New to all of this | Advice?

vision619

vision619

Member
Hey there. My name is Mike. Just bought a setup yesterday. It's my first so I am wondering what I should fill it with. I am not really into reefs right now, mostly fish. Here's what I have thus far:
60 Gallon Cube
Remora Pro Skimmer
Cascade Filter 1200
Heater, Thermometer etc...
I was told to buy some Damsel's in a couple of days while waiting 4-6 weeks for the evironment to be able to support new life. After that I know I seen quite a few exotic animals I would love to have. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is my first tank.
Thanks!
 
b bauer

b bauer

Member
welcome and dont buy damsels just to put fish in the tank.wait do water tests read here and then you can see what kind of fish go with others.damsels get big and mean and later will be a pain to get out.
 
symon

symon

Member
Originally Posted by vision619
Hey there. My name is Mike. Just bought a setup yesterday. It's my first so I am wondering what I should fill it with. I am not really into reefs right now, mostly fish. Here's what I have thus far:
60 Gallon Cube
Remora Pro Skimmer
Cascade Filter 1200
Heater, Thermometer etc...
I was told to buy some Damsel's in a couple of days while waiting 4-6 weeks for the evironment to be able to support new life. After that I know I seen quite a few exotic animals I would love to have. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is my first tank.
Thanks!
Well welcome to the addiction! Let me start this out by saying , DO NOT CYCLE YOUR TANK WITH LIVE CRITTERS!
Man i hate when people tell new folks that stuff! Even though Damsels and evel litte things!!!
LOL with that off my chest, i can breathe now!

You do need to cycle your tank, you can go buy a coctail shrimp and drop it into the tank to create nitrates to start off your cycle , you will need to have test kits for nitrates , ammonia watch for them to peak and then drop to 0 . Once that happens you tank is cycles and your ready for fishes!
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by Symon
Well welcome to the addiction! Let me start this out by saying , DO NOT CYCLE YOUR TANK WITH LIVE CRITTERS!
Man i hate when people tell new folks that stuff! Even though Damsels and evel litte things!!!
LOL with that off my chest, i can breathe now!

You do need to cycle your tank, you can go buy a coctail shrimp and drop it into the tank to create nitrates to start off your cycle , you will need to have test kits for nitrates , ammonia watch for them to peak and then drop to 0 . Once that happens you tank is cycles and your ready for fishes!
Agree with about everything except the cocktail shrimp-they're cooked. Just get a whole, fresh raw shrimp from any seafood section at Wally World; or wherever.The cycle process is more complicated, read up on it. The shrimp will produce ammonia, then nitrites will show up, then nitrates; you'll need test kits for all 3. Have patience; this process can easily take 6 weeks and there is no reliable way to lessen the time. Do a lot of reading, here's a good place to begin---
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/264597/a-list-of-extremely-helpful-threads-for-all-hobbyists
And, please DON"T GET THE DAMSELS. They are pretty, hardy, and the meanest fish in our hobby. (ounce for ounce) This site is full of threads asking how tom get these little devils out of an established tank, not an easy task. If kept, the damsels will determine everything you can add to your tank, for ever.
 
vision619

vision619

Member
Thanks so much for your replies and info!
I also read somewhere on here that now's a good time to get liverock in there? any views on that?
 
jkcrumb

jkcrumb

Member
yep........get the live rock now...........your gonna want to use 1 - 1.5 lbs per gallon.......................this will act as a major component to you filtering system............and if you dont get it in there in the beginning you'll have to wait out the whole cycling process again.......also look in to some live sand......you'll get different opinions on the LS so do some extra research on it...........
 
vision619

vision619

Member
Well I bought 30lbs of live rock. I didn't want to go too much. I want to go mostly fish for now. I'm going to get 40 gallon for different reef species and a 20 gallon for a quarantine tank. I'm really enjoyng learning and studying about all of this. I'm very excited to get some life in there!
 
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