3 days with tank,I have LR and have introduced 2 damsel to speed up cycling,??

[sruiz]

I have my tank running for three nights, I have added LR that has been cured and I actually went and bouth 2 damsels, I was hoping this would speed up the cycling process.
I have bought a tester for PH,amonia,nitrate, and nitrite, everything was good before I put the fish in.
What do you think??

 

[sarduci]

Ok, no need to have the damsels in there, it'll cycle on its own without them.

It'll also be a pain to get them out later, you'll probably have to rip the tank apart to get them out. They're hyper-teritorial and will attack anything if they live through the cycle. Then you'll have to do something with them like give them back, sell them, (the one LFS here won't take anything back for credit) or kill them.

Damsels are small, but nasty. They're known for killing fish much bigger than themselves, and taking care of same size or smaller in short order.

Take the fish back, wait till your first algea bloom, buy a clean up crew, then wait a few weeks and buy your first keeper fish.

 

[keithntracy]

I had the very same question. And the very same situation. My LFS convinced us to get the damsels also. Started with 5 but are down to 3.

You say wait for the first algae bloom, what type of algae will bloom? We have some green stuff begining. Looks like derbesia. Is that ok? Should we get a clean up crew now?

 

[speccialj922]

the best thing you can do is return the damsels, then buy a good book (like "the concientious marine aquarist" by robert fenner) and also read a lot of the introductory stuff on this site. i know your intentions are good, but there is no substitute for reading/research (especially not asking an lfs employee) - and thats coming from a former fish store employee.