Help. Help. Help

[cichlid nutz]

And if all else fails.......ask Sk8r

[Bowels]

tank must cycle for the de-Nitrifying bacteria to grow to a population capable of supporting the amount of fish waste and such that will be produced... with any detectable level of ammonia your tank is just clearly not cycled...

[billymoss970]

From all the opinions above I have decided to buy a QT tank for my clean up crew to transfer them while I thoroughly cycle my main tank. The QT tank will include 10-20? gallon tank, the canister filter I have for I will be getting a protein skimmer for the main tank, some new live sand, a piece of live rock from my existing tank, another small light and a small power head. I then will remove the sand I have in the main tank for a majority is reptile sand. Then the cycling of the main tank will begin. I will do every three day testing and be patient.
Questions I have... 1. being levels in the main tank are minimal can I use the water from existing tank for the QT tank being the cleanup crew is still happy and alive? 2. I want to use a chemical to jump start the nitrate cycle. I will still have live rock in the main aquarium and I don't want to kill it. 3. Also please help me out with adjusting pH since I am starting over and need to know good salt to purchase. I have been using Instant Ocean.
Also any other tips will be muuuuch appreciated

[billymoss970]

Here is my new game plan. Im going to set up a Quarantine tank and transfer cleanup crew. I am going to remove the sand from main tank, since a majority of the sand is reptile sand. I am then going to do a proper tank cycle in the main tank. Opposed to the canister filter, I am going to get a protein skimmer for the main tank and use canister filter on QT tank. When water is cycled I will return 3/4 of the clean up crew and try 1 fish at a time. Any feed back for this new plan greatly appriciated

Thanks Billy

[cichlid nutz]

Answering your questions:
1. Using the sand and existing water in the QT would be better than starting with completely new.
2. I like Seachem products and Seachem Stability works well.
3. Your pH will come into norms as you get everything at proper levels. I use Kent salt and have heard Seachem makes a good salt. Others can recommend brands that they have used.

Since you do not have a fish store close to you, I highly recommend getting an RO/DI of your own. Tap water TDS (total dissolved solids) will become an issue over time. The rest of your plans look very good.

You can also consider getting an overflow box for your tank so that you can have a sump beneath your tank to house the heater / carbon / protein skimmer. It all just depends on how much $ you want to spend.

And good luck with everything.

[GhostCon1]

Originally Posted by billymoss970

Here is my new game plan. Im going to set up a Quarantine tank and transfer cleanup crew. I am going to remove the sand from main tank, since a majority of the sand is reptile sand. I am then going to do a proper tank cycle in the main tank. Opposed to the canister filter, I am going to get a protein skimmer for the main tank and use canister filter on QT tank. When water is cycled I will return 3/4 of the clean up crew and try 1 fish at a time. Any feed back for this new plan greatly appriciated

Thanks Billy

You can use a simple HOB (hang on back) filter for a qt