cycleing time

[fishead]

started cycling 55 gal tank last night with 50lbs live rock and 40lbs premium sand from SWF. amonia .5 mg/l, trites and trates 0. thinkin angel, sf eel and lion. how long should i wait before getting fish?

 

[logan15]

your cycling is just starting to cycle go with damsels if anything at first so you dont lose money wait for your ammonia to go all the way to 0

 

[justchillin]

sorry but the lion and eel are messy eaters and you would need a much bigger tank to maintain exceptable water quality for the angel...

 

[bdhough]

For the angel 6 months. Mainly because they are very ravenous fish and need alot of supplemental food ie algae off of live rock. The eel and the lion fish you could get in five weeks but understand one thing. This goes for the angel as well. Unless you get a dwarf lion or dwarf angel both will eventually get to big for your tank and you will have to get rid of them. All three are costly fish due to the fact that all three eat quite a bit.

 

[justchillin]

i wouldn't use damsels unless you plan on keeping them...they can be VERY hard to remove once there in, especially with that much lr...
i would skip the angel (tank is to small anyway)...add the eel first (once all levels are at 0) eel are very hardy and will do fine once you cycle is complete...then a month or so later add a dwarf lion...
also, i would suggest throwing like 3 large shrimp (unseasoned) in now to get a good cycle...once all levels are at 0 yyour tank will easily be able to handle the new bioload...
hth,
mike
oh, and what kind of filtration are you running???

 

[logan15]

I used damsels because im 15 and dont have the fund to buy 50lbs of live rock i buy cured live rock so it dosent start a new cycle in my tank but if i had a lot of live rock i would use shrimp also but since i dont i use damsels for now and when my dwarf lion grows he can eat them lol cruel but its the cycle!Good luck to you fishead!!tell us how your tank goes
Logan
p.s. a green chromis is nice and is one of the less aggresive damsels and are quite pretty