What are the chances??? Please help

[scubaswan]

I have an empty 90 gallon bow front tank. Never been used. What are the chances of setting this up this weekend and having fish other than damsels in it the first week of November? I will be using live sand and a huge sump filtration system. Is there chemicals out there to help cycle an aquarium quickly? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[xcali1985]

if you use 100% live rock and live sand chances are 50/50.
Going to cost you a lot though. approx 110 to 130 pounds of live rock at approx 6$ a pound. with Live sand. Do you have any equipment outside of the sump, powerheads, heaters, etc.
You can speed up the dieoff on the rock by running your tank at the highest and safest temp i say 84 degree. Is Nov 1st a set in stone date?

 

[clownfanatic55]

You will need LR as well for a good filter as well. LR is a must need. If you cycle your tank now, you MAY be able to get it by the 15th, which is one month of cycling. Some people use one piece of Raw Shrimp to speed up the cycle. Patience is the key in this hobby.
pH should be at 8.0-8.3
Ammonia should be 0
Nitrites should be at 0
Nitrates should be no more than 5
Welcome to the hobby!

 

[9supratt4]

IMO....you would need established rock and sand. If you can get LR and LS from an existing tank (meaning over 3 months old), your chances are very good. The rock would not be able to be out of water for more than a few minutes. Also, you still wouldn't be able to add too many fish at once so that you don't overload the bacteria to the point it can't keep up.
Just a question, but why the stringent time frame??

 

[scubaswan]

I have a wet/dry rated for a 225 gallon aquarium. Is live rock a must? I planned on using live sand and I over the years have collected dead pcs of coral at shops in the keys. Looking at the prices of the stuff now i have over a grand in corals. lucky for me I purchased them many years ago. This is a fish only tank. Thanks for the quick replies.

 

[scubaswan]

My wife is planning a suprise party at the house with lots of people on 11/7/2009

 

[clownfanatic55]

LR is a must! Read this thread, it will anwser a lot of your questions that you have here.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/301033/101-tips-to-beginning-and-maintaining-a-saltwater-aquarium

 

[cherylann]

Well you are really pushing it. First use the filtration medium from your existing tank, follow the live rock that others have suggested. In your case putting dead shrimp in the tank would not be recommended since you do not want a NH3 spike prior to adding live animals to the tank. You will not be able to stock the tank within such a short period of time without fatalities, so as much as I hate to suggest this go with Damsels only, they are pretty and active and you can take them back as you really don't want damsels as your primary fish because they are mean and hard to catch. Trying to set up a system for company it not the best way to begin and I would never attempt to do so just for looks.

 

[ophiura]

It is irrelevant if you have a big filter - it is a biofilter, and biofilters take time to get established. It won't necessarily establish faster because it is bigger.
The only real hope is a lot of established live rock.
Even then, it is not likely you will have several large fish if that is your goal. Of course if it is all for show...and I've seen that ...then you will be able to probably keep them alive for a few days.
Otherwise, it is a hobby based on patience. While you could get some fish in there, IMO, if you buy established live rock from someone's tank...getting a lot of fish, or large fish, is an issue.
If you have bought real dead coral, and have a lot invested, I would not use it in a tank. If it is dyed or bleached that could be a possible issue...and it will be covered in algae. Often times the real coral skeletons become weak and break. So if you value those dead corals, I would not use them in a tank

 

[rigdon87]

+1 in this hobby patience is the key to success

 

[chaseter]

Your tank won't look amazing anyways because you won't have any beautiful corals or other flora making the tank look great so I would take my time. Would you rather rush to meet a party deadline and risk killing everything you just bought??? I wouldn't.
You have 3 weeks. I would think your tank would have cycled by then and would be okay to add a couple of fish. But, if you completely max out your tank with new fish instead of slowly adding, you are going to kill them.

 

[mkroher]

You might be able to speed up the cycle by using Fritz-zyme. I haven't tried it, but would like to try it the next time I setup a tank.
But.. I wouldn't rush anything. You'll just regret it in the end.
If you want something nice to look at. A tank with live rock and a good light, followed by moon lighting looks awesome. Just because there's no fish doesn't mean it won't look good.

 

[spanko]

Do not rush to impress your guests. They will be there for one day then you will have to live with the potential problems of the rushing for the rest of the time. Follow the steps to setup and cycle a tank, then the slow and steady additions of livestock as you biofilter can handle it.
JMO

 

[oceandude]

I totally agree with all the posts here. Time is the key. But if you are firm on your plan of having it for the party...
This might not be an avenue for you to follow, but I will share it: If you have a reliable LFS who has a dedicated anemone tank you might be able to buy around 60g of established water from them and add 30g of new. It would be like doing a good water change. You probably understand why I say that about an anemone tank, but if you are not quite clear here is why...it's because an LFS with a dedicated anemone tank SHOULD have nothing less than perfect conditions and no copper ever in the tank. But you have to know the status before even thinking of going this route.
Like others have stated, you absolutely need some good established L/R, (fully cured) to continue this approach. But, in transport, it could have, even if just a small degree of "die off" creating a small spike.
Here's where I will get flogged. lol...I have used and will continue to use a product called Stability. It's natural and has worked for many I know in helping establish a tank. You can google it to research and decide for yourself. I have used it on the 6 tanks I currently have with no ill side effects.
Hope this helps. I still agree with the others here, but thought I would add my two cents worth in case you decide to have it ready by the first part of November. At least, with this method the critters stand a much better chance than if doing all "as new"...%%

 

[scsinet]

Do you have any idea as to what fish you desire to have in the tank in this timeframe? As has been well stated so far, it is technically possible, with the right set of circumstances to accomplish this (though also as stated... not recommended).
If you're going to try regardless of what is said here, then I'd rather help give you a fighting chance than to just say "no way" and have you try to go it alone.
The one thing that you left out is what you want to actually have in that tank by then. You need to be realistic in your expectations. Have you given any thought to what fish you want to have in place by then? You need to think... 2-3 small fish, tough fish. Clowns, some gobies, chromis (es?), some wrasse species...

 

[ophiura]

Another option is to find someone basically selling the contents of their tank...it is risky, but you could effectively transport the biofilter and bioload to a new tank. Have to be prepared for a crash as well, but conceivably, I can see the possibility.

 

[lorene]

Originally Posted by scubaswan
http:///forum/post/3155667
I have an empty 90 gallon bow front tank. Never been used. What are the chances of setting this up this weekend and having fish other than damsels in it the first week of November? I will be using live sand and a huge sump filtration system. Is there chemicals out there to help cycle an aquarium quickly? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I highly recommend Instant Ocean BioSpira! Yeah, its expensive but it sure cycled my tank in a quick hurry! The bottle claims its instantly safe, but I cant speak for that. I do know it took out the BRIGHT purple nitrites out of my water in 5 days about a month ago!
This is JMHO

 

[scubaswan]

Would it help being just thirty minutes from the gulf or the Atlantic to get a large amount of seawater? I am planning on putting in clownfish and damsels to start and maybe a few heniocas' in the future. Thanks ofr all of the great help.

 

[scsinet]

Getting natural seawater can do more harm that good if it's polluted. If you have a relatively clean shoreline of the gulf it can help, but water contains very little of the bacteria needed. Most of the bacteria resides in sand and rock.
You could take sand, but it has even more chances of having absorbed pollutants than the water, causing you incredible headaches down the road. Plus, the bacterial populations of the sand/rock from established aquarium is far more concentrated due to the nature of a closed system.
I wouldn't even try this scheme unless I could get sand and rock from a well established healthy tank. It could be that a local fish store could give you some sand from their systems. If not, do you have a friend with an established tank that you can get several pounds of sand from?

 

[chaseter]

I would say it is a no go for the sea water as well because you aren't getting the same pristine water that is in the reefs. Beach water is usually dirty anyways...along with pollution.