Am I Ready?

fishlawyer

fishlawyer

Member
Hey All:
I am wondering if I am finally ready to add 1 or 2 hardy fish? Here is my set-up that has been running for a week:
75 Gallon Tank with Protein Skimmer and Fluval FX Cannister Filter
80 W Lighting Hood
40 Lbs of Live Rock from an Established Tank
1.5 Inches of substrate from an Estalished Tank
Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are all fine
1.022 Specific Gravity
I guess my question is simple, am I able to add a tough fish, live a false pecula clown or a yellow tang at this stage and have a reasonable chance of success? This aquarium is in my office and I am tired of explaning why I have an empty tank!

PS: Have had a 5 very happy hermit crabs in there for the past 5 days.
 
james2042

james2042

Member

Originally Posted by FishLawyer
http:///forum/post/2927414
Hey All:
I am wondering if I am finally ready to add 1 or 2 hardy fish? Here is my set-up that has been running for a week:
75 Gallon Tank with Protein Skimmer and Fluval FX Cannister Filter
80 W Lighting Hood
40 Lbs of Live Rock from an Established Tank
1.5 Inches of substrate from an Estalished Tank
Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are all fine
1.022 Specific Gravity
I guess my question is simple, am I able to add a tough fish, live a false pecula clown or a yellow tang at this stage and have a reasonable chance of success? This aquarium is in my office and I am tired of explaning why I have an empty tank!

PS: Have had a 5 very happy hermit crabs in there for the past 5 days.
i added the clown in my avatar after a week and he didnt make it my setup is 180g w live rock and 2.5 inches a sand my tests were good but eventually i got the spike and he died id wait if it was me
 
fishlawyer

fishlawyer

Member
Here is some more info for you all:
Originally I got a VERY quick Ammonia Spike - Like Up and Down to Nil in 4 Days... (I assume it was something from the established rock or substrate.)
My Nitrite is 0 and I have a Minimal Nitrate Reading. (Between the two lowest settings I can read.) I have been using Cycle Regularly and I credit it with the quick stability. (Along with the established rock of course.)
I was thinking a Yellow Tang, simply because 2 of my large rocks have a lot of green hair algae that I would like eaten before it spreads and I always liked them. What do you think?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Why not just wait another couple of weeks? And your explanation would be: To do sw right a tank has to cycle for ......amount of time before adding fish, and I am going to be "responsible" LOL I am very impatient, and I still waited 30 days.
 
jtt

jtt

Member
Originally Posted by FishLawyer
http:///forum/post/2927414
I guess my question is simple, am I able to add a tough fish, live a false pecula clown or a yellow tang at this stage and have a reasonable chance of success?
no
 
nw2salt08

nw2salt08

Active Member
IMO I would wait AT least another week. This hobby is all about hurry up and wait. You hurry to get the water and rock in then you wait. You put a CUC in then you wait. You put a couple fish in then you wait. If you take your time you'll be more rewarded and you won't have to learn the hard way like most of us did. I can understand though....it's hard to be patient sometimes.
 
anthony17

anthony17

Member
seriously man just be patient, it really will reward you in the future, when i started my first sw tank i rushed into things thinking i was ready to create a beautiful fish tank. after just a few months a gave up, i realized i had made a mistake and rushed into this,i kept my tank running so that i could start over when i was more educated. i did a lot of research about sw tanks and found this website i read and asked questions about everything, after about 3 or 4 months of doing this i started to get back to creating a beautiful sw fish tank. christmas was coming up(i had just turned 17) and all i asked for were gift certifacates to my favorite lfs(which is an hour further than my "local" lfs) and items that i really needed to have a successful tank( ro/di water unit, sump, protien skimmer, and refracrometers) i wanted to make sure that this time i did not fail. with all that said it really did pay off and have been very successful with all my fish and corals in my 55 gallon tank.
enjoy this hobby it is very facinating and will keep you addicted for many years, and the more successful you are the funner it is!
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
The worst mistake you can make in this hobby is rush -- and thats a VERY tough thing to do. You could probably put in damsels -- but I wouldn't put those little bulldogs back in a tank again... I used a gregory damsel to cycle the first time and regretted it from then on... went after everything and you couldn't catch it, and it wouldn't die.
Just wait.. you'll have happier healthier fish.
 
james2042

james2042

Member
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/2927939
The worst mistake you can make in this hobby is rush -- and thats a VERY tough thing to do. You could probably put in damsels -- but I wouldn't put those little bulldogs back in a tank again... I used a gregory damsel to cycle the first time and regretted it from then on... went after everything and you couldn't catch it, and it wouldn't die.
Just wait.. you'll have happier healthier fish.
I still got a three stripe and a yellow damsel also in the tank a heni butterfly,bi angel and a yellow tail blenny no problems from the damsels and they were the first in it i cant believe damsels are giving you guys so much trouble mine are calm
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
I would also try to bump up your salinity 1.022 is a little low. try to get it to 1.025 by toping off with saltwater for a while
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
Ok, I'm confused.
Are you 'shrimp cycling', or ghost feeding?
If not, I'm not sure what you're waiting for. Get more of a CUC in there, keep testing every 2 -3 days to make sure you don't see another spike, and after two weeks, add your first fish.
Just having a tank sitting there waiting to cycle with no ammonia source is a waste of time, not patience.
 
shyfish

shyfish

Member
Hi,
Back when I first set up my new tank, it had sat empty for so long, my adult son came to visit one day and asked me when I was going to put water into the tank. I laughed because it had water, it was just crystal clear.
Never, and I mean never be in a rush to get your critters. Be very picky about what you choose to put into your tank because it will dictate what you can put in later, from fello fish, to invertabrates to corals.
If anybody ribs you about no fish, just give them this explanation and just keep waiting. You can educate because allot of people don't know this, such education is pricless and it will give you something to do while you wait and in the end, you will be glad you did.
 
locoyo386

locoyo386

Member
Hi there
Originally Posted by FishLawyer
http:///forum/post/2927414
Hey All:
I am wondering if I am finally ready to add 1 or 2 hardy fish? Here is my set-up that has been running for a week:
75 Gallon Tank with Protein Skimmer and Fluval FX Cannister Filter
80 W Lighting Hood
40 Lbs of Live Rock from an Established Tank
(If this is so, than...)
1.5 Inches of substrate from an Estalished Tank
(If this is so, than...)
Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are all fine
1.022 Specific Gravity (This is O.K. in my opinion, specially if a refractometer was NOT used.)
I guess my question is simple, am I able to add a tough fish, like a false pecula clown or a yellow tang at this stage and have a reasonable chance of success? (In my opinion if the above statements are so, than I would add a clown fish and not the tang (at least not at this moment), just keep an eye for ammonia and nitrite. With the stablished rock they should not be any.) This aquarium is in my office and I am tired of explaning why I have an empty tank!
PS: Have had a 5 very happy hermit crabs in there for the past 5 days.
 
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