Originally Posted by Starkissed
I don't know much about how to set up a tank, but my bf is helping me (although I will not let him just do it for me I want to lear a lot on my own, but he is there if I need him, BTW he use to run a fish room at a pet store and is going to school to be an aquatic vet)
Anyways, On my 20 gal high we started with an undergravel filter hooked up to two powerheads, I also have a biowheel backpack filter for a tank up to 50gal. I also have a red sea protein skimmer that came of my bf's old 50 gal tank.... I have all this in addition to live rock. I am Just finishing my cycleing process but my tank has been stable since like day 3 so I guess we did something right. I got a damsil at about day 4 and he showed no signs of stress when coming to his new home ( and that is good since we only added my tank water into his bag and let him sit for about 10mins and then netted him out, I know I was asking for him to die) but he took very well to his new space and he loves it. I also have about a cup of what I am told is grape carlupa alge in my tank and I am told that that reduces nitrates. I plan on pulling a lot of that out and growing it in my tank that I will have set up on had incase of any fishy fights or sick fish. This massive amount is working for me but let us know if you try it without and tell us how it works out!!!
Not to rain on your parade or anything and everyone does have thier own way...but.....
Everything you are doing is pretty much wrong...If your BF worked at a Freshwater Fish room that would explain a lot.
I mean it works....sometimes...but there are better ways to do it..
First off Cycling usually takes more than 3 days...more like 2 weeks for a proper cycle. I can explain in better detail why...but the quick and dirty way is..
Pretend you work out lifting weights and lets say you want to be able to lift 100lbs, you can't just start at 100lbs...YOu have to work your way up to 100lbs...That is what saltwater bacteria have to do..They have to grow enough to be able to process the waste, this takes time.
2nd of all putting Fish in there is the old method..it's very cruel and basically tortures the fish. You can accomplish the same thing with just feeding regular food into the tank and letting it rot, this will cause amonia, just like fish do when goto the bathroom...
Or some people add a cocktail shrimp from the freezer section at the grocery store and just let it rot on the bottom. Till you see your Amonina rise, then fall.
Also You DO NOT want a Undergravel filter...Nore do you want gravel or crushed coral...You want sand....But again, they will work...just not as effeciently..Undergravel fitlers are like real old cars with carburators...They work...but it's very very old technology...and will make your life harder in the long run.
Now you will probably just read this and do what you're gonna do anyway...but for any of the other people who are reading..this might save a few people..
Also adding fish must be done real slowly...not like freshwater you can dump them in pretty quick...saltwater you want to do like 1 fish a month...
