Am I set up right?

[Xenos]

I have a Bac Pac, a water filter, aragonite substrate, and two very large pieces of live rock. My aquarium is 29 gallons. I also got some bio-balls from an established aquarium. I have 3 blue damsels. How long till my tank cycles? How many fish or how many inches of fish can I have per gallon? It has been set up for two weeks. How will I know when I can add more fish? Am I missing anything? No one has died and no one looks distressed, everyone is active and eating well.

 

[fishfreek]

I have 3 blue damsels. How long till my tank cycles? How many fish or how many inches of fish can I have per gallon? It has been set up for two weeks. How will I know when I can add more fish? Am I missing anything?

Its hard to say how long your tank will take to cycle. If the rock you got was cured live rock then your cank could be cycled already. Unless your testing for ammonia and nitrite you wont know if its gone thru any kind of cycle yet or not.

When your tank cycles there is a rise in ammonia and nitrite and then when the levels fall back down to undetectible amounts your ready for fish.

General rule of thumb is 1" of fish per 5 gal of water. That gives you 5.8" of ADULT fish. Chromis will get 2-3" in size so thats your adult fish load there. You could add another fish or two if your VERY careful about what you select and how you feed.

Many new people to saltwater have bad results because they overpopulate and overfeed their tanks.

 

[loganj]

One thing you might want to read up on is the Berlin method of filtration. Check the "articles" link on the home page for info on this and other things that you might find interesting. Also, I highly recommend reading "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. I think you'll find this a great source for up to date info on keeping SW aquariums. Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have and welcome to AA.com!