[Reefer769]

hey!

does anyone know if a scarlet hermit crab would be a good invert to cycle with, becuase all i have in my tank is 1 small damsel, and i wanted to go pick crab up, (my tank has been up for only about a week) thanks

[Ballgame]

Good question. My 55 gallon tank has been up for a little over 2 weeks. I have 2 clown fish but wanted to get a crab too but wasn't sure

[Ninong]

You should not add any livestock, including damsels, until after the cycle is complete. Live animals of any kind are not required to cycle a tank. If you are using live rock, the live rock will cycle the tank. If you are not using live rock, you can cycle the tank with a couple of dead shrimp -- the kind you buy at the supermarket.

[Reefland]

That is correct, you are adding a lot of stress to a fish by adding them to a tank that is not yet cycled. To use a quote I used before, it's like putting a none smoker in a smoked filled bar and telling them to live there for a couple of weeks.

As Ninong mentioned, the Live Rock you have in your tanks is the only thing that is needed to cycle the tank. A tank without live rock can be cycled with a couple of pieces of dead shrimp.

Regards,
Scott Z.

[Ballgame]

and how long does it take to cycle a 55 gallon?

[the_blue_tuna]

It depends on the make-up of the tank , filtration , amounts of organic matter present.

[Ballgame]

I have a 55 gallon, Fluval 304 filter, 7.5 lbs of live rocks and 30 pounds of live sand
Its been up for about a month

[the_blue_tuna]

Have you been monitoring your water conditions? If so you should have seen a spike in ammomia first , then rising nitrite and nitrate levels followed by a tapering off to 0 . If you have then your tank has cycled. Keep in mind , if you add more live rock you could experience anything from nothing to a full blown cycle again , depending on the amount and condition( fully cured from the LFS to uncured online) of the rock.

[Ballgame]

Originally Posted by the_blue_tuna

Have you been monitoring your water conditions? If so you should have seen a spike in ammomia first , then rising nitrite and nitrate levels followed by a tapering off to 0 . If you have then your tank has cycled. Keep in mind , if you add more live rock you could experience anything from nothing to a full blown cycle again , depending on the amount and condition( fully cured from the LFS to uncured online) of the rock.

yes you are right, the ammomia was the first to go up. Nitrite was up a little bit. So it sounds like I'm in good shape.
Thanks for all the help. There is so much to know that sometimes I don't know where to start

Also I turns on the powerhead we bought yesterday for less than a minute and one of my clown fish turned white. He lost his color so I quickly turned it off and after about 15 minutes the color came back. Is that from stress?

[the_blue_tuna]

It could have been from the introduction of something strange into the tank. I would guess it as something else though. Did you wash the powerhead before introducing it into the tank ? It is also possible that it may be leaking electricity into the tank. I only mention that possibility because the effects were so sudden ( both turning on and turning off) I would turn it on again keeping a close eye on the fish . If it happens again I would remove the powerhead for close inspection ( and if it wasnt cleaned first take it out and clean it ) The fact that there is current in the tank should be welcome by the fish , not a cause of stress.

[Ballgame]

Originally Posted by the_blue_tuna

It could have been from the introduction of something strange into the tank. I would guess it as something else though. Did you wash the powerhead before introducing it into the tank ? It is also possible that it may be leaking electricity into the tank. I only mention that possibility because the effects were so sudden ( both turning on and turning off) I would turn it on again keeping a close eye on the fish . If it happens again I would remove the powerhead for close inspection ( and if it wasnt cleaned first take it out and clean it ) The fact that there is current in the tank should be welcome by the fish , not a cause of stress.

yeah we washed it good. The only thing I can think of is that we used a air tube from a freshwater powerhead we have because the one that came in the box didn't fit. But I wouldn't see why that would be a problem is its clean.
I will take your advice and try it again and see what happens.
Thanks!! I'm learning a lot

[the_blue_tuna]

I would delete the air tube . You dont want to introduce bubbles into the tank anyways. I agree with you , the air tube is probably not to blame.

[Ballgame]

Originally Posted by the_blue_tuna

I would delete the air tube . You dont want to introduce bubbles into the tank anyways. I agree with you , the air tube is probably not to blame.

And there were A LOT of bubbles so thats probably what stressed her out.
Thanks again for all your help!!!

[the_blue_tuna]

Let us know if the clown still shows signs of stress. I have to apologize to Reefer 769 for hi-jacking his thread . Sorry.

[Reefer769]

thanks for all the advice, and i just had one thing to mention, i do have 1 small damsel, it has a black stripe on its back and has a kind of moehawk, and it has 2 blue fins underneath him, im not sure what the name of him is becuase it was written horribly on the bag, and i will make sure to go out and by some live rock, and hopefully my damsel will survive, thanks again!

[Ballgame]