Fast cycling my nuvo 40

Turboreefer · Jun 27, 2017

Hello reefers. I am very new to the saltwater business and I have a great questions for you.

I have a nuvo 40 and acid washed bleached pukani rock with pond matrix and added a bottle of bio spira runing since last saturday. So only 3-4 days.

Last night I throw my black molly into the tank to help cycle the tank without acclimation and it survived.

Now I found 3 designer clown fish for a good deal from craigslist and they will be here on Friday. I am scared to add them in the tank.

Owner of fish says its fine, just add a cap if bio-spira everyday and feed them every other day they are good. He also suggested to give me a piece of live rock from his tank but his tank had some algae so I dont know about this. What do you guys suggest. Skip on the deal ? Or shall I bite the bullet. 1 picaso 2 snowflake clowns in large size about 85 bucks.

saltyfilmfolks · Jun 27, 2017

Slow down my friend.

Turboreefer · Jun 27, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Slow down my friend.

Yeah the plan was to be patient but its hard lol. How do people quarinti e fish for 6 weeks though? Is there a way I can kerp this fish?

Turboreefer · Jun 27, 2017

Mikedawg · Jun 27, 2017

This is a critical time for the long-term health of your tank and best to take it step by step. Most of us have rushed into at least one bad decision, lured by a good deal, and regretted it later.

Turboreefer · Jun 27, 2017

Mikedawg said:
This is a critical time for the long-term health of your tank and best to take it step by step. Most of us have rushed into at least one bad decision, lured by a good deal, and regretted it later.

Mike can you explain what can go wrong other than losing the fish? Is there a long term effect? Do you also suggest that I took out the molly fish from the tank?

saltyfilmfolks · Jun 27, 2017

Turboreefer said:
Yeah the plan was to be patient but its hard lol. How do people quarinti e fish for 6 weeks though? Is there a way I can kerp this fish?

get the live rock and 5 g of tank water and a hob filter. let the media in the hob mature remove the rock and the treat.

or wait till the next deal comes along. they always do.

Mikedawg · Jun 27, 2017

Turboreefer said:
Mike can you explain what can go wrong other than losing the fish? Is there a long term effect? Do you also suggest that I took out the molly fish from the tank?

Here's a pretty helpful article: http://melevsreef.com/cycle

The concern I have over "quick cycling" by simply adding commercial bacteria products just before you introduce fish is that there will not be enough time to fully establish your biological filter(s) which is your main tool along with water changes to control ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc. for the rest of the tank's life. A "normal" cycle of ammonia, nitrite and finally nitrate rising and then falling may take several weeks depending on certain factors. Failure to bring about a full cycle can result in a level of ammonia that it too high and can't be controlled, causing repeated loss of fish, inverts, corals, etc. Those are nice looking clowns; why risk losing them?

I've used Biospira, Microbacter7 and other products like most on this blog and had pretty good results for specific outcomes; however, I don't think many reefers would ever recommend skipping the full process necessary to fully establish biofiltration in your tank.

Salty gave good, simple advice above concerning how easy it is to fully cycle your tank, and I would hope your seller would appreciate your caution in making sure the clowns do well in their new tank.

Claus84 · Jun 27, 2017

+1 to being patient and letting the tank cycle

I think you would also be much better off sticking with 2 clowns rather than 3.

underdog493 · Jun 27, 2017

The tortoise wins the race, take your time.

Timothy Ahn · Jun 28, 2017

I agree with everybody else here, over the years of my experience rushing or taking shortcuts never ends well and does not help the tank and fish in the long run. Bio Spira is not a product that will make your fish tank safe while it is cycling, while it may help, it won't safe proof your tank. Take your time and be patient. Generally when you take things faster, problems are going to occur faster as well. We all make mistakes, so I advise you to listen to the members of r2f, we all have experience and Insight to share and help each other.

Dominat0r · Jun 28, 2017

Can not agree more. This can not be rushed. Those fish might survive but that doesn't mean they are not stressed. With stress comes other problems and in turn costs you more money in the long run. Your tank needs time to run its cycle. The fish will not notice it in the beginning cause the tank doesn't have the bio load. You add too many at once and the tank can't catch up that quickly. The fish add waste to the water and then the tank can't break it down fast enough. That's why they tell you to add fish very slowly to the tank and let the tank cycle, then add another, let it catch up again etc. Saltwater stuff is by no means cheap. So take it slowly. Btw, if you are a parent, this is a great time to teach your kids patience. I do all my maintenance with my son and he loves it. He does need to learn to crawl before he walks, but he is slowly watching it pay off. Best thing to do is read and read. The internet has tons of info. In fact, there is a really good guide in this forum. It a sticky up top. Good luck to you and slow down and smell the.........saltwater? Hahaha.