My Saltwater tank - cycling week one 12/30/2008

[walsallcrew]

@brandonkr

If we have more important things to do. Why are you sending me a message about a fish?? The ammonia will cause pain and distress to the fish so it is stupid isn't it really.

[realtheloniuscrunk]

it doesn't take longer to cycle with a fish, number one, and number two, one fish is not going to be stressed in a 14 gallon tank by itself...people are too sensitive...calling this guy an idiot is way over the top. saying he should be reported, even more so. i bet the fish is still perfectly healthy.

[marcusferran]

I can't believe your cycling that tank with that fish. Poor thing. You shouldn't cycle a tank with any fish it's swimming in poison!

[gmodder1965]

Idiot police!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[F1shL0v3r]

You should have put a damsel in there...hardiest fish ever and they cost like 5$

[walsallcrew]

Rubbish pet owner! Poor fish. Some people are stupid. I'm reporting you

[brandonkr]

@walsallcrew your the stupid one claiming your going to report someone for keeping a fish improperly. what are you going to do, call the police and tell them that someone on youtube is not keeping a fish the right way? we have more important things to worry about in this world than a damn fish

[DPMANLA]

wow thats going to take ages to cycle if it cycles fully. you should just use live rock to cycle no live stock. you shouldnt turn of your skimmer it wont effect the cycle and yes no need for carbon yet anyway.please people dont use live stock in your tank to cycle thay will go through hell even tho some fish are so called hardy fish. you need a little more live rock in that tank.. hows your t

[Tempdoom]

You dont need a fish if you have live rock... If you are cycling with a fish, it takes longer, and if you do you should use a damsel.

[Tempdoom]

That fish is going to go through hell. You should wait till after cycle to stock the tank.

[P3NZ01L]

NEMO!!!

[Riotjaymz]

um.... you SHOULD have the protein skimmer on to help pull out any die-off from your live rock. I wouldn't have put the fish in right away. Your nitrate levels will be really high if you don't try and filter out the dead materials from your live rock. The bacteria will spread through your tank and bioballs regardless of whether or not you have a filter and skimmer in place.

[chase5029]

Put the heater in chamber 1

[Dabrybry]

Take your clown out and return it till the tank is finished cycling. It's sort of cruel to do that to the fish. Also, you could use much more live rock in that tank.

[14dodgerblue]

how long should you cycle a saltwater tank?

[NEY310LA]

if you remove carbon from filter you will create bad bacteria in your tank, skimmer will help skim some bad stuff that the rock produce. i never remove my carbon from my filter or the skimmer and it cycle just fine. never turn off your heater or lights, filter, you can turn off skimmer if you want it, is not necesary. turn lights from 5 to 8 hours a day. life rock will help cycle tank same as live sand or a damzel fish...i cycle my tank this way and i never havea problem.

[golly7rg]

how much was your rocks

[2424Anthony]

Hey Let me ask you a question. What some ways to maintain corals? What Do The eat? Because i have fish only but i want to have corals?

[2424Anthony]

Did it help to cycle the tank?

[justneedemil1981]

your not supposed to keep delicate fish like clowns in your tank durring cycling. I would only advise live rock and substrate during cycling. It really puts alot of stress on the fish and they could die.

[NEY310LA]

@justneedemil1981 yeah fish will die or just be in to alot of stress. but life sand works to

[1RonixWake]

@justneedemil1981 what are you talking about. Ocellaris clowns are very hardy.. I bought 2 and cycled my tank really quick. You get what you paid for with clowns.

[VSKATEB]

@justneedemil1981 while i agree you should not keep delicate fish while cycling, keeping heartier fish such as damsels in the system can speed up the cycling process dramatically. As far as clowns, you could probably get away with using them as cycling fish but i dont really see why anyone would, simply because there are much cheaper fish i would risk killing over clowns hahaha this whole hobby is a gamble though, some people can get away with things and others simply cant.

[subasurf]

@justneedemil1981

Since when are Clown Fish delicate? They're as about as hardy as they come and are great for kick starting the cycling process of your marine tank.

[WWpictures100]

@subasurf Umm no fish deserves to sit in your toxic water when you tank is cylcing think about that

[thomasscheliga]

@justneedemil1981 i had 2 clowns in my tank when it first cycled. i bought live rock, live sand and the water from my LFS i go to whose tank has been setup for 8 years. granted that helped... the clowns are VERY hardy. in my opinion. hardier than damsels. id rather spend 15-20 and up to 50 on 1 clown, that will last me 20ish years if taken care of, and provide liveliness to the tank than a 6 dollar damsel thatll die and ill have to buy more and when its done have that asshole in my tank

[ReefJay]

Cycle it with a Damsel fish . is stronger than the clownfish

[KrYlOnWoNdErS]

@ReefJay

The problem with cycling tanks with damsels is they start getting really aggressive as they older and even more so in smaller environments. Then you have to catch them which is not easy and you might have to take all your rock out to do so. Which could disrupt the balance of the water by moving stuff around stressing out the fish/corals. It's easier to cycle the tank with chromis.

[NEY310LA]

@KrYlOnWoNdErS sorry but damzels always been aggressive is their natural behavior. i did it ones and i just remove the fish from my tank. life rock will help cycle tank is the same as life sand..

[the1000expert]

cruel to make this fish be alone with nowhere to hide.

[KrYlOnWoNdErS]

@the1000expert

Clownfish don't really hide, They mostly just swim in the front of the tank. Even when the lights are off they don't hide in the rock they keep swimming in the water column.

[Tamluvsparrots]

ok, so the first thing people want to do is fill their tank with fish....looks good, for awhile....a lot of people cannot imagine placing a raw shrimp in their tank ..it is eventually going to stink.welcome to the hobby...You are allowing that clown to suffer for your benefit. GET A DEAD SHRIMP. tank will cycle in a humane way...

[TheLegendaryDelta]

aw hes alll alone D:

[barda12345]

actualy i have located a instant cycle sand it reely works i thought no way but i tried and my fish didnt die. actualy they did but thats cuz i hade marine velvet in my tank. (oh well)

[j0ec00l2k]

Some people have no patience. And they wonder why things don't work out.

Dude, seriously. Did you get any good advice before starting this tank?

Take the clown fish back to the store and buy some more rock until you have like 30lbs in that tank, then wait for it to stabilize, then add the fish. You do not have enough rock at all!!!!!

[MastaViper808]

Do i turn OFF the main filter too? How about the powerheads, heater, light?

[samlovesfilm]

@MastaViper808 I don't think you need to turn off other stuffs... because these things help the bacteria to spread and grow

[sk81514]

@MastaViper808 no keep them all on

[munkyman65]

You seem to know not to skim when cycling your tank - so why have you put a fish in the system ? You are causing BAD stress to the poor fish - IDIOT !!!!

[zolob315]

@munkyman65 u dont got to be such a douche wen correcting him

[munkyman65]

@zolob315 fair enuff , i apologise for being a bit rash , but thats only because i HATE any form of cruelty to ANY animal. You only need live rock and a little patience to cycle a tank. Any fish will suffer regardless of how hardy they are in an uncycled aquarium.

[zolob315]

@munkyman65 i understand, im sry, i shud have changed the words i used.

[jakefishing1]

can u put a clown in a tank thats cycaling

[Marcelinho10]

Another thing - this tank should have been cycled with more live rock and FAR more circulation. You want a power head that's going to turn the tank volume about 20 times per hour. And yes It's cruel to cycle with fish, that is very old fashioned!

[Marcelinho10]

I forgot to mention that some of the current should be aimed at the surface for better gas exchange because you don't want a stagnant and dirty surface.

[cesar0269]

mueve tu agua deves mantener en movimiento el agua siempre

siempre

sin puntos mueros

chao

[NightShreww]

wait so do you mean turn of my filter completely or take out my filter pad

[flyingSnakess]

ugh... take that poor clownfish out of your cube immediatly, i wouldnt even put a clownfish in a fishtank that size in the first place let alone while its cycling!. obviously you dont care about the clownfish and only want a marine tank to have a "nemo"fish. that is called compulsive buying. and as for protein skimmers and carbon.they dont stop bacteria from growing, they remove organic wastes from the water. which i would recommend having if u are putting a clownfish in a tiny thing like that.

[TheFishMan101]

A clown fish will do fine in a 14 gallon there are so many more people with clowns in 10 gallons.

[omfgsomental]

There are many people who have pairs of clown fish in their 10 gallon.

What are you on?

[rotarymagic]

clowns dont belong in 10gallon tanks especially nothing that grows larger than A. ocellaris or A. percula.

[rotarymagic]

hmmm off local clubs and craigslist you can get liverock for $2/lb.. Let me guess.. you paid like $30 or $40 for that 2-3lb rock at petco? lol...

[heartcore198]

lol i've seen those rocks there, and i laugh everytime!

[d123a123n]

ffs do a fish-less cycle, your clown might die!

[dmanroks7]

your Clown is stir crazy.

[carlmolito]

Did you do any research on tank set up, cycling, or anything before you started? You need at least 15-20lbs more live rock in this tank and you shouldn't be cycling with a fish.

This dudes tank will die, no doubt.

[Tigrshark93]

If you read the description he says that's the only live rock he could afford

[flyingSnakess]

yes i totally agree with you. people like this are impulse buyers. they see a fish that looks pretty so they get somthing that they dont know how to look after.

[scubdido]

poor fish needs a HOME

(they live in anemone's)

[cackums]

common misconception. They primarily only use anemones to lay eggs in. It looks like they are living in one because they are guarding it from being taken over

[kilts1514]

this is abit of a silly question to ask but would I he able to cycle my marine tank by taking bacteria from my freshwater tropical fish tank?. Just a thought

[samlovesfilm]

hmm... I don't think so...Marine tank is a saltwater tank... so the bacteria is different than the freshwater one..

[redgravel92]

you can use a filter off a fresh water tank to cycle a marine tank but not vise versa coz of the salt..i newst to work in a fish shop tht had marine and the guy used an eheim external off a frontosa tank and the frontosa tank water for a marine tank he just added salt to the water and a skimmer

[njim891]

@samlovesfilm That's not true. The bacteria is the same. That is why when converting a fresh tank to salt it is recommended to use your same filter with the bacteria strands still intact. Way to make this guy spend more money because you don't even know how to use Google.

[trucklover9]

@kilts1514 actually you can, I've done it with my saltwater aquarium which is only ten gallons and all the levels of nitrite, nitrate and ammonia are good. I took the filter foam pads from my canister filter, squeezed the juices from them into a cup and slowly poured the cup of bacteria into the tank in front of a powerhead.

[ericphx23]

I thought in a Biocube the Carbon filter has to be removed in order to add the protien skimmer....Once everything settles. Is this true?

[samlovesfilm]

you are right, they don't fit too well, You can fit them together in one slot.. but need some adjustment.... then once they both in, it somehow create some flow problem.. not enough water to be pump in time for the other slot...

[Agiinor]

@samlovesfilm

No, you can fit them both into the same slot that the protein skimmer goes into, it just takes a LOT of adjusting and slight of hand. I haven't had any problems with water flow.

[inachu]

Is this your first salt water tank or have you done this before?

[samlovesfilm]

yes, my first salt water tank...

[moofdebowl]

im not so sure about the turning the protein skimmer off in terms of aiding bacterial growth. All the beneficial bacteria required for de nitrification do not live in the water column, but on and inside your rock, sand/gravel and any other rigid surface they can attain.

[inachu]

I ran everything. I ran my fluval just with sponges in it and 3 damsels then after 5 weeks I put in the normal stuff in. Then waited one more week then added the fish.

[inachu]

I bought one live rock about 2 pounds and its fully purple. price tag?  $88

grrrrr lol

[DaytonaRoadster]

wow you got ripped off big time, i bought fully cured live rock that was only $7 a pound

[inachu]

yeah but was it fully purple?

[DaytonaRoadster]

yup, and it had mysis shrimp and sponges on it

[logankratz]

for $80 Australian i got 5 kilos of excellent live rock

[omega592008171980]

if you are cycling the tank i'd do atleast 50% water change, then do 25% water changes once it is cycled. use the syphon to clean sand/gravil then remove any ornaments and clean them out. DO NOT clean the liverock leave it!

[samlovesfilm]

thanks...

[Zilvut]

Do you need to remove water when you clean it and put new treated water back in?

If you do, pls tell me how much it costs for a bucket of it as i am thinking of getting a small marine tank!

[samlovesfilm]

hey the sea salt that makes the water kinda expensive.. I used the Red Sea Salt, 7 pounds salt for 25 gallon.. I forget how much it is though... like under $20?

[rattfield]

the fish looks like he wants to break free.

[hahaitzkevinxp]

go to ur local chinese supermarket buy some clams throw just the shells in it will cycle and clear up in a 1 - 2 weeks check ammo and nite ... poor nemo lol happy reefing if thats what u plan on doing

[MRPLATYPUS89]

please update =)

[samlovesfilm]

things are cool, the fish is still swimming around... will post a new video soon...

[Nowellsy]

Hi how did the cycle go?

[samlovesfilm]

hey it's still going on, and the fish is cool. I had the filter and protein skimmer on at the beginning, big mistake, so that drag the process much longer.and I have the green algae problem, just under the control....

though I have some problem of the nitrite reading, seems never go up above zero, it must be something not right I did... any suggestion will be appreciated...

though the fish is still cool... swimming around...

[LeoUCSD]

this is sad!! you should choose another form of cycling.

[inridong]

aquarists are an interesting breed. you get all sanctimonious about the condition of a single fish, yet you support a hobby which takes millions of fish out of their habitats and destroys hundreds of miles of reef.

[inachu]

Fish farms dude.....

Not all but most fish are from a fish farm!

same goes for coral fragments.

[xxnethersxx]

most fish now adays are from fish farms same with corals

[flyingSnakess]

hugely mistaken. most FRESHWATER fish are bred commercially nowadays. marine fish, only about 15% are bred commercially and same with corals.

[SROD12321]

100% of the fish,coral, and live rock I buy is aquacultured. Let me explain something else:

Every hobbyist in the US could fill his tank with new wild coral and cause no harm to reefs. Harm is caused by the following:

1)commercial anglers using tnt to get at fish within reefs 2) oil spills

3) pollution.

There are rules against hobbyists taking corals. This is to allow the reefs to recover from large scale harm; hobbyists are not the source of this large scale harm - not possible.

[redandbluebeater]

Yes, absolutely true. If only other people understood this.....

[Jimmehlee]

@SROD12321

I'm aware of those 3 causes, but, over-exploitation is also a formidable problem, imo.

I'd like to hear why you think it's not possible.

[SROD12321]

Look up a video on "coral gardening" on Youtube and you'll see why it's not possible that hobbyists could cause this widespread harm.

You'll see that many thriving reefs are terribly overcrowded and need to be thinned for survival of the reef. Due to the overcrowded reefs, taking coral is actually beneficial in most cases.

Conversely, the 3 main problems are not sustainable - they simply cause widespread death.

Please watch that video - I think it will illustrate my point.

[MarshyXD]

@SROD12321 This is a common misconception in marine fish keeping. Everyone knows the risks of taking fish and corals out of reefs because it can change the natural balance of things. Because of this the company's that fund Fish and Coral excavation are usually big contributers in wild live conservation. They educate the people that live near these reefs so they do not destroy there food source and also there jobs which are provided by these company's. It is in there interest to keep the reefs!

[SROD12321]

@Marshy What part of what I said is a misconception? For me to say hobbyists are not the cause of mass reef destruction? Please offer some kind of example of hobbyists having a measurable effect on a reef (we're talking about hobbyists, not poachers, traffickers or business people) .

I am always doubtful when someone starts a sentence with "everyone knows." It is a classic example of a strawman argument.

[MarshyXD]

@SROD12321 haha don't get all hormonal on me mate, I was putting forth a valid argument. No need to get your handbag out.

[SROD12321]

@MarshyXD Point 2 - if you've ever taken Chem 2 or advanced Bio and Chem courses, you'll spend a lot of time discussing equilibrium. Complex systems in nature function in equilibrium. If each individual is playing a role, then removing (relatively) tiny amounts of coral from a reef will result in new organisms being born to fill that void. It's not until you remove large portions of the reef that you change the reef's dynamics. This is why hobbyists will not destroy reefs - tnt and oil will.

[SROD12321]

@MarshyXD This is actually really humorous. On one hand, you're claiming hobbyists damage reefs by taking coral, yet you also believe the companies that make money by taking massive amounts of wild coral are champions of conservation and education.

You should write a book on how NOT to make an argument. You could put forth arguments about various subjects throughout the book and the reader would see countless examples of what not to do when trying to persuade others.

[MarshyXD]

@SROD12321 Yeah dead humorous. Pretty sure I never said they destroy reefs. I would tell you to go write a book on how to be wrong but you clearly can not read.

[APoirier594]

Hey, your filter should be on during the cycle, or else your water will just sit their and become very stagnant. You should take out the carbon b/c it will just kill any beneficial bacteria, and you shouldn't have any fish, except for a Damsel during a cycle, other than that looking good

[DaytonaRoadster]

carbon wont hurt bacteria, it just removes chemicals out of the water, but you should run everything but UV during the first few weeks

[Garawona]

Well thlman Maybe you should put up a video instead of critizing other people's videos and put one up yourself

[omega592008171980]

I agree, you should not turn off the filter during cycling or during any stage what-so-ever! I guess you do not know what the carbon does. adsorption of impurities and broad spectrum organic compound removal. breakdown of harmful toxins, in addition to superb solid and liquid waste removal. Readily supports beneficial bacterial colonies and does not change water characteristics.

Also why are you cycling with a fish, that is super cruel!!!

[bulldog111111]

agreed...way too soon for fish...never heard of cycling w/o a filter.  also, to add, needs a little more live rock

[samlovesfilm]

agree, need more live rock.. .but it's too expensive... :(

[jossmalo]

I was wondering, did your clownfish live throughout your cycle?

[samlovesfilm]

entering four weeks now, the cycling is not done yet... and the clownfish seems doing just fine...

[thlman]

oh btw, you definitely should NOT turn off the filter. the whole point of cycling is to grow the beneficial bacteria in your filter and lr. you have lots to learn so my opinion of you being a dumbass still stands.

[samlovesfilm]

My tank(oceanic bio cube) has specific area for bacteria to grow, the filter is not meant for that, cuz it will be replaced every few weeks...

[thlman]

why are you cycling with a fish? you shouldn't do that cuz it's really inhumane. you can cycle sufficiently with live rock! newbie dumbass

[fishwish95]

I am going to get a fish for my new tank too. Maybe your the dubmass. It will seem faster and less boring with a fish

[maryleebenavidez]

your better off using damsels to cycle , because fish usually die in the cycling process and damsels are a lot cheeper .

[Biocube14]

It looks great, I got my live rock from Petco too. Is it okay to put a clownfish in while it is cycling? I am unsure if they help the process or not, I know Damsels do. Then again clownfish are very hardy.

[samlovesfilm]

I agree with maryleebenavides's comment above, Damsels is much cheaper... but I believe clownfish, like you said, is very hardy too, mine seems doing fine... for now.. it's almost two weeks now...

[Biocube14]

Hmmmmm, I think I may wait another week or two.

[frankster262]

your better off that way....

[Biocube14]

Yeah janet!

[frankster262]

janet??? ok.. i guess