Adding bacteria from LFS to finish cycle.

[solidsnakejv]

Okay, so my nitrites have been between .25 and .5 PPM since i added two clown fish and a small CUC a week and a half ago. I've done like three water changes with RO/DI water and is still not at 0.
I have a 90 gallon tank with a wet and dry filter and 100 pounds of live rock, which was uncured and i used to get the cycle going. I don't there's anything alive in the rock and that's why i think there's not enough bacteria in tank.
I have been feeding the two clowns Mysis and flakes about 3 times a day, but not too much each time. and the past two days i have been hand-feeding the snails dried seaweed because i had two snail died a day ago because they might be starving since there might not be much for them to eat. By hand feeding i mean i put about hald an inch of seeding in their mouth and they take it and eat it.

So what should i do?
Should i stop feeding them and do so once a day (the fish), what about the snails?
Should i add bacteria from the LFS to add to my tank?
And if i leave it the way it is now, will the bacteria eventually build up on it's own even though there are fish there now?

The clown seam very happy. they swim all over and the eat when i feed them. Except one of them doesn't eat flakes and only eat mysis, the other eats both.

 

[Sharkbait430]

I honestly think that feeding 3x per day is way too much, JMO.

 

[melosu58]

I would at least cut it back to to once a day. Providing that you have enough LR and other surfaces for the nitrifying bacteria to grow on then you`ll be OK. I would even think that maybe for a week or two I would feed for every other day. I`ve been feeding my tank every other day for 11 years now.

 

[Sharkbait430]

Yeah, I feed my fish every other day...

 

[Flake]

I feed every other day. I would cut back on food.

 

[solidsnakejv]

So adding bacteria is not a go?
Would the snails be okay if i stop giving them the dry seaweed?

 

[InfernoST]

I would at least cut it back to to once a day. Providing that you have enough LR and other surfaces for the nitrifying bacteria to grow on then you`ll be OK. I would even think that maybe for a week or two I would feed for every other day. I`ve been feeding my tank every other day for 11 years now.

That's OK even with a tang (Blue Caribbean)? They seem to have small stomach and mouths.

 

[neil_04]

feed my fresh and my sw tank everyother day seems to make the fish more active when you do feed them. and feeding time is probably the most fun to watch

 

[InfernoST]

I feed one cube once a day and they go nuts, I'm just concerned about the tang if I go every other.

 

[melosu58]

I feed my tank every other day but on the off days I feed a sheet of dried seaweed that the tangs eat. Not on all the off days but most. Just put a small piece in there on the off days for your tang.

 

[InfernoST]

Sorry SS. Thanks for the info mike.

 

[Innovator]

You would be just fine in feeding twice daily if you fed better foods/more rounded diet and rationed appropriately. A general food mash is an excellent way to incorporate various foods such as krill, smelt, mysis, marine fish, crab, squid tentacles, nori, cyclop-eeze, etc. I would choose small pellets such as Spectrum over flake.

 

[FishEggs]

i wouldn't add anything from the lfs since they probably dont quarantine their shipments and you could end up putting something bad in your tank.