Setting Up My First Tank

So you recommend using just a tiny bit of the suppliment, or do you mean just add a little live rock/sand?

I agree wit cdness

Just get some sand from a fellow reefer and call it good... it will still take awhile to cycle. Also I didn't see an end to the cycle until I stopped adding the additive... Kinda odd since it says to keep adding it.

Simple is better for sure.

So do you understand about "cycling". I will go out on a limb and say it is one of the most important things to you right now and usually the least attention. It can mean the difference in a successful tank or a crash in coming months. It's important, do you understand?

yes i do ! LOL sorry couldnt resist !

I believe I do. Dry rock/sand (and it IS dry, it's the eco rock from BRS and just some cheap white sand from Petco, not labeled live or anything) needs to grow the bacteria/algae/organisms in order to become a biological filter for the tank. I can expect a wait of two-four weeks (probably closer to a month) for the tank to cycle, during which I will see a rise in ammonia, then Nitrite, and finally Nitrate. After that, I can safely start adding fish (SLOWLY). However I need to start the cycle somehow, either by adding already live sand/rock, adding a fish or invert to produce waste, or by using the frozen shrimp method, or buying some bacterial additives. What would you guys recommend?

I would add some live sand to it

Reefer wrote:I would add some live sand to it

He stated he knew that in his post just before yours and that it was in his plan !

lol I do still appreciate the input though. I just talked on ReefCentral's chat to a couple guys who basically told me doing dried rock/sand was useless, because while the stuff would grow bacteria and such, actual critters like mini-starfish, crabs, and etc wouldn't, because they were never there in the first place? Makes sense, and I never really thought of that. Thoughts?


Oh and Cdness, maybe the reason your tank didn't stop cycling while you were adding the suppliment was because the stuff is designed to promote ammonia growth, which if constantly present, would continuously reset/disrupt the cycle? I was reading a couple articles on cycling and that was in one of them. lol

He stated he knew that in his post just before yours and that it was in his plan !


He asked what we recommended. . I was just stating from my experiences. I added live rock and live sand to start my cycle. I ended up with stuff i didn't want on the live rock.

Dry rock would not be useless... It is actually good and bad. You know the bad that you'll have a longer cycle, no hitchikers will be present, and corraline will take longer to grow. the pros though include no hitchhikers (they can be bad you know), ease of transportation/drilling, lower shipping weight, and typically cheaper price tag.

You can get the mini stars, corraline, crabs, and worms easily from other people's tanks. I just pulled a couple rocks out of my display and moved them to the sump. If you want to add one to your tank for some life let me know (after the cycle though).

Yeah I used the additive to start the cycle then followed the directions on the bottle... bad idea.

I think I will try to get some established live rock in there at some point, just for the addition of little critters, and the additional coraline. Why should I not add it until after the cycle? Because the toxic levels will kill off the live rock or something?

Yes you are right about the toxic levels. I have done the shrimp cycle and would do it again. Live rock I don't think I will do again, I just took a 1/3 out and acid washed it as am getting tired of the weekly kalk blasting of aptasia. When I get tired of fighting aptasia I will tear the tank down, acid wash all rack, clean tank, dip everything in meds for pests, and start with all dead. I also got some macro algea on some rocks that I didn't want and keeps regrowing, fish and inverts mow it down and it grows right back.

Alright guys, long time no see! It's back to stocking, since I think I've figured out everything but. I do have two other questions though, but neither really need to be discussed, it's more of a poll.

1. Do I need a Skimmer? Basically yes/no, with a short explanation if you want.

2. I have a biowheel in my hood, should I remove that or leave it there? I know the pros and cons, just trying to decide.

3. How should I start the cycle, shrimp, ammonia directly, etc



Besides those basic ones, I think the only thing I really have left to decide is my stocking list! I'd like one or two oscelaris clowns, would a pair be more or less aggressive than a single clown in a 29 gallon? I'd also like a bangai cardinal, I just think it's a really cool fish. Finally a goby of some sort, that I think I can figure out on my own, just make sure it won't starve from eating all the algae and won't take processed foods, right?

Now I plan on four fishes, but I'm going to name five since I may or may not get a pair of clowns. As you guys know (I think, I've posted so many threads in so many forums it's making me forget what I said where! lol), I'm really interested in Mandarin Dragonettes. Now I KNOW how hard they are to keep in captivity, especially acclimating them to artificial foods. I was just told by a member on Reefcentral however that it's possible, and if I get the Mandarin first (so the other fish don't eat its food), I should be able to acclimate it as long as I'm patient? I'm willing to buy a bottle or two of pods while I'm getting it to eat mysis shrimp (that's what she said she acclimated hers to). What do you guys think of that?

Skimmer no you don't have to have one but there are pro's to having one like lessening water changes and its mechanical filtration. Don't have an opinion on the biowheel as I have never used one even on a freshwater tank. The cycle I vote shrimp. My skunk clowns never go very far from the nem and wouldn't consider them aggressive at all. The manderian I have one and still won't eat prep foods. I heard ORA has some that do eat prep foods so I would try that route in that small of a tank. With the clowns though keep in mind what nem the like if you are at all thinking of a nem down the road.

Fair enough. It was just a random thought I had while looking at the aquarium, lol. Would I be able to keep a smaller dwarf angel in there instead? I'm on my phone so I can't really look up the name, but I believe the one I'm looking at is called Fire or Flame angel or something.

1) I wouldn't go without a skimmer. I know Tinkerman does well without one but, I think it makes the tank cleaner, maintenance easier and therefore, the hobby more enjoyable.

2) Skip the biowheel. I don't know how they benefit saltwater but have been told they are a nitrate trap. You may be able to remove the wheel from the hood and still use that function for water movement?

3) Add fish slowly! Don't start with a mandarin. In fact, I wouldn't get one at all. They often don't eat frozen foods and have the best chance of survival in a larger, established tank with a sump for keeping up the pod population. If you do add 5 fish to your 29, you probably will want a skimmer. They're the dirty buggers in the tank. Personally, I'd find some interesting inverts to add instead of a fish or two. Easier tank maintenance with low bioload.

4) Make sure you have adequate lighting for nem and wait to add one till your tank is more established. If you don't upgrade your lights, I don't think you'll be able to keep a nem happy.

My 2 cents. Hope it helps.

Thanks for the advice blennieluver. I think I'm only planning on four fish for now, so the bioload won't be overloaded, I hope. The biggest problem I'm facing right now is that I have no source of income. I have a job at Home Depot in Bemidji, but I won't be up there till next week, and it'll be two weeks after that that I get my first paycheck. As of now I have money for an RO unit, salt mix, and dry rock from BRS. Will it mess up the cycle if I add a skimmer to the system in the middle of it?

You can add a skimmer whenever you want, I have a 24 gallon with no skimmer, only two fish though and I didn't add them until the tank had been up several months. I would at most add one other fish to my tank, my current fish are a pair of clowns and they are quite territorial, plus I prefer a light bioload. I would recommend not adding a bunch of fish right off the bat, what usually results is new tank gets overloaded=algea farm and the tank gets ditched after a year of fighting it. Every tank will go through some algea phases and the more bioload the harder it is on a new system to get through it IME. If you want a pair of clowns add them last. Add a small goby 1st as they are normally shy.


Would not add a mandarin, they can get 4", very active, constant slow eater so unless you want to shut off your pumps and overload the tank with mysis 3x a day I wouldn't. And that's if yours eats prepared, otherwise you get to watch it slowly starve to death. I had one in a 33 gallon and it was a PITA that stopped eating frozen after we moved and starved.

Ditch the biowheel, I used to run them minus wheel for carbon/floss but they were noisy as hell and collected salt creep like mad.


Cycle, whatever you want, dead shrimp in the tank for a couple days, bunch of fish food, anything that will decay and produce some ammonia.

Cammie I do run a skimmer, I didn't for awhile though. There are a lot of people that don't run skimmers and do very well. I like the the new skimmer, got a sro xp2000 back around tax time. I don't like doing such big water changes and the skimmer helps with that. When I didn't have a skimmer running I tried a algea turf scrubber. I agree with cammie's opinion about 5 fish and a skimmer. I made the comment about the nem as I started with a false perc and didn't want to get a carpet nem, 1 for their size and 2 for the fact of reading and hearing about how many people have problems with them eating fish. So I got skunk clowns and went with a long tentical nem as they are alittle smaller and more choices for clowns that host them.

It is a good point to research what you want ahead of time so you can plan for it. Even if the plans are for clowns and you don't have the light for a nem now, if you know what type of nem they want, you'd be able to get it down the road.

With a shrimp method, you only leave it in for a few days? I was always curious about that.

P.S. I know a few guys on here either live in Bemidji, or don't, but have offered to give me either a live rock or two or a cup of live sand? That would be GREATLY appreciated, also if I could scrape some coraline from somebody's system to jumpstart mine's growth, that would be great! A. Is there anyone out there who could help me out with any of those things, and B. When do I want to add them? After the cycle but before the fish, right?

The shrimp should be put in a nylon so you can remove when the time comes.

I'd be glad to give you some sand and coraline algae.