Cycling with Fish

[Kurt73]

I have 45 gal tank that I filled with live sand, dry live rock and rodi water. I added Dr Tims one and only once it was full. Temp 79F and salt is 1.024

Yesterday I added two b&w clowns and Springeri Damsel. The damsel once hit the water hasn't been seen since. Probably hiding in the rocks lol.

My question is when should I start check the water?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Just had to have fish on day one....

My question is why bother checking the water nor or a week from now, you dumped everything in already so what is 'checking the water' going to do?

 

[Kurt73]

Yes I chose to cycle with fish. I just wasn't sure since I have never used Dr Tims if I had to check or keep an eye on something while it's cycling.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Dead fish?

For less than the cost of the fish you could have used the Dr. Tim's ammonia and just followed the instructions on the bottle.

Assuming the fish survive (or even if they don't) you need to eventually test for ammonia and nitrate to determine if the bacteria you supplied is functioning to convert ammonia to nitrate.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Yes I chose to cycle with fish. I just wasn't sure since I have never used Dr Tims if I had to check or keep an eye on something while it's cycling.

Again, what would the purpose of keeping an eye on anything be at this point? You already put 3 fish in. Do you plan on scooping them out and putting them somewhere else depending on some specific water test result?

In other words does the inventible ammonia spike matter one way or the other? The tank will colonize nitrifying bacteria one way or the other regardless if your poor fish live or die.... wether you "test" or not.

BTW - There is no such thing as "dry live rock" - it is dead dry rock.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Quick Guide to Fishless Cycling | DrTim's Aquatics

Quick Guide to Fishless Cycling with One & Only There are many opinions about how to fishless cycle your aquarium. But they normally just confuse readers and generate more questions than answers. Below is an article explaining the process and a couple of ways to fishless cycle, which we...

www.drtimsaquatics.com

Here are the instructions

 

[BeanAnimal]

It really doesn't matter if you use bottled bacteria, live sand or rock or a dead snail. Nitrifying bacteria need to colonize the surfaces of the tank. They will do so one way or the other. Some methods are "faster" than others but all lead to the same place.

There really is no need to test at all if you are just patient for a week or two.

What I (and many of us) just don't get is this absolute bent on getting fish into the tank within days or hours of pouring water into the tank. There are numerous bacteria organisms and alga that must come to balance over a period of MONTHS before the system is truly stable. So why dump fish in on day one when day 10 or 14 or 30 or whatever would ensure their safety and allow the tank to come to some minor semblance of balance first.