Amonia, Nitrites and nitrates

[svoccio]

HI
Hopefully someone can help me out. I am new to this hobby. I have a 45 gal bowfront tank which i populated with 35lbs of live rock and two bags of live sand to start. The tank ran like this for 3 weeks before i noticed some algae growing. I added a cleaner crew which consists of snail, hermit crabs and a starfish. The algae is under control at this point. My question is this. I have been monitoring my Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates because i have been told that once the ammonia spikes, it will start going down and the nitrites will spike, and lastly the nitrates will spike at which time i should do a 50% water change and then its safe to add fish. I am now 5 weeks into it and i have not seen any of these three spike. All are around the minimum mark when i perform my tests.....Is this normal??? PH is perfect...salt content is good...is it safe to just add fish at this point??

[kau_cinta_ku]

To Reef Central
where did you get the LR from? if you got it local you may not have had much of die off to cause a cycle. or your cycle hasn't started. but i would say after 5 weeks you can go ahead and try a small fish just keep checking your water. also what test kits are you using?

[svoccio]

Well, I forgot to mention i have added a small damsel about a week and a half ago and he seems to be doing fine. Also i bought the LR local. It was pretty clean when i got it. The test kit i use has all the tests for Ph, Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The starfish, crabs and snails seem to be doing ok also

[svoccio]

Is this a good time to start adding fish or should i wait?

[bwayne315]

I would say go ahead and add some more fish, but I would just add one at a time. Also it is important to keep up with the water changes.

Do you have a good protien skimmer? If not, then I would do a water change every week or every two weeks. Also how often do you feed?

[svoccio]

i have a protein skimmer that i just added..im in the process of breaking it in. Right now there is only one fish in there. I have been feeding him once a day. How often should i water change once the skimmer is working? and how much water at a time?

[WaterKeeper]

ANN is fickle and doesn't visit every tank during the cycle. As she is nothing but trouble it is always great when she skips a visit to your tank.

It sounds like things are going well in your tank Voccio. I do 10% water changes weekly even with a skimmer. On a small tank like yours it is inexpensive insurance. The one caveat I have is that Damsel. They can be very combative and will severely limit what you can keep in your tank. I'd consider exchanging him for a more docile species.

[svoccio]

yes he will be removed when i add fish and inverts. I used him to help cycle the tank because he was cheap

[WaterKeeper]

Oh, Oh using fish for a cycle is not a good practice. However, since he is OK we will not need to have you arrested.

[svoccio]

really? i was told by many people to put a few fish in there to help cyc,e. He will be brought back to the pet store....but you think it will be ok to add fish? at this point anyway..5 weeks in

[LauraLea]

Yes, unfortunately a lot of people say to cycle the tank with fish. I don't want to start a huge debate, but I need to say it. IMO, it is cruel; going through a cycle is extremely stressful to a fish.

[WaterKeeper]

I agree Laura, there are plenty of ways to cycle a tank without using a sacrificial fish. However, this damsel was saved from toxic shock syndrome when the tank was populated with cured LR.

As for stocking; it would seem the tank can house some desirable fish at this point but, as all things in reefing, take it slow.

WK Note Here-- I do not wish to imply that damsels are undesirable. It is just that they are quite aggressive and will often limit what other fish you can add. I've seen really neat reef tanks populated with only a shoal of blue damsels like Chrysiptera cyanea and nothing else.

[LauraLea]

I apologize if it seemed that my comment was directed to the circumstances around this particular post; it was not. It was to the comment that:

"i was told by many people to put a few fish in there to help cyc,e."

I was told that by many as well. At one LFS when I was beginning to cycle my first SW tank I was told to "put in damsels" and "if it wouldn't freak my kids out too much to leave them in if they died..." "IF they survived, I could bring them back for store credit..." I was horrified.

One another occassion at another LFS, I was talking about starting another tank. One of my kids is begging me to let him "do this one"; the owner suggested to him to throw in the "Hawk" that they are hardy and will survive the cycle.

I just know that this is a forum for newbies. I know that others who are starting their tanks are probably hearing the same thing. I just really don't want to think of living creatures suffering unnecessarily when there are other ways. Am I being over the top "soft"?

So again, sorry if I sounded like I was being "lectury" that was not the intent at all.

[svoccio]

no apology needed..i totally understand. I just thought that this was the best process since i heard it from other people that have done this.

thanks for the replies

[ghostrida3]

i was told the same thing, but not only is it more humane its easier to cycle w/ live rock or something else other than fish. once youve cycled your tank its no fun tearing apart your tank to get at those evil damsels u used to cycle who are terrorizing the fish you actually want in the tank.

[WaterKeeper]

LauraLee,

You were right on in saying that one should not use fish to cycle a tank. It is still a very common practice unfortunately and totally uncalled for. Just having LR in one's tank provides the seed of beneficial bacteria needed to maintain the tank. If a person feels they need some additional nitrogen then using a small piece of shrimp it far better than using a live fish but even that is usually not needed unless the tank will be fallow for an extended period.

In this case the result was no fish loss so no problem.