DONE CYCLING ? pics inside

aquaguy24

aquaguy24

Active Member
I had my aquapod 24g for 2 weeks now. just tested the water and it reads. nitrate 0,nitrite 0, ph 8.0, ammonia 0. temp 78. i have live rock. live sand. real salt water. and a blue devil demsel to get things going. is it safe for me to add fish now. i was planning on adding a true clownfish. can i add only one or do i need a mated pair. and also wanted to add a cleaner shrimp and some snails and hermit crabs. oh and the test kit im using is the Ocean Master Test Kit by Instant Ocean. is this a good kit or should i get another one.
right now i have a lot of alge growth. is this a good sign. another question..
will my blue demsel attack my new fish since they r gonna be small. should i take him out and put new fish in first then put the demsel back in afterwards. or should i just get rid of him now. one more question...im going to do a 20% water change with real saltwater. should i just pour the salterwater in slowly.or do i need to do anykind of test on it fist since its real saltwater. this will be my fist water change. and here are my pics so far. first one is one week old second is 2 weeks old.


 
nicetry

nicetry

Active Member
The diatom bloom (brown algae) is a sign the cycle is nearing the end. Have you watched the levels of ammonia and nitrite rise and fall? With the live rock and live sand, you may not have noticed any spike.
You can do a water change now, but make sure the salinity matches that of the tank or you could shock the fish. You can then slowly add a clean up crew and the clown, although I would consider removing the damsel as it could well harm any new fish. Clowns in pairs are more entertaining IMO, but they do fine alone.
 
aquaguy24

aquaguy24

Active Member
no i didn't check the water levels during the cycling cuz i wasted all my buget on other things for the tank just to get it going. but i'll do a water change and check the levels agian. if everything reads 0. i'll add the clean up crew. thnks for the advise.
 
tylersalzman

tylersalzman

Member
Originally Posted by Doahh
to get that damsel out it'll have to either die or you have to remove all the LR...

Yes.. you need to get rid of the damsel or it will attack anything you put in there. I had to take all my live rock out to catch mine. And even after there was nothing left in the tank, it was still a bitch trying to catch them. I thought about feeding them to my cats
but my fish store gave me 3 bucks credit on each of them.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
I would wait another 2 weeks and then take the damsel ou and replace it with a fish you want, only one and then wait another monh before adding another fish. You have to wait for your bactria to grow and be able to support your bioload. Too many fish too fast and you will get a spike which could kill your fish.
 
aquaguy24

aquaguy24

Active Member
yeah i wish i knew about this site before i added that fish in. but i guess i have to deal with it rather then watch it kill all my fish. i just did my first water change. went well i guess. i might wait a week or 2 untill i add a fish. thanks for all the advise. but im gonna add some cleaner inverts before i do add any fish tho. and definetly adding some more lr.
 
hefner413

hefner413

Active Member
Great looking tank. AND Another idea for you... I have a 55 that I initially had a black/white 4 stripe damsel in after cycling. I then added 2 large false clowns and my valentini puffer. The damsel was a bit smaller than my clowns and was actually picked on by the clowns, but had plenty of places to hide- so was ok. Anyway, I decided to set up a 10 gal quarantine tank (QT) to be prepared for any needs to treat sick fish and to also use for new fish - leaving the new fish in the quarantine for 2 wks prior to putting in my larger tank (being that this is when most infections arise). SO I set up the 10 gal using water from a water change out of the 55 gal and transferred my damsel to this tank. It took to it really well and is helping the new tank cycle. Now I will have a quarantine in case of emergency. The 10 gal cost me $50 total - it was the 10 gal kit at walmart. You may be hesitant to spend the extra for the QT, but you will be glad you did if infection ever arrises. Good luck.
 
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