Ok to add fish?

[moog24]

I have had my tank running for a about 10 days I used live sand and live rock from an already set up tank. I have added snails and crabs and just tested and my no2 no3 are zeros would it be safe to add one fish today? Was thinking a clown

[carey]

To be sure its cycled just dose up with some pure ammonia and if the numbers go back to zero you are ready for fish,.

[DRock]

If you didn't add any ammonia source in the beginning your levels of NO2 and NO3 would be at zero anyways, the cycle starts with ammonia. I wouldn't add anything until you add a significant ammonia source and monitor the levels for a few days.

D

[moog24]

What kind of ammnioa? I'm confused sorry I'm new to this

[DRock]

Originally Posted by moog24

What kind of ammnioa? I'm confused sorry I'm new to this

Most people put a raw shrimp in the tank and just let it decompose. That will let off plenty of ammonia to feed your tanks population of beneficial bacteria (BB). The bacteria will turn the ammonia in the tank into nitrites,0 later a different bacteria will convert nitrite into nitrAte. Generally speaking you want your tanks bacteria to be able to turn 1-2ppm of ammonia into 0 ammonia/0 nitrIte in around 24 hours, once this is achievable do a few significant water changes and rinse any filter media that catches solid particles with some tank water to reduce your nitrAtes, and you should be good.

You can use pure ammonia as well, adding it by the capful and testing over and over again until you achieve 1-2ppm, but that is an extensive process. I threw in a shrimp, waited a day, tested for a few days to see my ammonia spike then watched it all drop down and added a hardy little damsel fish to keep my cycle going.

If you buy ammonia, make sure it has no surfactant or fragrances added to it, one way I've heard to tell if it is pure is to shake it and see if it makes suds. If it does, it isn't pure ammonia.

D

[carey]

You can get oure ammonia from ace hardware, its about $3-$4.

[moog24]

If I drop a few shrimp pellets in would that do the trick?

[DRock]

It'll be hard to get enough ammonia from a few pellets and most of the time, fish food companies put additives in the food to slow down the breakdown process to limit the water pollution from the food. I literally bought 1 shrimp from Publix, got some funny looks from the meat department and the cashier, but it worked beautifully.

[moog24]

Just one whole raw shrimp??

[DRock]

That's all I did for ammonia, I also used a bacteria booster, like Bio-Spira. The bio-spira just adds some extra bacteria to the system to colonize on empty surface area of your live rock.

[moog24]

Did you leave it in there the whole time or did you pull it after a few days

[moog24]

And just FYI I also go a very strange and what the heck do you want just one for! Haha priceless

[DRock]

Originally Posted by moog24

Did you leave it in there the whole time or did you pull it after a few days

I pulled it after 3-4 days, when you can really tell its decomposing and the waterflow starts blowing strings off of it... Easiest way to know when is to test every day and watch for the ammonia spike, after the ammonia gets converted to nitrite and you don't see any more spikes you should be fine to remove it.

"And just FYI I also go a very strange and what the heck do you want just one for! Haha priceless"

Funniest looks I've ever gotten at a grocery store lol