Light

[henry hill]

Now that I have a big clean-up crew, shrimp, Emerald crab, going should I have my light on longer than 2 Hrs? Their going to need more algae to eat right? Or do I go to lps and buy some tipe of food for them?

 

[sadielynn]

There should be enough food to sustain them that you don't need food . However you probably could bump you lighting up to 4 hours a day if you see nusicance algae starting you could back it down to 3 hours a day , other wise you could start to increase your lighten an hour a week till you are at full lighting ...HTH :mrgreen:

 

[EDGRAY]

yeah good one sadie and also they will have plenty of food after you get your first fish cause they take care of the left over of your fish... so dont worry there is always food for them even if is not algae.....

so any plans of fish???? who is gonna be your first addition...or you have some fish already.

eddy :cool1:

 

[henry hill]

1 Damsel right now that is going to fish heaven soon when I figure how to get him out. I think Im going to start with the clown fish first.(For my 4 year old) you know the Nemo thing. Then there was this cool black and silver fish. Dont know the name but the black ran right threw its eyes! Real COOL looking. I think Im not going to push it and go with 2.

 

[sadielynn]

Why not take it back to the LFS for a credit , just curious no real need to send him "off" is there? (not trying to come down on you) but cycling with a fish is cruel not a message to send to a 4 year old ,on animal care . This is another reason cycling a tank with fish is no longer recommended

 

[EDGRAY]

The best way and i think only way is to remove all your LR and they try to get him with a net then take it to a LFS they will be glad to take it from your hands but dont expect credit ..... and i know how kids can be with nemo :lol: :lol: even grown ups love that movie ...

eddy :cool1:

 

[EDGRAY]

Why not take it back to the LFS for a credit , just curious no real need to send him "off" is there? (not trying to come down on you) but cycling with a fish is cruel not a message to send to a 4 year old ,on animal care . This is another reason cycling a tank with fish is no longer recommended

sadye he knows and we all know that is cruel but they are really hardy and no matter what they survive like my cousin still has 2 in a 10g and changes the water every month or longer with a small filter and they still alive once in a while when i have time i go change the water cause poor fishies ....and also his kid dont know nothing on cycling so will not be a bad example ... ill say if you want nemo we have to take this baby back to lfs are you ok with that sony...:lol:

eddy

 

[sadielynn]

Ed
you should know better! hardy or not it is cruel period. I don't want to turn this into a flame war however the purpose of this site is to teach and to learn . It is the people heres job to educate .......and it is our responsiblity as owners to do right by these creatures PERIOD

 

[Aquai]

Personally in my experience with cycling with fish (providing you do leave it a little bit of time before adding) its not actually that cruel towards the animal.. IMO
I say this because i've cycled two tropical tanks before both with fish in, danios to be precise. These fish did not suffer at all from what i can see and were as active during cycling as to when cycling had ended with no signs of disease or problems. Admittedly i could've just got lucky with my cycles, but i personally feel that he hardier fish are not affected by the cycling...

 

[sadielynn]

Sorry Aquai that is just not true . They are breathing in toxic junk ammonia , nitrItes and NitrAtes the ammonia can and does burn the gills and it is painfull I am sure . I had a fish that I had in a holding container so that I could get some reaquascaping done and I forgot to plug in the filter , end result was a fish with gill burns . In the end wether you wait a week or 2 it is still cruel and irresponsible in my humble and honest opinion

 

[EDGRAY]

:lol: :lol: we have our moments sadye and dont worry i learned already to dont take nothing personally but i know is cruel but there alot worst thing on lifefish world than that.. dont you think but anyways everyone has his/her point of view and i respect that. and like aquai said i also waited a week and days before i placed my temporary damsels so i guess we are not that bad .... :roll: who know just fish.......

eddy :cool1:

 

[Aquai]

Hmm, i can see your point as well sadielynn but i think on these hardier fish, from my own experience here, that they do survive, maybe not as healthily as going into a full tank but they are able to survive and live healthily IN MY EXPERIENCES which doesn't mean i'd recomend it. I was actually advised to do this by my LFS as i had been waiting for the tank to cycle 2 weeks with no avail, and they said to try putting a fish in to get it starting... Again, i'd like to stress that this is from my own experiences and i would still not go to someone "hey you know what, forget cycling just stick a fish in there" as i have seen fish who have suffered this

 

[r00onmac]

having 20 years of freshwater tropical under my belt i have to say that the cycle in a freshwater tank isnt nearly as bad as a saltwater tank if there even is one at all... there is no live rock, no nothing to cause a cycle so the only ammonia in the tank is coming from the fish you are cycling it with... i have started tanks and put in tropical fish within hours with no adverse effects because freshwater simply isnt the same as saltwater. granted i come from the old school method of tropical freshwater where that is the way it is done, but really i see no scientific reason a cycle would even start in a freshwater tank without at least 1 fish in it... there is no living materials... the water is from the tap with additives to remove chlorine and metals, the rocks are cleaned and put on the bottom... so far nothing living is in there to cause an ammonia spike... all that BS they have now about freshwater needing time to cycle is just that... i could do a 100% water change on my freshwater tank and as long as the temp and PH are similar there are no adverse affects...

saltwater has a reason to cycle - dying organisms on the liverock and in the livesand that we use to start up a tank...that being said... its really not a nice thing to put fish in there during a saltwater cycle,, sometimes the parameters go crazy out of the safe zone which definately causes stress and pain to the fish..

 

[henry hill]

WOW, Just did what the kid reccomended at the pet store to get the tank going. Guess I will catch the little bugger before we get Nemo! Take him to the lps. Didn't mean to cause a ruckes.

 

[Aquai]

Hehe, it's not you mate, this is a long debated topic and many people have different opinions on it. I personally have no experience cycling SALTWATER tanks with a fish so am not aware of the consequences but i do belive that they can be more vunerable. Personally i've chosen to cycle without a fish, and my first stock will consist of a cleaner crew rather than fish straight away, which you may also want to consider?

 

[TimSchmidt]

No problem. I think this debate will go on for a very long time. It just comes down to the individual on how they feel about animals. Sadielynn obviously loves animals very much (as do I) and considers her hobby more of a responsibility to care for an animal that can no longer care for itself. Which type of Nemo are you thinking of getting? My wife saw a yellow one that was very nice, quite a bright contrast to some of the rocks. Looked awesome.

Tim Schmidt

 

[henry hill]

Like in the movie, Thats what he wants. The fish that I cycled the tank with has not changed any habits since it was put in a week after the live rock and water was added.