Adding LR to a FO tank

[Awestralian]

G'day!!

I am about to set up a salt water tank, my first salt water set up.
Im have a tank thats 6ft x about2ft x about2ft (i havent acutally got the tank home yet - but will shortly!).
I am looking at starting with 2 clown fish with crushed coral for the substrate to do the intital cycle.
Then adding a couple of damsels once the nitrate & nitrite levels are nil.
What i want to know is, further down the track i want to add coral etc, and having found the lighting/filtration answers i was looking for, but i need to know if adding the live rock to a recently established Fish Only tank will throw the cycle out.
Will i be looking at new ammonia levels that will be harmful/deadly to the fish already in the tank?

I hear 'cured' rock could be ok but uncured or 'dirty' wont be suitable??
Any tips?

Thanks in advance!

J

p.s. im not planing on going full reef, just reef in one half of the tank in order to keep a few more fish... I heard keeping a fair few fish in a reef tank inhibits the corals...

[DeltaUguy]

First off, WELCOME TO AC!!!!

Don't use crushed coral for your substrate. The areas between the pieces allow food and other debris to hide and break down, raising nitrates. Use sugar sized sand or like I'm thinking about in my 75 gallon, a equal mix of crushed coral and sugar sized sand.

With that big a tank I would go with fishless cycling. Throw in 3 or 4 jumbo cocktail shrimp for a few days and let them start off your cycle. You could also dose the water with pure ammonia. Fishless cycling is just a more humane way of doing it. I'm sure someone can provide a link to a website that details this practice.

There are 3 catagories of live rock:

noncured = alot of dieoff when you put the rock in your tank (this causes a mini cycle)

precured = somewhat cured, there will be a little dieoff, just enough to mess with your levels alittle bit.

cured = "theoretically" no dieoff, you can add it immediatley to the tank with no problem

I ideally you want a 4 inch DSB (deep sand bed) and 1 to 1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon of water. The DSB provides a place for bacteria to colonize and it will lower your nitrate levels.

I hope that helps!!!

[mogurnda]

Years ago I did something similar to what you propose, and would suggest not doing it. It's hard on the fish, and it's much, much better to cycle the tank with live rock. If you buy pre-cured LR, there will be a lot less die off, but you will still have some. Second best would be the shrimp method. Don't cycle a tank using fish. It's asking for ich, or other stress-related disease.

If you add live rock to an existing setup, you will probably want to do frequent water changes. There is almost always some die off, as I said above, and water changes will help to reduce the size of the ammonia spike as the tank adjust to the new load.

Unless you're really keen on damsels, I would avoid them. They get mean and are really difficult to remove from a tank once they are in. I'd hate to see you start a thread "how do I get the little monster out..."

By the way, the system you want is called FOWLR, fish only with live rock.

[ChilDawg]

Welcome to AC!

I would not cycle a tank with Clownfish...they don't seem to be the hardiest cyclers. Damsels are best for fishy cycling, but, as you've already seen in other posts, they're pretty nasty little buggers, so they wouldn't be your best bet...

My guess is that you should read up on fishlessly cycling tanks and cycle your tank in that manner. We will help with any questions that you may have during the cycling period.

Again, welcome.

~Matthew

[kreblak]

First, welcome to AC, and to saltwater! Second DO NOT cycle that tank with clownfish! Clownfish don't do real well with ammonia poisoning. Damsels hold up better, but the ones who survive the cycle will consider that tank to be their hard won territory...and they will defend their territory fiercely. Any new fish you put in will be terrorized by the damsels, resulting in Ich, Velvet, and other stress related diseases.

The way to avoid this is with the fishless cycle. I have cycled a tank with damsels, and one fishlessly using shrimp, and the fishlessly cycled tank is thriving with much less effort. In my experience, it is definately the way to go. I did the following:

1. Set up the tank using 4 inches fine sand, and added saltwater. I then let the heater get the water up to temperature, and let the powerheads get the circulation going. I let this occur over 24 hours.

2. I then added 3 jumbo cocktail shrimp (55 gallon tank), and waited several days. After about a week, the tank was RAGING with ammonia. The shrimp were also depleted, so I added 2 more. After two weeks, the ammonia was on the decline, and I had sick nitrite levels. After a month, all tests were coming up clean. (Except nitrate, but that is to be expected)

3. I then added the live rock, and waited another week to ensure that my water quality wasn't fluctuating. After all tests came back zeros, I did a 50% water change to reduce nitrates, and added the fish. Always stock with the least agressive fish first, and the more agressive fish later. That way, you don't let the mean fish establish a territory they will then defend.

Good luck, and remember that with saltwater, patience is definately a virtue!

[dcallen]

Hi,

Good points. Here is a link that explains the principals behind fishless cycling. I hope this helps.

http://www.myfishtank.net/articles/fishlesscycle.php

Here is yet another one.

http://www.vafishfreek.com/cycle.html

Good luck with your tank.

[Awestralian]

Thanks alot!!
:D