Dumb Beginner Questions

[ocellaris]

Ok, so I just got my first salt water tank and I have some questions that might seem pretty dumb but I would really appreciate any help. I live in a really small town and there is only one pet store that sells salt water fish and she's only been doing so for about 5 months. The pet store owner does not strike me as an ulta-reliable source for help on this topic.
1. Tank cycling: I've had my tank for a week and it's been sitting cycling. When I got it I filled the bottom with live sand, mixed some filtered water with salt (an added some of that stuff that gets rid of ammonia) and checked the spcific gravity to make sure its right and plugged in the filter. Now it's sitting there for atleast another 2 weeks (for a total of 3) at which point I will take a sample of water into the pet store so she can check it (for ph, nitrate, etc.) the I will start by adding a small damsel and some live rock. Am I doing this right? Should I be adding the live rock earlier? Can someone please explain to me what "cycling" actually does to the tank so I have a better understanding or how to make sure I'm doing things right. Also, is there some kind of "cycle" that your tank is constantly going through?
2. Fish: For my first tank I'm going to add a damsel at first, then later maybe a percula clown and possibly a small puffer after that. Will these three fish get along? Also, it's possible I have my fish confused, but do puffers release some kind of toxin into the water if they die? Or are they only toxic when you eat them at sushi restaraunts?
Also, this is more for my curiousity, if you have a poisonous fish like a lion or a dangerous one like a morey eel how do you maintain the tank? Does you do all of the maintenence without sticking your hand into the tank?
Lastly, considering the lack of resources here in town I'm considering ordering some fish over the internet. Has anybody done this before? Any comments on ordering fish over the internet?
Thanks for taking the time to read all that. I appreciate any help that I can get on this. =o)

 

[clownfish]

How big is your tank? The size of the aquarium determines the number of fish that can go in there.

 

[odb]

Welcome to the hobby. I'm definately no expert when it comes to tanks... I'm just learning myself. I'll try to tell you what I can though. First things first, how big is your tank? If all you have is live sand in there right now, I would suggest throwing about half of a coctail shrimp in there to help with the cycling process. To my knowledge, cycling a tank is a way of building up benificial bacteria that break down ammonia into nitrates and nitrites. In order to get the population of bacteria up, you need to have an ammonia source which they can feed on. Usually your fish and inverts will produce this, but with nothing in your tank, they will have nothing to feed on. Usually people use their live rock to partially cycle their tanks. There will always be some small organisms that will die off on the rock, and these, as they decay, will produce ammonia. My suggestion would be to go pick up some live rock, place it in your tank, and wait about another week. Test your water and you should see the ammonia rise, then fall as the bacteria population catches up. Then put a hardy fish in. Be sure to check your PH as well.
As for the fish, I dont see a problem with your choices. Damsels are usually very territorial, so they might pick on your other fish. I have a 4 stripe damsel that I picked up when he was REALLY small, and he seems to get along great with my other fish. Porcupine puffers are a great choice, as long as you dont have any inverts... they seem to like to snack on them. I dont know about the toxin thing.. I know that most cowfish and boxfish do release a toxin.. but as for puffers I'm not sure.
Cant help you with your poisonus fish question.. I dont have any

As for ordering online.. quite a few people have had good luck with it. I live in Canada so its difficult for me to order things from the states with duty and customs and stuff.
Hope this helped you out a little.
Mike

 

[kris]

Congratulations ---
Here is pretty much the jist of the cycle thing
1) All living things produce ammonia
2) Bacteria is required to break down the ammonia into nitrites.
3) More bacteria is needed to break down the nitrites into nitrates, which is the least toxic of the three.
You can add the live rock and 1 or 2 hardy fish anytime now. (A tank won't cycle without the ammonia to start it) BUY A TEST KIT. You will need to test regulary (every couple days) A bio-booster can help, like "cycle" or adding "aquachargers" to your filter.
A few days after adding you will notice ammonia building up and over the course of the next couple weeks gradually the ammonia will peak then begin to drop as the nitrites buildup then the nitrites will drop and the nitrates will go up. When the are no more ammo or trites you have cycled.
With each new addition you make you will go thru a mini-cycle, but hopefully at that point your filters will be able to keep up with the load. Live rock is one of the best filtering mediums,it will speed you along.
Worry about your fish later. Number 1 thing about fish-keeping, and I'm sure everyone here will agree, BE PATIENT.

 

[clayton]

Welcome and congratulations - this is an amazing hooby that can almost take over your life.
The first and most important thing to do is to buy a good book and READ, READ, READ.
First Kriss explained the nitrogen cycle: fish/aquatic animals produce ammonia. One type of bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, another type convert it to nitrate.
Bacteria and live rock or sand ARE NOT THE SAME THING.
Are you using a filter? ie wet/dry, cannister, undergravel (although this one is not a good idea) etc. If so tha bacteria live on your filter medium. The cycling/maturation process is the time you give to allow the bacteria to colonise.
If you are using live rock/sand only then the bacteria will live on/in this (although in smaller numbers as the little worms/bugs that live there consume the fish waste that would otherwise break down into ammonia).
Unfortunately I would have let the tank run for a week before adding live sand as the fresh mix (especially if you mixed it in the tank) will have killed many of the 'live' things. But it does not matter, they will come back.
I always use a couple of damsels to help start the cycling but live rock/sand will do the same thing.
You need to leave the tank for a month before adding anything else.
You need to buy test kits for ammonia, nitrite and pH to start with. Then calcium, nitrate, phosphate and even others if you are really serious.
Make sure you read up on tank filtration (and lighting if you are going for a reef tank).
As far as lionfish go, I have been got twice - but never with my arm in a tank- once nothing happened, the other time my arm swelled up!!
I am a lot more wary of moray eels, and Arrowana are the worst!! - but thats another story!!
Those fish would be OK together, but a bit of a srange mix - only my opinion
Anyway, keep your progress posted and I am sure everyone will help.