How long before adding fish to a new salt water 40 gallon aquirmuim
- Thread starter APEX_AIMZ
- Start date
humphreyhh
New member
For fish only tanks. I wait for at least three weeks. For corals and anemones I wait three months at least. (People mentioned 6 month rule, but 3 month wait worked for all my anemones). I use live rock and dry sand.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It’s impossible to tell you how long the cycle will take, there are too many variables and unknowns. Adding one of the bacteria in a bottle will certainly speed things up, but again it is impossible to give you an exact duration. I’ve seen bacteria in a bottle cycle a tank as quickly as overnight but I’ve also seen it take a week.
whosurcaddie
New member
Use your test kits to know when to add fish. Once you have zero Ammonia and zero Nitrites you can add fish. Bacteria in a bottle will speed up the process.
IF you have ammonia in the water already.... My water out of the tap has zero ammonia and zero nitrites
You are gonna have a few weeks wait at least. Throw a couple pieces of flake or pellet food in the tank, and let it sit and wait. You may or may not ever see the ammonia/nitrite bloom, but the process will start.
If your nitrate is rising, then your cycle is complete. But remember that your cycle is only complete for a bioload of whatever you had in it. If you add 10+ fish at once, your tank can't support it.
Nothing good happens fast in a marine tank. Go slow.
scooter31707
New member
+1. Also I added some of my CUC first before any fish. I did the CUC in 2 batches. make sure you don't go sticking 4-5 fish in there at a time. Yet your bacteria catch up with the fish/CUC bioload.
mcgyvr
New member
With locally source live rock you may not have a cycle at all as that live rock (if kept wet and not allowed to dry at all) will have all the bacteria needed already..
Thats one big reason why local fish stores have water tanks full of live rock sitting there.. So that you can buy your tank/fish/rock,etc.. and take it home and set it up right away..
Now if your "live rock" was shipped to you and kept "damp" with paper towels,etc.. then thats a totally different story and it may take a few days.. or a week.. or a month depending on how much die off of bacteria there was..
Thats why we test.. So that we know..
^ What this guy here says its law.
On a separate note, I only had 25lbs of live rock, everything else was dry. I assisted the cycle by adding MB7....it took less than a week. With what you have( if it is real live stuff), you may not even need a cycle as mc said.
You should test for parameters to confirm, it is a good exercise to understand the tank chemistry.
The bacterial count rises, but only so fast: they have to eat before dividing. Add too many fish producing poo too fast and if the bacteria aren't enough---ammonia happens and the fish die. My recommendation is to start out for a few weeks (past cycle) with some invertebrates like worms, snails, micro-hermits, and let them help the bacterial count grow. [You do feed them.] They can 'break in' the tank safely, so that by the time you add one fish to the mix, there's no problem at all. Also, quarantine your first fish while you're watching the crabs' antics, and you'll not be introducing parasites into the tank---you cannot medicate a marine tank: it's 72 days of no-fish if you get a parasitic infestation. So slow and careful will save you a lot of grief.
Last edited:
