new 75 tank ? plus fish

ryan2003

ryan2003

Member
I have a 75 gallon tank I got everything set up last wedensday
I bought my protien skimmer Lee's aquaclear 300,My 3-4 inch sand bed
and my heater everything is fine it looks like im looking to get the
fish this wedensday or thursday would this be ok?
12 Astrea Conehead Algae Eater Snail
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Maroon Clown, White Stripe
2 Clarkii Clown
2 Maroon Clown, Gold Stripe
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
Oh my goodness no. you need to cycle your tank first. if you added all those fish right now, they would all be happy for about a day and then die off one by one. feel free to ask any follow up questions, or do a search on this bulletin board. I don't feel like writing out all the specifics of cycling if you already know it or whatever.
 
ryan2003

ryan2003

Member
I cycled it for about a week now how long does it have to cycle for?:confused: Where is a cheap but good site to order live sand I have a 100 pounds of regular southdown play sand
So I should just get like :
12 Astrea Conehead Algae Eater Snail
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Maroon Clown, Gold Stripe
Or should I not even add anything but the clowns and wait for a couple of months for the snails and the shrimp?
Also how long should I cycle the tank for
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
cycling it isn't just having water running through your tank. cycling has to do with your tank building up a population of bacteria that will eat the by-products of fish waste and decomposition. you have to have something in your tank decomposing for your cycle to even start. if you are going to add LR, then add that to get your cycle going. if not, add a raw shrimp to your tank and let it rot. sounds gross, but the bacteria that will grow are what you need to take care of the future chemicals produced by your fish.
 
ryan2003

ryan2003

Member
I cycled it for about a week now how long does it have to cycle for? Where is a cheap but good site to order live sand I have a 100 pounds of regular southdown play sand
So I should just get like :
12 Astrea Conehead Algae Eater Snail
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Maroon Clown, Gold Stripe
Or should I not even add anything but the clowns and wait for a couple of months for the snails and the shrimp?
Also how long should I cycle the tank for
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
Knowone can tell you how long your tank will cycle.
We can tell you it will take at least 3 weeks.
You need to test the water.
First you will have an ammonia spike, that will taper off, second their will be a nitrite spike. When that tapers off to 0 ppm, the nitrates will rise and your tank will be cycled.
How long will all this take? I don't know,:D at least 3 weeks.(you saw that one coming, didn't you:D :D ) You will need to test the water for the "spikes" to know when the tank is cycled.
Welcome to the board, good luck.
HTH, DBurr
 
majakarot

majakarot

Member
ask these other guys, but i think some species of clowns are hardy enough to withstand the cycle, if they are hardy enough you could add a pair to cycle it and it will help you wait the correct amnt of time before adding more fish(something to watch):)
but wait and make sure someone says they can handle it
 
joshnd

joshnd

New Member
I'm new to all of this. What does it mean to cycle your tank? How do you do it? What it mean when people say "live" rock and "live" sand?
 
N

new@this

Guest
that's on thing i want to know about.....ammonia.....my lfs told me to buy this bottle called "Cycle"....it sounds like it does the trick so i got it...."releases massive amounts of beneficial bacterial strains into the aquarium. Each dose works to reduce dangerous ammonia and nitrite levels." That's what is states.....does this sound good to use to help the cycle period.....i also have LR and LS....no fish or shrimp yet!!!!
 
majakarot

majakarot

Member
i don't know about your additive, ls and lr will, however, SAFELY cycle your tank, (not saying the additive isn't safe, but i know the rock is)
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
Josh, I briefly described cycling in my second post in this thread. Basically, your fish produce ammonia. ammonia kills fish. so, you need some way to get rid of ammo. bacteria are your solution. given time, bacteria will grow that eat ammo and turn it into nitrites. however, nitrites also kill fish. fortunately, given more time, different bacteria will grow that turn nitrites into nitrates. nitrates can also kill fish, but at much higher levels than the other 2. Cycling a tank is this process of building up a base of bacteria that can handle converting the ammonia in your tank into much less toxic chemicals. a tank is done cycling when your ammo levels drop to 0 and your nitrite levels drop to 0. notice i say "drop" to zero. as in, you did have it but now you don't. a tank that has never had ammonia in it will never cycle. so don't fill up your tank, read the tests and think that since there is no ammo and nitrites that you have finished cycling. Cycling can be done in a few weeks or may take over a month.
New, as to your additive, give it a try, it won't hurt. however, it probably won't speed up your cycling very much either.
Live rock and sand are rocks/sand that have sat in an ocean reef and so have been filled with various animals and algaes. they also contain the bacteria that are needed to cycle a tank. they are called live because they contain live animals, from bacteria, to algae, to corals, to invertebrates. IMO, LR is one of the most fun things of this hobby, you never know what is going to crawl out of your LR.
HTH kris
 
hairtrigger

hairtrigger

Active Member
Listen to these people. If you don't cycle your tank, you could really screw things up, not to mention kill off all your livestock. Money down the drain. I have lost thousands (literally) when I started out because of poor information, and crafty LFS salespeople. You really need to do a TON of research and know about the hobby. Or you will get skewered. :D
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
I would use the raw cocktail shrimp instead of the damsels. However...and it is risky...a Clown is a close relative of the damsel. When I first started this hobby over a year ago, I was inexperienced and had not discovered this board. The LFS said I could add a clown...to this day, that is the only fish that I have that started from the beginning...and I mean the second or third day after putting water in the tank. I started with the clown and a few damsels. Some damsels died, others were returned...the clown has lasted through everything...including a mini cycle when I added more LR this past summer. So...you could try a clown or a pair of clowns but it is risky. I would actually recommend AGAINST it.
 
ryan2003

ryan2003

Member
O snap I forgot sorry I added 20 LBS of live sand to my tank also I realized it would be alot harder to do a reef so I think im gonna get a niger trigger snowflake eel I just ordered them offline
 
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