Noob to saltwater

[kcmo lawman]

Why would you want to risk cycling a tank with livestock? There is a good possibility that anything you put in there will be stressed big time. I would strongly suggest AGAINST using any livestock to cycle a tank with. You can go to a grocery store and buy pure ammonia and use that or get some uncooked cocktail shrimp and use that to start your cycle with.
I don't claim to be anywhere near an expert on this, but in my opinion it is just not fair to any livestock to be put in a tank that isn't cycled. Especially a lionfish.

"Some fish I would suggest for cycling:

Damsels, Lionfish, Gobbies, and Blennies"

Just not a good idea.




Bradd

 

[damselmaster]

For the record, the hardiest fish I have ever owned is my Picasso Trigger. I remeber reading somewhere that in order to kill it, youd basially have to step on it. (exageration)..but from my experience and from what I have read from others, this is an amazingly haardy fish and good for beginners. Just be aware they grow to 12 inches and require meaty foods.

 

[Decz]

I totally agree! I just don't understand why people would use a live animal to cycle a tank.... a tank that is going to have ski high levels of ammonia for a number of days.... The fish will be in distress... they'll have trouble breathing etc etc. Some fish you will have more visable symptoms, but all fish will suffer in an ammonia filled tank. Would you swim in a pool of urine? I wouldn't.. and I would'nt expect you fish to either.

I apologize if this comes across as harsh, I'm not intending to flame or be rude to anyone... honestly, with this being the newbie forum I'm assuming that not everyone is aware of what a cycle really is and how dangerous ammonia can be to living creatures.

Why would you want to risk cycling a tank with livestock? There is a good possibility that anything you put in there will be stressed big time. I would strongly suggest AGAINST using any livestock to cycle a tank with. You can go to a grocery store and buy pure ammonia and use that or get some uncooked cocktail shrimp and use that to start your cycle with.
I don't claim to be anywhere near an expert on this, but in my opinion it is just not fair to any livestock to be put in a tank that isn't cycled. Especially a lionfish.

"Some fish I would suggest for cycling:

Damsels, Lionfish, Gobbies, and Blennies"

Just not a good idea.




Bradd

 

[sealion]

Holy crap I'm confused again but you did clear up one thing, I WAS going to buy about 50lbs more live rock but saw it was about $5 a pounds.

Something weird happend last night though; I dont know if it's the temperature (71F) or what but my salt level rose for no reason. I use the Oceanic hydrometer to measure. The other day the salt level was well within the specs but ever since last night it rose beyond what the hydrometer considered to be safe. I tested it about 20 times and I'm not exaggerating. Each time I checked thoroughly for little clinging bubbles that might skew the results. I am confused.

 

[FreddytheFish]

Something weird happend last night though; I dont know if it's the temperature (71F) or what but my salt level rose for no reason. I use the Oceanic hydrometer to measure. The other day the salt level was well within the specs but ever since last night it rose beyond what the hydrometer considered to be safe. I tested it about 20 times and I'm not exaggerating. Each time I checked thoroughly for little clinging bubbles that might skew the results. I am confused.

its probably 'cause some of the water evaporated

 

[sealion]

its probably 'cause some of the water evaporated

That wouldnt explain why the salt level is higher. Also it has only been 2 days since i last tested for salt.

 

[damselmaster]

That wouldnt explain why the salt level is higher. Also it has only been 2 days since i last tested for salt.

Yes it would. Salt doesn't evaporate so it gets mixed in with the remaining water. How big is your tank? If its relatively small a minor amount of water being evaporated can cause the salt level to go up.

Cheers

 

[FreddytheFish]

my fw tank evaporates water everyday. Damselmaster is right, that's what i was trying to say but i didn't really explain it. Sorry. if you leave your lights on a lot you'll get a lot of evap. To get your salinity back to normal, fill the tank back up w/ treated Freshwater.

Again, I apologize for not explaining it.

 

[sealion]

Well guys there's absolutely no room to fill it up because I had it full since day one, not a inch or should I say centimeter of water has left the tank.


Salinity: 35
Specific Gravity: 1.025 - 1.026