cycling with bio-spira

[bapski]

i have a cycling question.. tank will be 2 weeks old on SATURDAY. im using 3 raw shrimps right now.. i also as you know have live rock already... yesterday, decided to put in BIO-SPIRA... checked water values today.

pH: 7.8 ( added pH 8.3 also yesterday)
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 5.0
nitrate: 80

questions:
1. do i get rid of the shrimps now? as my ammonia is 0.
2. i plan to do pwc on FRIDAY. i suppose 25% will be fine. WOULD THIS BE OK?
3. after doing pwc on FRIDAY and values are ok (ammonia 0, nitrite 0) can i add YELLOW TANGS ( how many? was looking at getting 2) and a bit of a CLEANER CREW?

 

[lando]

1. Leave the shrimp in for now
2. Do NOT do a water change until NO2 is a ZERO then do a sizable PWC of 40-50%
3. No. YOur tank will still need to cycle properly. Honestly, Bio-spira is a waste of money and really does nothing to prepare the tank for long-term habbitation. You still need to let your tank cycle naturally.

As far as the tangs...how big is your tank? Rememeber that tangs are aggressive towards each other, especially when they are same species and real-estate is limited. You are best to start off with some hardier fish like a clown or two or some reef chromis. tangs, in general, should be the last addition to the tank due to their aggressive nature.

this is hardest part of this hobby...the waiting. I suggest you give your tank a couple more weeks before adding livestock. Your tank, fish and wallet will appreciate you for it.

 

[bapski]

grr.. we are just itching to see how a fish would look in our 130 gallon tank.. oh well will just wait then.. was hoping with BIO-SPIRA reviews (and ive had it work on my freshwater tank) i can put in fish as early as 2 weeks..

follow up question btw...

got the idea about the TANGS and the CLEANER crew from the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"

the author says i should be able to add the TANG (think he specifically said YELLOW TANGS not that it would make any difference) and CLEANER CREW by the second week. the choice for the YELLOW TANG is based on the premise that by the second week, algae would be around and the YELLOW TANG, being an algae grazer would help out in getting rid of the algae... guess wrong book to read.. . can i toss this book for something else then? any suggestions? lol