was going to wait at least a month before adding any kind of life to my tank (as far as everything that I have researched it is the proper way to go). However a friend of mine who is very knowledgable and has alot of experience with aquaria (he also helped me set everything up) convinced me to introduce a couple of black molly's into the system. They are alive and well and according to my friends advice are helping to cycle the tank.
Black molly's are a brackish water fish that can survive in both fresh and salt water and are very hardy fish. Also they are very cheap (about a buck each).
Im not sure if this is the way to go but for me it seems to be working.
Im new to the hobby and spend alot of time researching new material everyday however I am by no means an experienced aquarist. I would recommend taking advice from the pros before me but I hope my experience could perhaps shed some light on the subject.
Good luck bud.
Oxy

never use live fish to cycle
 

Oxymoron
The idea of using cheap, brackish or hardy marine fish to cycle a marine tank is dated 1980s thinking.
Today with live sand, live rock and proper test kits it is no longer necessary to stress or kill live fish.
Tell your friend most conciencious reefs would never do that today.

Im sorry to hear this and will talk to him about it. It is not my intention in any way to harm any lifeforms in any way whatsoever. He told me that the fish would be ok and as it stands they have been alive and feeding well for 13 days. It's apparent that I have more research to do.

Hey, I am not blaming you. What is the size of your tank?
As well as this board, a great website to get info on fish, coral and inverts is www.wetwebmedia.com
Take a look and see what it says about triggers.

I have a 90 gallon with 30 gallon sump. Thanks for the info ill check out the site.

That is a nice size.
The best advice any reefer will tell you is to go slow: lots of patience is key to success and avoiding all the problems

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Based on what I've read so far, Naeso sounds like he can be a bit abrasive. However, from everything I have read, he is very, very right. There is little sense in risking killing fish. When placed in an environment that is still cycling and there is a decent amount of ammonium it stresses out the fish and there is potential for death.

I've heard it before, and it's just hard. I mean, everyone just wants to get some marine friends in their their tank asap. I had mollies before when I had my freshwater tank. I think i'm going to pass on as much as I can, I'll keep my focus on first of all, getting the 30 gallon that I need setup.

I heard someone talking about putting in a dead fish in the tank, like a shrimp or something from the supermarket. I guess that this idea is to raise the ammonium levels to be higher so that it helps the cycle come to fruition. Is this a better way of going about it? Should I buy a dead shrimp from T&T and help the tank cycle?

Should I just leave it alone and let things just do their thing.
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GSX650F

Not unless you harrass his friends, the Tangs!! :)

seriously though, cycling a tank with live rock is all you need. There is enough dying matter to feed the bacteria and there is no need for fish, dead hamsters or anything else.

And for Oxymoron, if you put a fish in a tank that has fully cured rock, he probably hasn't suffered at all, so don't beat yourself up about it :)
Using rock, once you have no detectable NH3, you're good to start slowly adding things.

And does anyone mind if I rename this thread to Tank Cycling? I keep browsing and thinking we're gonna talk bikes! :)

LoL
I think on that note perhaps a title change is in order.
Im happy to hear that I didn't stress out the molly's and we did make sure that our ammonia was at zero and our nitrates were minimal before adding them into the mix.

Hydrometers can read 1.024 but actually be 1.028 so better to keep it a bit on the low side untill you buy a refractometer they are a lot more accurate.

On some of the other forums they don't put it that lightly.:lol:

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Well, i was quite surprised by how maturely he takes comments made against himself, so while he might be adamant about reefkeeping, he sure keeps it at a professional level, which is a good thing.
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herbal vaporizers

One point he has going for him is he really knows his stuff, and we're lucky enough to have him share it.
You want abrasive, look through some of my old posts :)

A great read regarding cycling a tank.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=249112

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JDigital, that was a great post. I've read several pages in it and there is a lot of extremely interesting stuff in there and a lot of stuff that I haven't really gotten from reading a lot of books.

I mean, most talk about equipment, levels of different substances, how the chemistry of it all works, but nothing really focused on the biological cycle of a tank and what it actually means. How it starts and how it progresses, going from a "chemical" cycle to a more biological one.

I think I'll let my tank do it's job and meanwhile continue to read more on the organisms that are playing up a big part in the tank.
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sc2 replays

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Hey Guy's,
I was actually given the same advice on using mollies to cycle and it was maybe three years ago. And it was also from my friendly L.F.S. So there you go. However that was not how I cycled though. But it was hard to get any straight answers, So I just plugged
through and it all came together. For any one question you ask you get 10 different answers. I just read alot which generated even more questions. Fun Fun Fun, Go slow and enjoy every new creature you add. LoL
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