Blue-Green Chromis advice

[Inno]

I wouldn't use any fish to cycle a tank because of the ammonia/nitrate/ite spikes...not fun for the fish ;) Uusally uncured liverock will begin the cycle because of the die-off or you could use raw shrimp....uncured lr is easier with new setups :P

[manny]

Well, I can already tell you that everyone on here will tell you not to use a fish to cycle your tank. Just use a piece of raw table shrimp and spare the life of a fish. Only reason to use green chromises or damsels is cause they're cheaper fish and when they die you can replace em but just use some shrimp instead

[manny]

... Table shrimp that you eat. Not live shrimp. Just to make sure that you know ;)

[manny]

Yep they're nice fish at a good price. Having them together would be ok

[DeletedAccount]

They are tyrants to other tank mates soon after addition, though! They will be the bosses of the tank and possibly leave the other inhabitants highly stressed.

[StephenA]

They can take it.

[StephenA]

When do you plan to put the Goby in the tank?

[DeletedAccount]

Try to wait on the goby as long as possible. Most gobies, though not all, are pod eaters. Let the population get high. The sand sifting gobies need a very happy, live sand bed to thrive.

[manny]

At CB Pets they usually have em eating blood worms or other foods so any pod-eating fish like gobys don't have to rely solely on the pods in your tank

[Isis]

I am planning 1 blue damsel and 3-4 chromis in new tank, maybe a small goby tooBe careful on adding a blue damsel. They get very aggressive towards other tank mates.

[Tim Marvin]

Don't put anything in the tank until the rock has cycled. There is enough stuff rotting on the rock so there is no sense in adding shrimp to rot also. Just be patient and go slowly.

[RobertG]

Damsels can be real aggressive, My blue Damsel has been with me since I started this Hobby 4 1/2 Yrs. Ago. Tough Little Guy. I used cheap fish to cycle my tank. However I did'nt have all the great brains we have here. Still Learning!
The Damsel is in with Pair Clowns, Blue Tang, purple tang, Passer Angel & a biColor Blenny I hav'nt seen in a while :shock:

They are all fine. Blenny, where are U ?

Robert

[Tim Marvin]

I have some giant damsels that are indestructable if you really need some. They have lived through numerous rock cycles, and temp ranges from 58 degrees to 90 degrees. They are mated up also.

[Tim Marvin]

Yes they will breed and they are very aggressive for the size.

[matt]

Sounds like you should do some more research on a fish community before adding anything. Try to plan out all the fish you would like to keep in the tank before you add any. Maybe someday we'll be rid of the poor practice of "using" fish to cycle a tank. Remember that a new tank is a biologically and chemically unstable place, even after the intitial die off and nitrogen cycle. Many successfu reefkeepers, especially in Europe, have traditionally waited several months before adding fish to the system. This allows a balanced community of infauna to populate the sand and rock. It is this population of animals that will control the environment in your tank more than anything else.

[matt]

Oh yeah, I've seen those damsels in Tim's live rock pond; I wouldn't try to catch them or otherwise **** them off unless I had a catcher's mask on. Those are tough little guys, having grown up in the bad neighborhood and all.

[Isis]

I agree that you should wait before adding any fish. PATIENCE is the key in this hobby. DON"T RUSH!!! Really research what you want your ultimate goal will be because sometimes when you add a fish, you will never be able to get it out unless you completely tear down your tank. Not all fish are stupid. While your tank is cycling,... research. When I cycled my first tank, I used a black molly since they apparently can acclimate to salt water conditions and survive. The cool thing was that when the mollies had babies, my other fish had food. But one thing to remember is that SW fish aren't all tank-raised, so if you start adding fish in hopes of survival, you are creating more harm than good, especially if you are sacrificing a wild caught specimen. I can't emphasize enough to wait and learn about the fish you are considering.

[MikeDeL]

I I used a black molly since they apparently can acclimate to salt water conditions and survive..

I was thinking about doing this too, so I could get some practice maintaining the tank before adding an expensive salt water fish. How did you acclimate the molly to the SW?


Thanks,
Mike

[StephenA]

I only kept Live Rock in my tank during the cycle. I cured the rock in the tank. Boy did it stink! But the end result was some very nice cured rock. I added 3 Blue Green Crom and a clean up crew for a couple of months. The Blue Greens became one of my favorites. I still have them and love them. They have made it thru the tank busting and still eat out of my hand. I'm looking forward to getting them in their new home (120Gal) soon.

[Richard]

I always use black mollies as my first fish in a tank for several reasons.
1.) They're cheap
2.) Since they are coming from freshwater there is no chance of introducing parasites.
3.) If I can't keep mollies alive in the tank then I know it's not ready for SW fish.
4.) They are easy to catch when you want to remove them.

Just take 2-3 hours to bring the salinity up. If they are otherwise healthy they adapt very easily to saltwater. Once switched to saltwater, mollies actually do better than they do in freshwater. They are really more of a brackish species and are very prone skin fungus in freshwater even though that is how most people keep them. Just make sure the ones you get are not thin and do not have any type of skin blemishes on them, those never last long in saltwater (or freshwater for that matter).

I still have some in my QT systems and have noticed that Tangs will sometimes go up to them and posture as if they think they are a cleaner species. Pretty interesting I thought.

[Richard]

I just put them in a bucket and add a cup or two of saltwater every 10-15 minutes until I get them up to salinity. Don't think you need the filter or anything but it wouldn't hurt.