Hardy Marine Fish For Cycling New Tank

[Ferris]

Hi all,

A friend is just setting up a 4ft marine tank (55 gal) and asked for some advice regarding a couple of small commonly available hardy marine fish that he could get to cycle the tank.

Whilst i have a lot of experience with tropical setups, i know nothing about marine fish so would appreciate any suggestions you guys might have. I have told him about fishless cycling etc but he's not keen.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SkiFletch]

Technically he should be cycling by adding liverock and allowing the dieoff from that to feed the "cycle". Then within usually 1-2 weeks when the mini cycle is over he can start with some hardy fish like clowns. LR cheats the curve of what you'd normally expect for cycling in a freshwater setup as it truly seeds the aquarium for you.

 

[Ferris]

Great info, thanks for that. He wants some live rock so clearly, the best option is to get that 1st. Good to know that Clowns are hardy as everyone likes them and they are stunning fish.

Thanks again.

 

[richard t]

Your friend will need 25/30kg of live rock. This will give his tank all the bio filtration it needs. It also gives him instant decor and a whole bunch of little critters that will help with the well fair of the tank.
If he is able to purchase all the LR at the same time, and its fully cured the you can start to stock with in days .

I my be telling grandma how to suck eggs here.

But 20x tank volume water flow will be what makes the LR work (5000lph)
When he is ready to start the tank, we will be glad to see him on our little forum

 

[SkiFletch]

Your friend will need 25/30kg of live rock. This will give his tank all the bio filtration it needs. It also gives him instant decor and a whole bunch of little critters that will help with the well fair of the tank.
If he is able to purchase all the LR at the same time, and its fully cured the you can start to stock with in days .

I my be telling grandma how to suck eggs here.

But 20x tank volume water flow will be what makes the LR work (5000lph)
When he is ready to start the tank, we will be glad to see him on our little forum

Agreed, dont spend money on mech filtration as it's ability to produce nitrates (which are very toxic for marine setups) is not desireable at all. Spend money on LR, not mech filters.

 

[Ferris]

Thanks again for the help guys, if you're ever stuck with African Cichlids, give me a shout and maybe i can return the favour.

 

[DanMan092]

I don't consider myself an expert, but wouldn't you want uncured liverock? So that stuff can die off. At least I cycled my tank with it...and it didn't take very long

And Ferris, I may take you up on that offer, for I may consider turning my 30 gallon community into a cichlid tank. But maybe not african cichlids, if I cant have live plants.

EDIT: Ferris, you joined on my Birthday

 

[crazyelece]

uncurred live rock cycles the tank by the dead producing ammonia and thus jump starting the cycle. Cured live rock basically skips this step as it is already teeming with the bacteria and therefore the tank is already cycled. When adding cured live rock you just need to wait a day or two (if at all) for the tests to read 0,0,0. And the tank to start to stabalize. If you add cured live rock and don't add any livestock (or other source of ammonia) the bacteria could start to die off from not being used and starving. With good quality live rock you can basically go from nothing to a full tank in a few days, but be careful as the tank needs to stabalize, which is different from cycling, for more sensative livestock.