lastlight's 225

[lastlight]

Yeah I pulled that redish piece of tissue off the shelf last night. It wasn't a fish but looked like some sort of clam bits or something. I don't know enough to say. And I thought this rock would have all sorts of stuff dying and falling to the sand but my sandbed is pristine, the water nearly crystal clear and my skimmate after getting darker is slowly getting lighter and producing less. Hell even the stink I thought was the tank...it was a load of laundry my wife forgot in the washing machine. Putting my nose above the tank...the smell is barely noticeable.

Since there is nothing really living in the tank I'm thinking I'm only going to get so much bacterial action in there. Depends what is in all that rock and I'm suspecting the rock isn't that gross after all. When nitrites hit zero...if I add nothing to the tank won't the bacteria populations actually start decreasing with nothing new to eat?

[Lance]

Maybe try one of those cycling products like "Cycle".

[lastlight]

If Ammonia and nitrite are zero and nitrates aren't too high what is actually BAD about adding a fish and letting the bacteria adjust accordingly? There will certainly be some bacteria and a single fish would be pretty light biologically speaking?

I thought that Cycle stuff was for freshwater lol.

[Delphinus]

As long as the fish is of hardier stock, I think that's pretty much what you HAVE to do at some point. Basically it's like revving the engine and it comes back down. Like you say, without something adding more ammonia it will come back down, which is self defeating.

I've used Cycle in SW. There are also some similar products intended for SW, they say it's different bacteria. (FWIW.)

[lastlight]

Precisely what I'm thinking. This isn't me being impatient at all. I just can't see time working in my favour without a food source for the bacteria once my params are ideal. I think a single fish in the tank for a couple weeks and then see where things are. I don't plan to turn my lights on for the fish either so It's not like I'd have some massive algal bloom in the display without a crew to pulverize it.

[kien]

I liked the first aquascape because the formations reminded me of giant Cylon Basestars flying through your tank! I like the new aquascape because it looks like a reef.

This won't be the end of your aquascaping be the way :-) Things will change once you start stocking fish and corals. Probably not a lot, but you will probably face the odd, "Oh man, I need a rock right here" moment (or two).

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

If ammonia and nitrite are zero I would recommend you start adding fish slowly. I think you really need to start to add them as soon as possible after getting to that point so that you keep the bacteria colonies going. It has always worked for me anyways...as long as I went slow