Almost Ready For Fish - What to Start With

[prostock442]

Okay, so my 75g Marine tank is up & running. In place is Live Rock with nice Coralline Algae & Polyps along with Live Sand. Tank has been running for two weeks. Not sure if tank cycled or not, Zero Ammonia, Nitrites & Nitrates. PH @ 8.2, Salinity @ 1.024, Water Temp @ 78 degrees. All other parameters are in line.

How do I know when tank has cycled?

Now What fish to get that will live in a Communal Type Tank - Must be Reef & Soft Coral Safe, Non Aggressive & Nice to look at.

Also - Inverts such as Snails, Shrimp & Crabs.

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[frank180reef]

I think I would wait 2-4 more weeks
so your amonia and nitrites zero? do u have nitrates yet? (basic signs that u are cycled)
was ur sand live when u got it?

I would wait on snails and shrimp for at least 2 more weeks

chromis might be a good starter fish

 

[prostock442]

Right now my Ammonia & Nitrites are Zero. Yes, my Sand is Carib sea Live Sand & My Live Rock is totally cured & covered with Coralline Algae.

 

[Newguy]

+1 chromis. Nice and hearty. I started off with 2 cool to watch. Im only about a month ahead of you and this is what i waited for and used as a gauge in conjunction with info from members. Diatom bloom started a few days after all my levels went from zero to measurable. I.e... amonnia test went from clear to a light green on the test kit measuring zero same with nitrite. Nitrate spiked up to 15ppm then back down to zero about 3 days later. I added a small clean up crew shortly after i freaked out about the diatom explosion. It went away fairly quickly. I added the the 2 chromis then a waving hand coral waited a week monitored levels to wait for my bio to catch up. Once levels stabilized i added 2 ocellars. Waited about 10 days and had a green algae bloom. Added a yellow tang more cheato to my refug and green algea is gone. Now i have a dust bloom but im understanding its part of the process and ill wait it out. Things look good other than the dust and some cyno but im waiting for it to stabalize a bit more. Trying to stay patient. Hope my little experience helps you out a bit. The members here help out a ton. I honestly would have either killed everything in my tank by now and quit by now if it wasnt for the help from the members here.

 

[prostock442]

Thanks NewGuy, yes helpful. How did you cycle the tank? How did you know it was done or is it still cycling? Did you add any additives to cycle it? Did you do fishless or fish cycle? Thanks

 

[MrX]

You might want to seed your tank with a cup or two of 'real' live sand from some club members local to you. You might end up with some snails, spaghetti worms, etc. that would add nicely to your CuC.

If you were closer I'd hook you up with a cup.

 

[Newguy]

Prostock j was told that just having live rock from someones tank was a good starting point to start the cycle
So after about 3 weeks of just around 100lbs of live rock i didnt see any spikes in parameters so i added a single shrimp from the local deli. Poked holes in a zip lock bag and let it float around for about 4 days. I dont know if that did anything but i had a huge amount of growth just after i removed it. Some people swear by it some call it foolish. I didnt want to kill a fish so i grabed a shrimp like i sais.

 

[prostock442]

Thanks MrX - I did just that when I purchased my LR. I purchased 2 cups of Active Live Sand/Aggregate Coral that has Copepods & other good stuff in it for $2.00 a cup. BTW, I have a great source for nice Coralline Algae covered LR close by in Pawtucket, Rhode Island for $4.50 Per Pound. They have a good supply of other stuff also. The company Name is Poseidon's Den, Aquatic Specialist. Owner is Jay Horton, 443-617-9854 By Appointment Only. Very nice guy to deal with & extremely helpful.

 

[prostock442]

Yes, I have appx. 75 pounds of LR in my tank. It was suggested I purchase a couple Damsels to help cycle the tank. I've never heard of putting a dead shrimp in a tank to cycle it. I'll have to research that.

 

[scjpll]

chromis is better than damsels. Chromis are just as cheep and dont have the attitude.

 

[prostock442]

Ok, so I've hunted hi & low throughout my network of LFS's & no one has or can get Blue Chomis.......... What would be the next best fish to help cycle?

 

[Tone]

Ok, so I've hunted hi & low throughout my network of LFS's & no one has or can get Blue Chomis.......... What would be the next best fish to help cycle?

Jeremy at CRA always has them in the store and can always get them...sea creature also..

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[Tone]

Ok, ... What would be the next best fish to help cycle?

Why don't you try a raw DEAD shrimp instead of a live fish to help cycle...

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[prostock442]

I called Johnny today, he doesn't have them & said he can't get them, supplier doesn't have any. Where is CRA?

I was also told that I don't need fish to cycle the tank, that the LR & LS would cycle in 2-3 weeks? If that's the case, I'll just wait it out.

What's the deal with the Dead Shrimp? How would I do that?

 

[JohnK]

chromis is better than damsels. Chromis are just as cheep and dont have the attitude.

Chromis are damsels

Green chromis sometimes get called blue/green chromis. If you ask for green chromis just about every LFS will have them in stock. That said, I agree with those who said put s shrimp from the grocery store in there to feed the cycle. No need to tourture and potentially kill a perfectly good fish when a perfectly dead shrimp will do the same job.

 

[jselzler1]

OR skip the decomposing dead shrimp. you can dump household ammonia product into tank so that test kit measures ~4ppm. Doesn't take much but make sure it is 100% ammonia w/ no defractant, perfumes, etc.

Nitrogen cycle will break down the ammonia. Bump it back up to 4 ppm again for 2-3 days in a row. Then let ammonia/nitrite zero, and see the nitrate spike amd level out. Cycle then complete and ready for a CUC.

This worked for me with 100% LR.

 

[prostock442]

Yeah, everyone has green chromis but they are ugly, I want some nice blue or black & white ones but no one has them. So what do you do with the dead shrimp, just toss it in the tank? And then what?

 

[JohnK]

So what do you do with the dead shrimp, just toss it in the tank? And then what?

Plop it in there and watch it decay and slowly disappear. It can take to cycle a fully sterile tank with shrimp, but with some LR in there you should probably be good in a short time. If the tank can digest a small shrimp and not be showing ammonia or nitrite, you're good. If you get stuck with a level of ammonia or nitrite then you know it needs longer.