Time for my first fish

[Dpizarrojr]

As some of you may know I am a beginner at this. I have a 55 gallon reef tank with about 90lbs of live Rick. I've been cycling it for over 3 weeks and my water conditions are perfect. I was going to get some snails but I was told to hold off because they would have nothing to eat And would die. So now I've decided to purchase some fish. I was thinking two Ocellaris clownfish? What do you guys think?

 

[carey]

Did you use an ammonia source while cycling? Did you see an ammonia and nitrite spike? If so I think you should be fine adding two clowns.

 

[Dpizarrojr]

Good thing I asked before I purchased anything. I haven't seen any spiked. The only abnormality was a high salinity level but I fixed that. Should I be seeing a spike?

 

[carey]

Actually, you may not be cycled. :-( An easy way to find out is to dose the tank with pure ammonia to maybe 2-4ppm. If the next day the ammonia is gone when you test then your tank is ready for fish. The live rock may have caused a small ammonia spike when you initially put it in but too late now to check. lol

Here's an article on fish-less cycling, it might help explain it better than I can.

Cycle your salt tank

 

[Dpizarrojr]

Thank you very much carey. I will try this today

 

[carey]

Good luck! I hope it all works out fine and you are cycled and all.

Let us know and make sure we get pictures when you get your little guys.

 

[Dpizarrojr]

Will do

 

[Dpizarrojr]

Quick question. I got my live rock from an established tank. Would that make any difference at all?

 

[carey]

yep, it could. If the rock wasnt out of water too long you probably wouldnt have had any die off. For example, I just started a 90g tank and half the rock came from my 125g. I had no spikes or readings on ammonia or nitrites but the live rock had enough beneficial bacteria to support some fish being added. I've been testing every day and still no spikes even with the fish. So it is possible to insta cycle.

I should have added ammonia to be be sure but I've done this a few times so I was pretty confident.

 

[Dpizarrojr]

Ok. Yea I just wanted to make sure. Still gonna buy the shrimp today. Don't wanna buy fish and have them die on me.

 

[carey]

It's better to be sure. saltwater is all about patience.