This is a nicer section

[coral]

I wish I would have posted here first because the people over on the reef part are really mean. They are telling me that I have to run my tank for 10 weeks before I can put anything in. Is that true? I don't think it is. So far, I have only some rocks with feathers on them and a few mushroom corals in the tank. Its a big 55 gallon so I have lots of room to put many fish in. What kind of fish do you like? I like tangs and butterfly fish. They are so colorful!
Travis

 

[tangman99]

Coral,
I think most of us post in all sections. I know I do to try and help where I can. I'm not sure who rubbed you the wrong way and no matter. Ten weeks is not a definite time as to when you can add things to your tank. It is a rough estimate. Provided you have some sort of ammonia producing source to cycle your tank (dead shrimp, damsels...) there are two critical factors that you must observe to be successful and both require patience:
1. You must make sure your cycle is complete before adding anything to your tank other than what you are using to cycle. This means that you should see an ammonia spike which will be followed by a nitrite spike and then usually some nitrates. When you ammonia and nitrites are both 0, your tank should be cycled. This could take anywhere from a few days to a few months depending on how you do it.
2. When you do add livestock to your tank, you must add them slowly and in intervals. When your cycle is completed, you tank will be in equilibrium. In otherwords, there is only enough bacteria living that can be supported by the nitrogen cycle. When you add a fish, you have now added more ammonia which causes more bacteria to be produced. By adding things slowly, you give the bacteria time to catch and keep everything in control. If you add too much too fast, the bacteria will not reproduce fast enough to keep up with the added ammonia levels and you will see your ammonia rise in your tank because you have started a mini-cycle.
As far as your room for a lot of fish, I'm afraid you may be disappointed a bit. 55 gallons is a good sized aquarium, but saltwater fish have different rules than fresh water. There is not hard fast rule, but most people follow 1" of fish for every 5 gallons. For a 55, you can translate that to about 11" total for all of your fish. Also, some fish don't do well in certain tanks. Fish like tangs like to swim alot and usually need a larger tank. Some say minimum of 75 gallon and only 1 tang for that size.
Again, there are no laws carved in stone about what you can have in what sized tank, but common sense has to come into play. If you have too many fish, your fish will be stressed, sick and you will probably be fighting disease, high nitrates and maintaining water quality until the hobby is just not a lot of fun.
Hope that helps and enjoy the hobby,
Tangman

 

[sebae0]

hey coral iwasnt trying to be mean, if thats the way it came across then i apologize.
i was just trying to let you know that you cannot just set a tank up and throw things in b4 it is cycled properly.
never said it would take 10 weeks, sometimes it does and sometimes not, every cycle last a different amount of time.
was just trying to help you out b4 you lose a lot of money by rushing things along.
sorry and welcome to the board.

 

[bradttu]

Coral,
I am still a newbie to this hobby. You will NEVER hear an approximate time period for your cycle. It could take days, weeks, or even months according to some.
I have a 55 gallon also. I have 60 pounds of Arag-Alive sand, 40 pounds of live rock and about 50 more pounds of limestone that will become "live rock" once the bacteria spreads to it. I also used sand booster. I feel "safe" saying that my tank cycled in about a week and half to two weeks. My tank has been up for 1 month now. I put a coral banded shrimp in 2 days after I put water in the tank! He is as healthy as he can be. He also molted this past week. From what I understand, they will molt in good water conditions. So I must be doing something right. I now have a sea urchin, and 3 clowns (1" in length). Everything is still alive and well, and no signs of stress anywhere. I continue to test my water conditions each day and everything remains PERFECT. The only thing that changes is my salinity because of evaporation. I have to top of my tank on a daily basis.
I am lucky to know a person who has been doing SW tanks since 1978. She always says that nature will always "take it's course", technology is all that changes (meaning filtering meathods, lighting, etc.). The people on this site know what they are talking about, but each situation will always be different. Just do your homework, read books, and constantly read this forum. I have learned a lot from this great site!

 

[robb]

Hey coral welcome to the board.
My advise to you is to think about the advise your getting. The people on this board are not here to make money from you. Your lfs stands to make money from you and may tell you things to get your money in their pocket. There are extremely knowledgeable people on this board and I would really take what they are saying in to consideration.
I will tell you the same about tangs.
1) They should not be put in a small tank.
2) They shouldn't be put in a tank that is less than 6 months old.
3) A 55g tank may be big for fresh water but not for salt water.
There is a lot more to salt water than just adding salt to the water. The rules are a lot different. If you choose not to play by the rules you can loose a lot of money fast.
I also think you should return your mushrooms and maybe put a damsel or 2 in your tank. You should have a test kit for testing your water. Your water may be good right now but it is going to get bad. It has to get bad to cycle then it will get better.

 

[barry769]

sorry if this sounds rude, but am I the only one that doesn't believe this is a real post. Or is it just a coincidince that the person managed to hit every point that causes people to get mad on this board in such a short paragraph. Tangs in 55, why wait for cycle, butterfly fish, i don't believe other forum, corals already, and wants to add tons of fish. I know I'm not the only one that has seen people post with the intention to start arguements
-Scott

 

[goldrush]

Barry,I hope that isn't the case,but I have seen it. Ask a question,get 10 people to give you good sound advice,do just the opposite,and then come back on crying for help.We all try to teach and learn here,but--You can lead a horse to water----