How many fish to start with?

[pukfish]

Ok I go to the store yesterday and I'm looking for damsels to start my fish tank with and they are 5.00 a piece. My problem is I don't want to kill nor waste my money on these fish. So would only getting 1 damsel set my tank up as fast as 3 or 4? I asked the guy at the fish store and he would not give me an answer.

 

[josh]

Puk:
First off find a HELPFUL fish store, and no I wouldn't use damsels - they are really hard to catch after the cycle, just use the LR and LS and you will be fine

 

[pukfish]

LR and LS? whats that?

 

[option720]

I completely agree, tell that store to take a hike and find good store. LR stands for live rock, LS stands for live sand. do some research, ask some questions here on the board before you start doing things, it will help save money and time.
Hey i have 29 gallon tank too
Check my site www.geocities.com/option720/reeftank.html

 

[option720]

And since you live in WI, i would high tail it over to the Rochester HD(thats home depot) and grab some Southdown tropical playsand while they still have it and use that for your sand!!
i'm out
[ December 18, 2001: Message edited by: Option720 ]

 

[pukfish]

Hmm live rock sounds very expensive. I would need a special bulb to then right. Thats like $30 plus the light holder. I'm real short on money. So cost is very important to me.

 

[option720]

*****DISCLAIMER****
This hobby can be very expensive, even on small tanks like ours, be prepared to spend some money in order to receive the results you want.
With that said, there is algae and life on the rock that will die if you don't have strong enough light. I have 90 watts on my tank and can't wait to upgrade. However it does fine for right now, and at times i have had less light and been ok.
For you sake and you creatures sake, buy the equitpment first and then the fishys...you won't be sorry.

 

[fshhub]

the lr will do better with better lighting, sure, but
you can use standard flourescents for now, the lighting will help for certain life forms, but the main things with lr that you want now
are
bacteria which will do ok
algae (coraline, which some will do better in dim light and some will do better in strong light)BUT should be fine for a while(until you start adding inverts)
and anaerobicI think (my chem aint great, maybe it's aerobic) zones, which will help greatly to convert your nitrates
and pods(little bug like creatures) which will also do fine in flourescent lighting also
YES, it can be expensive, but worth every dime(BELIEVE ME!!) that and a dsb(dense sand bed) with good water circulation are the KEY elements to a healthy and lower maintenance system,
BUT as mentioned this hobby can be expensive but it is worth it, if you set up properly, just slow down you can't hurry a sw tank at all, and this is an advantage because, while you are waiting for you system to catch up, you can also catch up on finances
BUT please get the rock and sand(for now), it'll save you alot of heartburn and expense, not to mention maintenance in the long run

 

[fshhub]

oops, i forgot your question,
cycling would be faster and better with lr and or the shrimp method,
it is very hard and stressful on fish, but I can simpathize, it is very hard on us to keep empty tanks, but is the best thing for your system, also, damsels will often survive a cycle but are aggressive little tykes, and unless you are building a system with them i would not add them anyhow, one would do the job, but it will not stabilize as quick, and next you should not add more than one fish after that,(never double your bio load), you have to go slow
if you must use fish to cycle with (i don't reccommend it), check into mollies, although they are fw, they can be acclimated to sw, are real cheap and are much heartier and will not be a problem towards other fish, alot of lfs's around here sell fthem for those reasons
good luck HTH

 

[thor]

fshhub i would like to say that when you explained dsb you said dense sand bed
pukfish
it actually means deep sand bed

 

[fshhub]

NIX the cc(crushed coral), go with a dsb(dense sand bed) please
it will be much less work for you, and is much better for your system, as well, gravel, you don't want that either
please research any and all purchases before you buy, it can save you much time and money(in short and in the long run),
ask anything you want here, as i have mentioned on other topics, there is a lot of tried and true experience and failures here, and most of us will be glad to share them with you, to help you avoid the same mistakes we have made, we love fish and wish to help you help them

 

[fshhub]

sorry thor, it's just a habit i have(picked it up at the lfs, the one that actually helped me), but the context(IMO)was always the same, however i will try to correct it for future usage because after being pointed out i do now see the difference, thanks for pointing it out

 

[option720]

2-3 months to "break in" a tank???? what is your brother talking about??? Maybe 2-3 weeks. I would stop listening to your bro and take the advice of the people on this board. Buy an ammonia, nitrate, nitrite test kit and find out yourself when the cycle ends and how long it took!
I'm out!

 

[royce]

I just started up a new 55 with live rock and a deep sand bed and it cycled in just over 1 week! Definitely the way to go since no fish were exposed to the toxic ammonia or nitrite. Now I am slowly and patiently moving my fish from my nitrate-laden crushed coral fish only tank, 1 fish every other week or so, to the new tank.