Question about adding fish after cycle

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TRagusa113

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Mar 10, 2013
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Ok, so in a couple of weeks I will be starting up a SW tank again. It will be a 14 Gallon Biocube FOWLR. This time I will do what I should of done the first time and be patient. I will setup the tank with LR and SW from the pre-mixed stuff. and do about a two month cycle making sure that all my levels are perfect and ammonia and nitrite levels are gone. My question is, do I still have to add one fish at a time or could I add the 2 or 3 fish I will be getting all at once.
 

greech

AC Moderators
May 13, 2009
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Graham
That would be recommended. 2 to 3 pretty small fish is going to be the limit for that size tank.

There is not a minimum timeframe for cycle completion. If you get rock that is already cured and established from a mature system and you keep it wet, you may not see much of a cycle at all. Likewise, if you buy rock that was just shipped to your LFS, it will likely have a lot of die off and you will see a pronounced cycle.

Either way, once the tank cycles you need to feed the bacteria. Without fish poo, you will need some other source of ammonia. Guess what I'm saying is, don't wait too long between the end of the cycle and either adding a fish of "ghost" feeding the tank. Otherwise, when you finally add a fish, you stand a better chance of having a spike.

14 gallons is not going to provide much buffer. Adding fish slowly allows the bacteria bed to adjust to added bioload.

Good luck with the cube!
 
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