New to saltwater tanks

[Platteview38]

How long does it take for your water to cycle ?

 

[taytay_1119]

There is no exact time. As soon as the nitrogen cycle is complete then it is cycled. Personal experience it took my tank around 3 months to fully cycle and get passed the “ugly” stage.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

There is never a set time whenever it is finished is when it’s done, nitrate will take the longest to cycle, so be patient and keep your hands out of the tank

 

[west co reefer]

Bottle of Dr. Tim's cycles tanks fast. I tried it and it works.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You should have testing kits, the cycle is complete with ammonia is zero and you have measurable nitrate level.

There are many ways to cycle a tank, so depending on how you cycle the tank, it could be immediate, or up to a few days, or up to several weeks.

 

[Platteview38]

Is it a bad idea to add a couple clown fish after a couple weeks to help the process?

 

[ReefRebels]

Is it a bad idea to add a couple clown fish after a couple weeks to help the process?

If you get live rock and live sand and a bottle of bacteria, you can likely put clown fish in as quickly as a couple days later. Most local fish stores have live rock. But, test ammonia before and maybe for the first couple days to be safe. Assuming you are putting them in a tank that is at least 20 gallons?

Though I must warn you, clown fish are adorable and you will fall in love with them. Only to find that one of them is becoming the female and will constantly harass you when you need to do stuff in the tank lol.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is it a bad idea to add a couple clown fish after a couple weeks to help the process?

Without knowing the water levels, yes. Again, you should have a testing kit. Testing kits are vital in this hobby, its the only way we have to know if the water is safe for fish or not.

 

[Platteview38]

Thank you for all the help everyone

 

[Platteview38]

Anyone live in Nebraska ?

 

[kevgib67]

The process will be greatly speeded up or possibly an instant cycle if you use live rock. If not follow the advice above, good luck.

 

[taytay_1119]

Is it a bad idea to add a couple clown fish after a couple weeks to help the process?

Honestly I did a fish in cycle with bangaii cardinals and my neon blue goby with no issues other than the cardinals bullying each other (newbie & didn’t know they would do that). To each their own tho, clowns are hardy.