newbe mistake??? don't know

[JKLUSAF]

As most of ya know my 65gal tanks been up and running for alittle over 2weeks. 70lbs of LS 96lbs established LR both from fuji and hawaii. I went ahead a put a lawnmower blenny in. reading up on him their pretty hardy little algae eaters. so either he'll help with the tank or die. was that a good move or not?

Justin

http://maast.org/forums/album.php?albumid=86

[hobogato]

has your tank finished cycling?

has it already had an ammonia spike? a nitrite spike? if both of those are zero, how high are your nitrates?

if you have any ammonia or nitrite, the fish will suffer and may die. if the nitrates are too high, it will also suffer and if they stay high too long, may die.

[moe]

I like to think it not much of a mistake. However I wonder if there enough algae to feed the blenny. Mine also eat brine shrimp, and krill. I wonder if u have any other fish in your tank. Nonetheless in my book there no mistake there, your good.

moe

[moe]

has your tank finishe cycling?

has it already had an ammonia spike? a nitrite spike? if both of those are zero, how high are your nitrates?

if you have any ammonia or nitrite, the fish will suffer and may die. if the nitrates are too high, it will also suffer and if they stay high too long, may die.

I assume that u already had tested ur water. Did u?

[hobogato]

you make a good point there also moe, if the tank is finished cycling, food may be an issue if it doesnt take to prepared food well.

[Gilbert]

i think if the 96lbs of LR have also been in the tank for 2 weeks you should be fine.

[Bill S]

2 weeks and cycled? I'd guess not...

You need to be SURE the tank has gone thru a cycle, or wait 6-8 weeks. One or the other. Lawnmowers will eat just about anything, usually. They also won't eat many types of algae.

Personally, I'd take him back.

"BAD things happen in this hobby when one is in a hurry"

[JKLUSAF]

i've tested the water once a week and both times everythings been fine, if i made the mistake i should now shortly. but i just tested again Nitrate/Nitrite are both in the ok/safe zones. pH is ideal and the Alkalinit test was also in the ideal range. The only thing i don't have is the ammonia test which i'll be picking up soon.

there's also more than enough food in the tank, he went to work on the tank as soon as i put him in

Justin

[JKLUSAF]

I assume that u already had tested ur water. Did u?


yes, nitrates are both good, just don't have ammonia test kit yet, will tomorrow. have class tonight

Justin

[Bill S]

Well, since your ammonia must first spike before it's reduced to nitrite then nitrate... An ammonia kit is kind of important.

Now, I WILL grant you that it is possible - although not likely - that your well established rock could keep your tank from cycling. Since you apparently have an algae bloom, I'd guess that you have some of the aging process going on.

Just, please, take it slow...

[gjuarez]

If you bought the rock and had it shipped, its possible that it had some die off, actually very possible. Another possibility of not having any nitrites or nitrates yet is because the tank might still be in the amonia cycle. I hate to play devils advocate but i find it very hard to believe that a tank cycled in two weeks, even with aged and established live rock. Aerobic bacteria has to grow on the surface of the sand, the rock, the filters and all. Hopefully I am wrong and its cycled already. Good luck with your lawnmower blenny, I have one and he is very fun to watch eat. Interesting characters

[JKLUSAF]

Well, since your ammonia must first spike before it's reduced to nitrite then nitrate... An ammonia kit is kind of important.

Now, I WILL grant you that it is possible - although not likely - that your well established rock could keep your tank from cycling. Since you apparently have an algae bloom, I'd guess that you have some of the aging process going on.

Just, please, take it slow...


yes, most of my rock has lots of brown hair algae along with some green over top of it. about 2/3 were established for 4yrs plus

Justin

[JKLUSAF]

If you bought the rock and had it shipped, its possible that it had some die off, actually very possible. Another possibility of not having any nitrites or nitrates yet is because the tank might still be in the amonia cycle. I hate to play devils advocate but i find it very hard to believe that a tank cycled in two weeks, even with aged and established live rock. Aerobic bacteria has to grow on the surface of the sand, the rock, the filters and all. Hopefully I am wrong and its cycled already. Good luck with your lawnmower blenny, I have one and he is very fun to watch eat. Interesting characters

i hope so myself.

Justin

[SABOB]

Not trying to sound almighty,but why ask the question after already putting the fish in your tank?Next time ask before doing something if you aren't sure.I don't like livestock dying on me,although it has happened ( sometimes my fault,sometimes not).Lots of great advice on this site.Read alot and ask questions before doing something.It will save you money and heartache.

[corkyGramma]

By the way avoid the ammonia test strips, they don't work.

[Kristy]

Quick aside on our lawnmower- doesn't eat any of the prepared food at all, only the algae. Not even the nori I hang, just the stuff that grows normally. Weird.

But he is still a cool fish and quite a character. :)

[beerguy]

Well, since your ammonia must first spike before it's reduced to nitrite then nitrate... An ammonia kit is kind of important.

^^This part is very important. From what Ive read youve had no spike of anything. I could be mistaken but you say everything reads as 'fine' and thats not the ideal situation for a newly estlabished tank. You NEED ammonia/nitrite/nitrate to start/finish your cycle. Cured LR and sand will not give you enough ammonia to start the cycle. At the same time you have LR and LS that may have enough bacteria in it to sustain life, but thats the risk your taking. No one here can tell you how much harm your causing your fish or validate it for you.

[JKLUSAF]

Not trying to sound almighty,but why ask the question after already putting the fish in your tank?Next time ask before doing something if you aren't sure.I don't like livestock dying on me,although it has happened ( sometimes my fault,sometimes not).Lots of great advice on this site.Read alot and ask questions before doing something.It will save you money and heartache.

your almightyness is fine, but everyone here has there own opinion on how long the first cylce may take with what type of supplies you've put into the tank. i'd also hate to see the little guy suffer, but seeing tube worms growing and zoa's also from the liverock of others, i decided to take the chance and see what everyone thought by posting the thread.

Justin

[JKLUSAF]

^^This part is very important. From what Ive read youve had no spike of anything. I could be mistaken but you say everything reads as 'fine' and thats not the ideal situation for a newly estlabished tank. You NEED ammonia/nitrite/nitrate to start/finish your cycle. Cured LR and sand will not give you enough ammonia to start the cycle. At the same time you have LR and LS that may have enough bacteria in it to sustain life, but thats the risk your taking. No one here can tell you how much harm your causing your fish or validate it for you.


i know what ya'll are saying everyone also needs to start somewhere. thanks for keepin it real

Justin

[Texreefer]

fish may be fine, your tank may be fine and everything may work out perfect. doesn't mean you did it the right way, just means you got lucky. if thats the case awesome
Just make sure you understand the process and why yoiu need to do things a certain way.
I think this is what everyone is trying to say

[SABOB]

I apologize if my post came off wrong,all I was trying to say is to ask questions first,read all the opinions then make a decision.It is confusing with so many opinions that differ and we have all done our share of impulsive buying/stocking.Again,I'm sorry if my tone in the post was harsh.

[sampsonndelila]

Well, since your ammonia must first spike before it's reduced to nitrite then nitrate... An ammonia kit is kind of important.

Now, I WILL grant you that it is possible - although not likely - that your well established rock could keep your tank from cycling. Since you apparently have an algae bloom, I'd guess that you have some of the aging process going on.

Just, please, take it slow...


Slow down dude!!
Bstreep, my tank did not cycle. But I moved a lot of live rock directly from one tank to another and really just ended up doing a 1/3 water change. I did disturb the substrate but as little as possible. I was very surprised but I guess it might have something to do with 400 lbs of live rock? Lol
His tank will cycle, its not done yet, but the fish might live.

[SaltyJim]

I don't understand why it couldn't be possible that this tank will not go through the cycle. If the LR and LS were transferred to the tank without too much time out of water, there is no reason to believe that the bacteria died off. I'd just consider it the same as a massive water change.

The existing LR had been around long enough to have plenty of bacteria living in it, even if some had died off during the move. AND if that happened, then the living bacteria should have been adequate to contain the spike.

What is really, really important is to get a good quality test kit, with measurable results. If you test ANY nitrates, then the tank has cycled, or entered the final stage of the cycle.

[JKLUSAF]

fish may be fine, your tank may be fine and everything may work out perfect. doesn't mean you did it the right way, just means you got lucky. if thats the case awesome
Just make sure you understand the process and why yoiu need to do things a certain way.
I think this is what everyone is trying to say


well you can take a look on saturday, i'm the 2 stop...looking forward to meeting all

Justin

[JKLUSAF]

I apologize if my post came off wrong,all I was trying to say is to ask questions first,read all the opinions then make a decision.It is confusing with so many opinions that differ and we have all done our share of impulsive buying/stocking.Again,I'm sorry if my tone in the post was harsh.


no sweat

Justin

[gjuarez]

Being that live rock was transferred immediately from one tank to the other, its possible that the tank did not cycle. Live sand however should not be stirred too much, especially if you get deep enough into the anoxic zones. Lots of sulfur phosphate gets collected and it could leach back into the system.

[ErikH]

I don't think testing once per week on a new, new, new tank will tell you much of anything. Testing is a much needed part of this hobby, so don't sell yourself short. Test often, and mark your levels down into a log book. At best, your sandbed remained mostly undisturbed, and what spike there was quickly dissolved due to the amount and health of the LR. This is not typical, and most newbies buy everything new. New usually means dead, either whole or partly. With that death, your cycle can and most often will occur.

Honestly, I would have tested more than twice before introducing fish. The most common mistake amongst newbies is stocking. Either lack of information/research, or "just gotta have it" type mentalities are what lead to problems. I don't just mean problems with your levels, I mean the whole gambit of issues that can be brought on by rushing into it. Take it slow, there isn't a fish in a LFS that you can't get tomorrow if someone else buys it today.

Collectively, we are all saying to be patient. Take it to heart, and make our advice worth it! Otherwise you may just be like the countless many that crash, burn, and post their failed attempt in the F/S/T section. :)

MAKE A LOG BOOK! :p

[ErikH]

Here check this out. There's some pretty good info covered here...
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

[JKLUSAF]

Here check this out. There's some pretty good info covered here...
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html


thanks for the info......i've read many similar articles, I'm hoping after this tour is over saturday, more knowledge by the elders will help

Justin

[JKLUSAF]

well ya'll were right, i'd made the mistake of rushing. the lawnmower blenny has passed on....poor guy. as a begginer i'm bound to make the mistakes, i have to learn some how though. there has been a snail that was past from tony thats still kicking(not sur what he is)

Justin

[MKCindy]

Sorry to hear that. Experience comes from a lot of "...been there, done that"
Even the most knowledgeable of us, sometimes forget to take our time and pay the price in the long run.

[Joshua]

well ya'll were right, i'd made the mistake of rushing. the lawnmower blenny has passed on....poor guy. as a begginer i'm bound to make the mistakes, i have to learn some how though. there has been a snail that was past from tony thats still kicking(not sur what he is)

Justin

Was the fish skinny? With established rock and sand in that tank it pretty much amounts to a "tank move" situation with a big water change so I wouldn't think it was poisoned from the ammonia cycle.

[moe]

Sorry to hear that the blenny, past. I made many mistake when I first started. You don't want to know how many starfish, and other livestock died on me. However, I've learned from those mistake.

Don't be discourage, and ask as many question as u can, that how I was able to get a grip of things.

moe