what should I do next?

C

chicken neck

Guest
ok..I just upgraded to my 55 chiclid tank. Had a 29 gal sw wfowlr and converted my 55 to saltwater. Got the salinity right and ph..used some of the water out of the 29 and added 2 pds of my live rock so far. what can I do next? By the way I got a three strpe damsel, a 6 line wrasse and a firefish in the 29 along w some blue leg hermits and one brittle star
 

josh

Active Member
Hi,
Let's see, SLOW DOWN. You have too many fish in the tank that hasn't even cycled yet. It is a common thing to see beautiful fish and want them right away, and most fish stores are more than willing to sell them to you. I did the same thing with my fist FO tank. I would start by reading the information section for newbies. Once you do that come back with some questions and we will be happy to answer. Just an overview on the cycle deal. FIrst you get ammonia - from dying things in the tank, hopefully not the fish already in there. This ammonia is " food " for beneficial bacteria that convert it into nitrites with is futher broken down into nitrates. With a new tank it could take a few weeks, in which time you might kill the fish or atleast stress the be-jesus out of them. I would take most of them out and return them to the store, if not all. After that I would just let the live rock do the work and a DSB if you have one. You can speed things along by putting a raw shrimp in the tank which will decompose releasing ammonia which will kick start things for you. That just a start for you. Remember to do things very slowly and read, read, read, read, read and then ask lots of questions. Good Luck
Josh
 

josh

Active Member
Well I didn't notice you only had 2lb. That will slow things down condisderably. Use the shrimp to start things and then once the ammonia comes down add a fish to keep the cycle going. It can be a gradual thing, even with the rock.. There is NO hurry :)
Josh
 
C

chicken neck

Guest
thanks for the info but you misunderstood...the three fish are bstill in my 29 doing fine I was just wondering what to do next w my new 55 saltwater
 
C

chicken neck

Guest
and I do have about 20 more pounds of lr in my 29..should I go ahead and put it in my 55?
 

fshhub

Active Member
afte your ammonia and nitrites fall to 0 then do a partial water change and then if everything checks out i would add a couple of damsels(if this is your choice fish)
 
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