Cycling/Damsel

[woodwalker]

I was told I needed special lighting?? Running a fish only tank
and want L/R. Have just the plain old flourecent hood..What
is needed to have L/R in tank...Lfs(I Know, I Know) says to upgrade
lighting. Like I said I'm running a fish only tank so whats best!!!!

 

[1journeyman]

Live rock is full of worms, pods, sponges, etc. that don't need special lights.
I've heard that coralline algae actually grows better in medium (as opposed to bright) lights. I can't confirm that.
Suffice to say, live rock will add a lot of critters to your tank in spite of lighting. Different species will dominate depending on your lights.

 

[woodwalker]

Yoda Man

 

[teresaq]

I am also a member of a very popular seahorse site, and the experts there have a few other ways of cycling a tank. They often use pure ammonia. either from a bottle or a natural source (if you get what i mean)

 

[30-xtra high]

i used a damsel, for my tank thats been up a month or so, and the damsel is alive and thriving. my 3 stripe hung around the heater constantly, a way to get him away from it... is to take it away, i have a hang on filter, so i took the heater out, and put it in my filter, water temp is at 79, and it got him out and swimming about. :happyfish

 

[66chuck]

Two things are clear:
1 There are easy ways to cycle a tank w/out needlessly causing a damsel to suffer.
2 If you start w/ a damsel, you need to have thought about what fish you want in your tank, because damsels are very territorial and do not always play well w/ others.

 

[bruder]

Originally Posted by 30-xtra high
i used a damsel, for my tank thats been up a month or so, and the damsel is alive and thriving. my 3 stripe hung around the heater constantly, a way to get him away from it... is to take it away, i have a hang on filter, so i took the heater out, and put it in my filter, water temp is at 79, and it got him out and swimming about. :happyfish
So I moved my heater into the filter like you suggested and he is now out and about! He has been eating well and looks healthy. I understand everyone's concern about having a damsel to cycle with, but I have already started the process and the fish is now looking good. Should I continue as is? The only concern I have is adding more fish once the cycling is done, but I can cross that bridge when I get there.
Thanks again for the help.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by woodwalker
Thats my point. Somebody Decided that shrimps fate. I'm not
saying kill fish, but you do need a source of amonia to start
cycle right!! A 3 dollar damsel or 8lb L/R Hmmm. I talked
and read and all contradicts what is needed for live rock,
like lighting and such???Journeyman anything to do with IBEW???
thgat shrimp is dead, no changing that, why tourture something to death, or torture it and not kill it, Imo this hobby is about doing it as right as we can for the animal, and if your going to cheap out and say a 3 dollar damsel is better than the more expensive LR, then IMO you dont have the right consiencessness to own any animals at all. the whole Idea of this hobby is to Provide the best environment possible.
I hate the it'll live attitude, I used to work in a pet store and a lady told me she had a fully grown guinne pig in a ten gallon fish tank, I advised her to upgrade for the sake of the animal she told me it had lived in that tank from the day she got it its fine and refused to hear anything about it, when she wrote her check I took down the info off the check and reported her for animal cruelty, they confiscated the guinne pig and fined her, she came back in and cussed me out, I had a big smile on my face the whole time.

 

[30-xtra high]

GLAD I COULD HELP

, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE HEATER IN THE FILTER, IN ABOUT A WEEK THE DAMSEL WILL HAVE HIS TERRITORY MARKED, AND YOU CAN PUT THE HEATER BACK IN THE TANK, AND THE DAMSEL WON'T EVEN NOTICE, AND IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF ADDING ANOTHER FISH, TEST EVERYTHING, ( TRATES, TRITES, AMONIA, PH) , AND IF ALL IS WELL THEN GO BUY SOMETHING HARDY, LIKE ANOTHER DAMSEL, OR EVEN A BLENNY, ( THATS WUT I DID, AND THEY'RE BOTH DOING GREAT