Is my tank safe for one clown fish

[Adam Hurley]

I have a 40-gallon breeder with 30 lb of dry Rock 10 pounds of live sand and the rest of this stand was dry also. My tank's been up for 7 days I've tested almost every day testing showed 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate so I decided to add some bio Spira last night tested this morning ammonia is 0 nitrite what is 0 and nitrate is 5

 

[EmdeReef]

No ammonia and nitrites with nitrates present would indicate your cycle is at least partially complete. You do need a source of ammonia though. Have you already added a clown or plan to? If not, I'd start feeding the tank or adding ammonia then testing after several hours.

 

[Ludders]

Personally, I would wait if it was me, but it's probably not unsafe. I would test the water again tomorrow and see what it is doing and go from there.

Wouldn't you get a pair of clowns? They keep each other company.

 

[Adam Hurley]

No ammonia and nitrites with nitrates present would indicate your cycle is at least partially complete. You do need a source of ammonia though. Have you already added a clown or plan to? If not, I'd start feeding the tank or adding ammonia then testing after several hours.

No I haven't added the clown yet I would like to but want it to be safe.

 

[JBKReef]

How much BioSpira did you add? You need a source of ammonia to get the cycle going full force, if that is dosing Dr Tims or ghost feeding, or throwing in a fish.

If you added the BioSpira, have live sand, and plan to maintain a healthy water change cycle I would say you can add the clown(s) now without an issue.

Do you have an ammonia badge from Seachem? Slap one of those on the DT temporarily to ensure nothing is building up you dont want. but I would say the clown(s) would be good to go as long as you plan to do frequent water changes during the cycle.

 

[Ludders]

One piece of advice Iwould always give in this hobby, never be in a hurry with anything.

We all want a beautiful thriving reef, with stunning corals and fish etc, but in reality it takes time to achieve this.

 

[Adam Hurley]

How much BioSpira did you add? You need a source of ammonia to get the cycle going full force, if that is dosing Dr Tims or ghost feeding, or throwing in a fish.

If you added the BioSpira, have live sand, and plan to maintain a healthy water change cycle I would say you can add the clown(s) now without an issue.

Do you have an ammonia badge from Seachem? Slap one of those on the DT temporarily to ensure nothing is building up you dont want. but I would say the clown(s) would be good to go as long as you plan to do frequent water changes during the cycle.

I added one bottle that was a good for 75 gallon my whole system is around that with the sump and no I don't have the seachem badge but I could probably get one.

 

[Adam Hurley]

One piece of advice Iwould always give in this hobby, never be in a hurry with anything.

We all want a beautiful thriving reef, with stunning corals and fish etc, but in reality it takes time to achieve this.

Thank you for the advice the only reason I'm trying to make it safe faster is that my friend is breaking down his tank down and moving and he said I could have his clown fish

 

[EmdeReef]

Personally, I would wait if it was me, but it's probably not unsafe. I would test the water again tomorrow and see what it is doing and go from there.

Wouldn't you get a pair of clowns? They keep each other company.

+1

I'd wait for the cycle to complete before adding a fish. Ammonia and nitrite spikes are possible even after adding biospira or other bacteria. I'd say the bacteria at best shortens the cycle but would take their claims of instant cycling with a grain of salt. Ammonia/nitrite spikes would stress the fish even if it survives and you definitely want to minimize stress. Fish-less cycling is the way to go. Start by ghost feeding or get a bottle of ammonium chloride and dose and test regularly.

 

[Adam Hurley]

+1

I'd wait for the cycle to complete before adding a fish. Ammonia and nitrite spikes are possible even after adding biospira or other bacteria. I'd say the bacteria at best shortens the cycle but would take their claims of instant cycling with a grain of salt. Ammonia/nitrite spikes would stress the fish even if it survives and you definitely want to minimize stress. Fish-less cycling is the way to go. Start by ghost feeding or get a bottle of ammonium chloride and dose and test regularly.

Would a cocktail shrimp work to add ammonia and yes it's a pair of clowns

 

[LadyMac]

Yes a raw cocktail shrimp is how I did mine. Place it in a panty hose, and hang it in the tank. Then just monitor levels.

 

[Adam Hurley]

Yes a raw cocktail shrimp is how I did mine. Place it in a panty hose, and hang it in the tank. Then just monitor levels.

Thank you.[emoji106]

 

[EmdeReef]

Would a cocktail shrimp work to add ammonia and yes it's a pair of clowns

Yes that'd be fine. Then start testing every once in a while, once you detect no ammonia try "stressing" the cycle more by adding more shrimp or feeding extra.

I just started another tank, and using Seneye (big questions around its ability to detect this low) but spot checked with RS. Based on this it took 5 days to get ammonia down to barely detectable, RS test confirmed. I dumped A LOT of frozen mysis and followed with 2 doses of biospira and a dose of Dr. Tim's, plan is to add 2 small clowns in a few days.

 

[Adam Hurley]

Thank you everyone for the information it has help me so much.

 

[Jesterrace]

I have a 40-gallon breeder with 30 lb of dry Rock 10 pounds of live sand and the rest of this stand was dry also. My tank's been up for 7 days I've tested almost every day testing showed 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate so I decided to add some bio Spira last night tested this morning ammonia is 0 nitrite what is 0 and nitrate is 5

Definitely not ready unless you bought cured rock. What has likely happened is that your tank hasn't cycled yet. You need a source of ammonia to get it going. I made that mistake with my caribsea life rock and bacteria. The stuff was worthless. I put in some frozen spirulina formula and that spiked things like crazy. Fortunately I only had a handful of snails and hermit crabs in at the time.

 

[Adam Hurley]

Definitely not ready unless you bought cured rock. What has likely happened is that your tank hasn't cycled yet. You need a source of ammonia to get it going. I made that mistake with my caribsea life rock and bacteria. The stuff was worthless. I put in some frozen spirulina formula and that spiked things like crazy. Fortunately I only had a handful of snails and hermit crabs in at the time.

Yup I'm waiting I went to the grocery store and picked up raw cocktail shrimp letting that be my source of ammonia to feed the bacteria