Chromis for cycling?

[dnorton1978]

I have read that chromis are in the damsel family and was wondering if they could be added to cycle a tank. I want to add 3-4 when my tank is set up, so I would not need to remove them when complete.

 

[Anonymous]

You don't really need to use fish to cycle a tank. New live rock will provide more than enough ammonia for your needs. If you can, add 5 gallons of water (or some rock or sand) from an established disease free reef tank.

 

[dnorton1978]

Thanks matt. I have added some sand from my old tank. I have also added about 60lbs of LR that came from an established tank. As well as a 20lb bag of LS. Tomorrow make a full week, and amonia and trite are zero. I do have 5-10 ppl of nitrate.

I was just looking for another way. Although I have not used any old water.. Hmmm. I think I will throw some in there tomorrow. Better yet I will just pour it with a bucket. :wink:

 

[pwj1286]

I second the fresh live rock. Fish are not a good choice.
_________________
BMW Z9

 

[Anonymous]

You can throw in a piece of frozen fish food to help the cycle start as well.

 

[dnorton1978]

You can throw in a piece of frozen fish food to help the cycle start as well.

Interesting thank you Rob. I would assume a small piece right?

 

[Anonymous]

yeah.

 

[Anonymous]

I use the old cocktail shrimp. Toss it in and let the bacteria and critters have fun.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed, LR and a piece of food. No need to put a fish through that for no reason.

 

[bleedingthought]

Better yet, put the shrimp in a little mesh bag so that you can pull out the rest that will be rotten.

 

[Anonymous]

You added established live rock? Dear god, don't put a piece of shrimp in there. That's a great way to foul your water, send your ammonia skyrocketing, and kill off a lot of your good rock.

Just let it be. There's more than enough life in the tank right now producing ammonia. Give it a week or two and if the ammonia and nitrite are still zero you can likely add a fish.

 

[Anonymous]

Good catch matt. I missed his second post.

 

[Anonymous]

That's why I get paid the big bucks!

 

[Anonymous]

That's why I get paid the big bucks!

Good, then come and fix my tank.

 

[dnorton1978]

Yes the LR was er is established. I added about 2 - 3 gallons of my old tank water to it today. I am not impatient or anything, I just want to be sure I have something in there doing the cycling for me.


Good advice though, I will just take it easy for another week or so. I have some more rock I can add from the old tank, unless I should wait until next week?

Thanks guys, I will have some pics soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, if you are removing old live rock from an established tank, you might not need to cycle it per se.

And if you wait too long to add fish, you may lose the bacterial fauna that functions as your filtration.

 

[ChrisRD]

I'm not sure why the idea persists that one needs to force a "cycle" in a tank that contains live rock/sand. My guess is that it's leftover from the days of setting up tanks that used biofilters with inert plastic media...

I agree with Matt, there's no need for this and it will do more harm than good.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why the idea persists that one needs to force a "cycle" in a tank that contains live rock/sand. My guess is that it's leftover from the days of setting up tanks that used biofilters with inert plastic media...

I agree with Matt, there's no need for this and it will do more harm than good.

Hey, some of us still set up fish only tanks with bio-balls.

Ammonium chloride is available in small quantities from chemical supply houses and is a perfect substitute for a fish in these cases. In addition you can add it in a very regulated and consistent amount. If you can inoculate the tank by adding a 5 gallon bucket of tankwater, or a bit of rock or sand, from an established tank it will greatly speed up the process.

 

[trido]

When I moved from Cali to Seattle last spring, I broke down my 30 and had another approx. 30 gallons of water with 90lbs of cooking LR. I used airstones and heaters in my truck , high tailed it to Seattle, put all of the LR, and water into the 120. Put all the corals, four fish, and a bunch of inverts onto a 50 I had on stand by.
After three days the 120 still had no readable toxins, I put all of my corals , fish and inverts into the 120 as I needed the 50G's home to finish moving in. I tested the 120 for Amm., NO2 and NO3 daily and never had a readable amount of anything.
I agree, If you have established LR , sand and water. You dont need to force a cycle.

 

[dnorton1978]

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but after reading the above post, should I just add my existing 55-60lbs of LR along with my corals and fish??? That will put me around 120lbs of LR total.


Being that it is all established it sounds like the way to go, unless I am reading it wrong...