Ammonia

Leo

Leo

Active Member
oh, Thanks Diana. I actually saw this. but way over my budget.. Kinda forgot as it's so expensive. He has all the bells and whistles. Thank you though
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
thanks! :( Just went back 3 weeks on Manhattanreefs for sale section. saw a bunch of 50-=65 g tanks for the pricing I can sort of afford, but all were sold. I guess I'll keep looking
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Using live fish to cycle a tank is not humane. You are intentionally harming the fish and causing it to suffer. Even low amounts of ammonia burn the gills of fish which affects the amount of oxygen they can take in. They tend to die due to lack of oxygen. Suffocation. It is a slow death that causes the fish to suffer.

If you do cycle tanks w/fish, the proper way to do it is to monitor the ammonia levels to make sure they don't get high, keep on top of testing of ammonia levels and keep on top of water changes (sometimes water changes need to be done daily to keep the ammonia levels low). Low amount of feeding helps. This type of tank cycling can take longer b/c it will take more time to build up the bacteria in the tank that breaks down ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. All these levels need to stay low for the safety of the fish in the tank.

It is much faster to use some other ammonia source in a fish-less tank for the cycle. That way you can create high levels of ammonia which in turn allows for larger amounts of bacteria to grow in a shorter amount of time.

It is too bad that lfs are still giving out advice to cycle tanks w/fish w/o the additional info on how to keep the fish safe and healthy in the process. The fish is a living creature and should not be subjected to this type of treatment or considered disposable.

Off my :soapbox: now. This rant is not directed at anyone here. I'm just sick and tired that this advice is still given out. :banghead:
 
StirCrayzy

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised that is still common advice now. The only benefit to the LFS was that they sold $15 worth of damsels. Now, there are so many quick start bacterial additives and tank startup supplements, they could make quite a bit more, and do it the right way.

I've personally been offered that by a couple in my area, so I figured that's the new sales pitch.
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
Tha I you for the advice but there seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding. I'm not cycling any tank. I only have my old live rock in a 20 gallon Home Depot bucket filled with of RODI
Salt water at the right level. With a heater and two pumps. It's been 3 weeks. Almost 4. I've had 3 damsels in there and some snails. I've done 5 gallon water changes every week. The damsels weren't introduced until last week. No, I did not check my ammonia levels till recently and they were not horrible for the circumstances. The three damsels are still alive. I never planned on killing them. And if I new about the raw shrimp idea, I would have preferred that over what they suggested. I plan on putting the damsels into a small tank when ready. Pr hopefully get the LFS people to take them back
 
Snelly40

Snelly40

Well-Known Member
but... that's them in there during a cycle if the ammonia is still high (thats what i think he was referring to)
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Leo said:
I assume you mean raw shrimp. I have the rock cycling for three weeks already. I've put in a few damsels and a few snails but I'm certain 3 out of four damsels are dead. Do you think the dead fish will suffice in this case. I have not tested this cycling water. Should I bother? It's all in a rubber garbage container. Including 2 Pumps for water movement and a heater. I plan on having the tank ready to start cycling possibly this weekend. With the rock and aragonite live sand. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

From this post above, which is on the previous page, you mention 3 dead damsels out of four and cycling. With lots of questions. My comment was not directed at you or anyone on this thread.Based on the quoted post above and the following posts on the previous page, it looks like some false information is still prevalent on how to cycle tanks. It did get me a bit riled up, but as I stated in my post, I was not directing my comment at anyone on this thread. I hope you found the info I provided helpful. I apologize if it came off a bit harsh, this topic and the topic of flushing fish down toilets really gets me angry. I am not a mean person.

Leo said:
Tha I you for the advice but there seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding. I'm not cycling any tank. I only have my old live rock in a 20 gallon Home Depot bucket filled with of RODI
Salt water at the right level. With a heater and two pumps. It's been 3 weeks. Almost 4. I've had 3 damsels in there and some snails. I've done 5 gallon water changes every week. The damsels weren't introduced until last week. No, I did not check my ammonia levels till recently and they were not horrible for the circumstances. The three damsels are still alive. I never planned on killing them. And if I new about the raw shrimp idea, I would have preferred that over what they suggested. I plan on putting the damsels into a small tank when ready. Pr hopefully get the LFS people to take them back
Click to expand...

Ammonia levels can rise and fall pretty quickly. The best time to test the water is when you find the dead fish, this will help you determine if it is either high ammonia or high nitrite (both can harm fish). Testing the water for ammonia a week after you find a dead fish will not tell you anything. But, testing the water for both nitrite and nitrate might. As ammonia is broken down into nitrite and then nitrate, if you did have an ammonia spike, that would be seen later on as an a nitrite spike and then a nitrate spike (or rise in nitrate higher then you usually have).
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
Haha. Yes. But after pulling rock out to reorganize ( wanted to add more), they were all there. And no, I did not test the water as of that post. Again, inexperienced LFS, thought it not necessary till I start the real cycle. And I really do
Understand what your saying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
And really forgot so much from 8 yeas ago. A Loukas changed and a lot will never change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
And this just came up. I just noticed a crack in the black plastic bottom trim. Right in the corner. Should I start praying now or holler bloody murder!!!
474fa400cfca84f82ea8f7811af54fe9.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
When I brought the thank downstairs the on/off switches were against me. I was going down first. A bunch of water shot out from corner swiitch box. Could some have gotten into edge moulding. Possibly below the tank!! BECAUSE THERES A HOT OF WATER FORMING ALL AROUND THIS CORNER EDGE!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Leo

Leo

Active Member
I'm praying it's the weight of tank bing likes that is pushing water out of edge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Oxylebius said:
It is too bad that lfs are still giving out advice to cycle tanks w/fish w/o the additional info on how to keep the fish safe and healthy in the process. The fish is a living creature and should not be subjected to this type of treatment or considered disposable.
Click to expand...

My LFS definitely gave me this advice for "speeding up a cycle" with the full intent of having the fish die. Fortunately, even though I was a newbie, I knew enough to know that icked me out and didn't do it. But, I wonder how many people would have thinking, "Well, I guess that's just what you do in this hobby." I mean, he gave me the advice like it was a "normal" thing to do to cycle and if I wasn't so strong headed, I could see someone taking it.

To be fair to my LFS, I have to doubt this is their official policy. The guy who sold me my tank was a newer employee and maybe somewhere, someone taught him that. The clientele for my LFS are mostly professional, Eco-friendly folks that are into scuba and stuff like that. So, I'd have to imagine the idea of deliberately killing fish to cycle a tank would give most of them serious cause for concern.

I hadn't even thought about this for over a year, but maybe I should find some way to casually bring it up now that I know more than I used to and see if they've mended their ways on this front.
 
Last edited:
Leo

Leo

Active Member
DianaKay said:
Check out this thread:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...m-250-might-go-up-forsale.94416/#post-1291386
I think it was yesterday, be worth asking about anyway :ponder2:
Click to expand...

Diane, I know you have a RS 250. Maybe you would know the answer to this. I just saw notoced this. When I picked the tank up last night, the room it was in was slightly dark. Minimal lighting. I am praying this tank isn't compromised by this. It is a crack of the bottom plastic trim. Right on the right corner where the bend is. When bringing it downstairs last night , I was in front and the tank was obviously angled downward slightly. A huge gush Of water came out all over my hands and clothes. Came out of the switch box. This was just some water left over in sump. When we made it down, we automatically put tank down onto stand. ( very heavy ).
Just a now, I filled it up and noticed slight water along the front right edge below tank. I dried it and then noticed the crack. It also bubbled a tiny bit of water. I am praying that the pressure of filling up the tank pushed out the water from the spill last night. I dried it up a few times and it seems to have stopped. I am quickly emptying out tank. Do you think the plastic trim crack could have compromised the strength??? If not, then maybe it was just some water that fell below tank and into seam from bringkng it downstairs. Here is a picture.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top