Help with cycling my tank.

[cjburden]

I started cycling my new 55g about 2 weeks ago
I got a few damsels from an lfs and started it that way. Problem is all except one of them died. The one that is left seems to be doing quite well, however my ammonia level is not rising past the .5 mark that it has been at for roughly a week now. I'm wondering how I could sort of kick this cycle into gear.
I want to add live rock, but can I even do that with the ammonia level where it is?
I've heard of other people using raw shrimp from the supermarket to cycle the tank. Could I add some of that to the tank with the damsel that I have in there now and push the cycle along that way?
any ideas anyone has would be great

 

[wamp]

Sure, You can add LR even if ammonia is high. Add cured rock and watch the ammonia drop. Add Un-Cured rock and watch it climb.
Cured means it has already been cycled and is ready to use as filtration. Un-Cured has not been cycled and needs to be added to a new tank with nothing in it.
Don't add a shrimp with the damsel. The point of the shrimp is too create wast. The damsel is doing that. You need to go slow at this. It takes a while to mature a tank to the point you can add more fish. Some say a month. I say 3 months, unless Cured rock is used.
P.S. If you see ammonia, the cycle is starting.

 

[pmauro]

It is not unusual to lose live fish when you use them to cycle, that is why many of us use shrimp to cycle. Same result without stressing or killing the fish.

 

[cjburden]

unfortunately I hadn't really found out about that method until it was too late.
my question though was could I toss a couple shrimp in now to help in the cycling? I mean, 1 small damsel is NOT going to be a very big bioload, and obviously I can't toss any other fish in there.

 

[pmauro]

I would probably add some LR first then shrimp, that way the LR will help keep the amon lvl down so you don't lose the last damsel

 

[wamp]

AND, it will give the damsel something to munch on
Just be sure it is cured rock if adding with a fish though. Don't use un-cured

 

[cjburden]

will adding cured LR to a tank that has already begun cycling cause die-off on the rock?

 

[wamp]

Not really. The rock is actually filtration so your ammonia will start to drop.

 

[cjburden]

Well what I decided to do was get some live sand for now... I tossed that in along with a dirty filter pad from my local lfs that he grabbed out of one of his tanks, and 2 days later the ammonia/trites have both dropped completely to zero. I'm sort of trying to figure out which route to go next. In the immediate future I want to add some live rock, between 50-90 pounds, about another 20 pounds of sand (I'm at 60 right now), and add a couple fish (thinking a mated pair of tank raised false percs). Should I add the sand and rock first? or does it really matter. Also, would adding a pair of false percs at this point be a little much? I mean, I'd likely kick off a small mini cycle by adding simply anything at this point so I don't want to kill anything I put in, or my lonely little damsel.
I also don't want to add just one perc because they can get territorial from what I've read, and I'd really prefer to have 2 in there. Suggestions, comments?

 

[pmauro]

put in the LS/ LR first, then when you add the fish there should be more than enough filtration to handle the load

 

[cjburden]

well the only thing with that is that my damsel will be lonely for the next couple weeks if I go that route. Seems cruel to have only 1 fish in a tank :/ oh well, perhaps I'll go with an alternate fish so I don't have to get 2 of them for now, or maybe I'll wait. decisions decisions

 

[cjburden]

I decided to go with getting a fish for now.... wish was certainly not the patient approach to take. I got a yellow tang, gave him formaldahyde (sp?) dip and then acclimated him. He's doing alright 12 hours later. He's actually just started to swim around the tank and investigate it more. I'm wondering though if this single tang won't put out as much as bioload as 2 little percula would have. I probably would have gone with the 2 percula, but the dealer only HAD 2 percula and they didn't look very energetic, so I'm gonna hold off on those.