My 55 gallon tank just started

srgvigil

Member

I just put in the live rock today, I'm getting some more LR next week. All I have in it right now is 3 damsels. The guy said that they can survive the cycling process of the aquarium. When I get more LR I want to move this structure over to the left side have it bare in the middle and have a larger structure on the right and create a bridge between the two. Any comments on it?
 

sepulatian

Moderator
I personally don't like the idea of cycling with damsels. You could have just as easily cycled with the rock. Be sure to test your ammonia and do water changes to keep the ammonia as low as you possibly can. You should get around 1.5lbs of rock per gallon for the tank. You can mix it with base rock. Post some more pics as you buy more.
 

srgvigil

Member
The guy didn't have any base rock at the time. (chrsitmas kinda wiped em out) He is getting more this weekend and he said to come back on Monday and get base rock. Good news the water is even more clear today. The three damsels are getting use to their surroundings and are starting to swim around instead of hiding
 

oneradtek

Active Member
yea I'm one to believe whatever works best for you, and my first time around i cycled with damsels. My tank was not a good one though the first time around. It will work for cycling, but I've learned that cycling the long/boring way is the best bet of a healthy tank. and plus those damsels will now be very territorial towards the new fish you add. Other than that....I think you will have lots of fun with this hobby, just take your time though. I hope that your post with cycling with damsels doesn't stir up much controversy, it did with me before and a lot of the comments were discouraging.....just get yourself a test kit and make sure levels are good before anything else is added in
 

srgvigil

Member
Alright today I got 12 more pounds of live rock. It took me over an hour to set it up becvause I couldn't decide how I wanted it. I'm still not happy with the placement of the rock. I'm going to see if the guy can come voer and help me set it up. It was funny/cute watching the fish swim around looking for their new homes. I'll post pics of it tmrw because the lights are off now.
 

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by SrgVigil
The guy didn't have any base rock at the time. (chrsitmas kinda wiped em out) He is getting more this weekend and he said to come back on Monday and get base rock. Good news the water is even more clear today. The three damsels are getting use to their surroundings and are starting to swim around instead of hiding
u can do it how you want, but every time ive seen someone cycle with damsels down the road they make a thread saying my damsels are picking on everything and i cant get them out and they have to take all there rock out and get them.. so just hope for the best
 

srgvigil

Member
The guy said that I can return them when i'm ready to start adding the cool fish (not that damsels arent cool but not the reason I got into the hobby) I'll find a way to capture them dont worry
 

oneradtek

Active Member
good luck...... once u get all your rock in there, you'll have to take it all out or at least a majority of it.
 

crashbandicoot

Active Member
Originally Posted by MaTT B
u can do it how you want, but every time ive seen someone cycle with damsels down the road they make a thread saying my damsels are picking on everything and i cant get them out and they have to take all there rock out and get them.. so just hope for the best
!!!AMEN!!!
Down with damsels !!! Evil little things !!! out of all the fish I have had including a green moray sharks rays and triggers the only fish ever to bite me was a DAMNsel . .
 

m0nk

Active Member
Yeah, seriously get the damsels out before you add much more rock. There isn't a week that goes by that there's not a new thread with the title "help get damsels out" or something along those lines. You make think you've got it figured out but fish are tricky, fast, and can fit in places you didn't know existed.

I'm also of the opinion that damsels aren't the best way to cycle a tank, but if your LFS has you convinced, that's ok, but remember that even though the fish will survive the cycle doesn't mean it's good for them. The ammonia that starts the cycle off burns their gills and could still potentially kill them if it gets too high. Just food for thought. Best of luck, and definitely ask any questions you have here instead of asking your LFS; all they'll do is try to sell you something, but we have nothing to gain here, so it's more of a helpful environment.
 

bonesnapper

Member
Oh man, I hate cycling with Damsels. It was a waste of my money. My local store wouldn't take them back. So I gave them to a friend who has bigger fish. The bigger fish ate them. It was so cool!
 

srgvigil

Member
I've posted this before on another topic but I guess Ill post it on here since this is going to be my tank diary I guess. Tomorrow or the day after (depends if the shop is open or not seeing how it is New Years Daay) I'm returning the damsels to the shop. I'm not going to ask for money back I'm just gonna ask the person to take them back. I want to thank the people on here for convincing me to do this (if you sense sarcasm ignore it I mean none). I realize now the mistake. I wish to have a peaceful ecosystem and I see now that I can not have one with damsels. I have observed that they are getting more aggresive towards eachother as the days roll by. I was cleaning a smudge off the outside of the tank. One of the Damsels tried to attack my finger. It was pretty funny actually. I wanted to apologize everybody on here for the conditions I put the Damsels in. I hope you can forgive me
 

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by SrgVigil
I've posted this before on another topic but I guess Ill post it on here since this is going to be my tank diary I guess. Tomorrow or the day after (depends if the shop is open or not seeing how it is New Years Daay) I'm returning the damsels to the shop. I'm not going to ask for money back I'm just gonna ask the person to take them back. I want to thank the people on here for convincing me to do this (if you sense sarcasm ignore it I mean none). I realize now the mistake. I wish to have a peaceful ecosystem and I see now that I can not have one with damsels. I have observed that they are getting more aggresive towards eachother as the days roll by. I was cleaning a smudge off the outside of the tank. One of the Damsels tried to attack my finger. It was pretty funny actually. I wanted to apologize everybody on here for the conditions I put the Damsels in. I hope you can forgive me
good idea! now if you want to do it the faster way i would just test your ammonia after they are gone and if its not high enuf then just add a raw shrimp untill it gets high enuf and take it out and then just wait.
 

matt b

Active Member
u want it to spike to 1.0 then drop to 0 then the nitrites will spike then drop then the nitrates will spike then u do a waterchange and then if everything is at zero your good to go!!
everything should be right round this when your cycle is done
PH: 8.2ish
nitrite: 0
nitrates: 0
ammonia: 0
 

branden

New Member
We cycled our tank with yellowtail damsels. The bigger one started chewing the fins off the smaller one, so we spent an hour chasing after him. Finally got him out after moving all the rock. We thought the little damsel would be fine once the aggrsesive fish was gone, but it just attacked the perculas once we added them. He was much easier to catch since his poor fins were still chewed up. They look nice, but no more damsels in our tank!
 
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