New tank

[bigcheif]

I set up a new 29 gallon tank today with live sand and live crushed coral. The salinity is fine and the guy at the fish store told me to come monday and get 10 pounds of live rock and two damsels to start the tank. Is it a good idea to go ahead and add damsels this early or just add the live rock and let it cycle . Help new to the salt tank world!

[BubbaWPB]

I would recommend adding the live rock first with no fish. Since you have live sand, and if the live rock is fully cured (one cannot always assume this), your tank will cycle much faster than if you weren't using live sand a rock - and the fish are unnecessary. There is no way to tell exactly how long it will take, you just have to check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Live rock usually has enough organisms on it to cycle the tank without putting the damsels though agony of ammonia, or even death. If you want to speed up the cycle, adding a small frozen shrimp to the tank with the live rock will do the same as adding live fish. Also, many people don't want damsels in their tank later and it's a nightmare trying to fish them out with the live rock in there.

In a nutshell: add the live rock. Don't add fish until it's done cycling. While your tank is cycling, do a lot of reading on "nitrogen cycle".

[charlie]

I'm agreeing with Bubba. The LFS only wants to sell damsels!!!!
If there is anybody around you with a tank, grab some sand, about a cup, from them, and that will help your cycle along. Plus it will add some critters to your sandbed!! Good luck.

[showfish]

I would take Bubba's wise advice skip the fish, and go with the live rock. Much more humane, and you will probably regret putting damsels in your tank later on down the road.

[dave00gt]

putting in damsels can be a bad idea to take them out later, but you can just move the rock out of the tank

i will admit i cycled the tank with 2 damnsels and both withstood the ammonia spike , of course i used the hardiest ones which were yellowtail damsel and the blue devil damsel. upto today i still have them ..but ihave been thinkng of leaving it like that cause i dont think i will be adding any fish to my tank anymore.