pods in new tank?

renato120

renato120

New member
My tank its running for about two weeks, no spike yet everything reading zero and has nothing except two clown fishes.
Around 25 pounds of uncured rocks, I will add some more later on.
I bought a bottle of pods, and one of plankton to feed the pods I suppose.
Is it a good idea to dump those in the tank so I can start raising something in there Or they just not even gonna survive? (waste of money)
Thanks.
 
You posted your cycle started on the 19th which is 8 days ago using uncured live rock and you already have 2 clowns in the tank and your worried your pods won't survive ????

I had tons of pods make it through my cycle and you don't need to dose food for pods. Your poor clowns on the other hand will have to suffer through the cycle now.
 
renato120 said:
My tank its running for about two weeks, no spike yet everything reading zero and has nothing except two clown fishes.
Around 25 pounds of uncured rocks, I will add some more later on.
I bought a bottle of pods, and one of plankton to feed the pods I suppose.
Is it a good idea to dump those in the tank so I can start raising something in there Or they just not even gonna survive? (waste of money)
Thanks.
Click to expand...

If I understand you correctly, you have uncured live rock in the aquarium. If this is the case you might not see a spike in ammonia and nitrite or your clown fish are about to be killed. If you are lucky the amount of organisms on the live rock that die will be smaller than than the ones survivning and they will safety consume the waste and not generate too much ammonia. If the balance tips toward complete die off and the rocks contained a high amount of organisms, the ammonia spike will kill the fish.
 
seeing that you jumped the gun by putting live stock in a tank that has not cycled you should that fish back to lfs you got them from before the are put tough a painful death. if that is not possible add a bottle of bacteria and get some prime or amquel to detoxify ammonia good luck please read stickies and learn from your mistakes
 
When you cycle a tank and look for the ammonia and nitrite spikes what you are really cycling is the rock and sand, not the water. You are encouraging the good bacteria to build up on every tiny surface in the tank. The purpose of this is to break down the ammonia and the nitrites into nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish. Those must spike to cycle the rocks and sand and its most likely going to kill or injure your fish badly. You should return the fish or ask someone to hold them for you until a month from now after your beneficial bacteria has grown to the point where the tank is no longer a toxic environment. Forget the pods and plankton...return those too. Add a small piece of raw shrimp and the rest of your rocks so you can fully cycle your tank. As noted above please read the stickies on setting up. We want you to be successful not frustrated but the road you are taking is the hard one!
 
I'm new to this as well but since he is already set up and the mistake has been made, why not treat with Prime to keep the ammonia from being an issue. Add some prime and matrix until the biofilter from the rocks, sand etc is established.
 
The LFS GAVE me the live bacteria to cycle the tank. I put the bacteria one week beffore the clows were there. I have been checking everyday and no ammonia, or nitrate. There is a good amount of live rock there as well. They look happy now, eating twice a day.
But if its the case I can return them to a LFS. I dont want them to die. I have half uncured and tje other half are liverock branches. i used live sand as well.
 
If your other rock is very clean and dry just rinse it well and put it all in the tank. Monitor your ammonia and nitrites daily and once your nitrates spike and begin to go back down do a large water change. Read the stickies, that will help you alot. Get some Prime so you are ready when your ammonia starts to go up...don't change the water at that point or it will just prolong the cycle. You will need to be diligent about the water quality for the next month but you might pull it off. Where did the live sand come from? Was it in a bag on the shelf or from the lfs tank? Shelf sand isn't really live anymore. No one here wants to beat you up for making a mistake but your lfs isn't really being very helpful in this situation. You'll learn more here. Don't add any more fish yet! Choose whether you want hermit crabs or snails for your cleanup crew. Hermits usually kill snails to steal their shells. I'd wait about two weeks at this point before you add any clean up crew.
 
shesacharmer said:
If your other rock is very clean and dry just rinse it well and put it all in the tank. Monitor your ammonia and nitrites daily and once your nitrates spike and begin to go back down do a large water change. Read the stickies, that will help you alot. Get some Prime so you are ready when your ammonia starts to go up...don't change the water at that point or it will just prolong the cycle. You will need to be diligent about the water quality for the next month but you might pull it off. Where did the live sand come from? Was it in a bag on the shelf or from the lfs tank? Shelf sand isn't really live anymore. No one here wants to beat you up for making a mistake but your lfs isn't really being very helpful in this situation. You'll learn more here. Don't add any more fish yet! Choose whether you want hermit crabs or snails for your cleanup crew. Hermits usually kill snails to steal their shells. I'd wait about two weeks at this point before you add any clean up crew.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the help! Yes the rocks was on a shelf. I agree that I made a mistake. I tought it was ok. The LFS told me that the clows would be fine. So Thats why I bought them. I will take a pic soon to Show what the rock uncured and cured are
What is this prime you are talking about? Is just for the ammonia? I already dump a bottle of bacteria two weeks ago. I will not add anything till Im sure Im good to go.
 
White is uncured
The dark color rocks are cured
Live sand
ry%3D480
 
That's the sand I added
It says that immediately removes ammonia, nitrite and helps removing nitrates. Not saying that's true or not. Would that be reason that I don't see a cycle?
ry%3D480
 
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Sand in a bag on a shelf isn't the same as live sand from a functioning tank or the ocean. The bacteria in a bottle can help sometimes but you still have a long way to go. The LFS wanted to make a sale that day so they sold you sturdy fish. They might survive this but maybe not. It's too bad they didn't give you good advice. Prime comes in a bottle and it neutralizes the harmful ammonia...but without the ammonia you won't get nitrites. Without nitrites you won't get nitrates and you're just prolonging the cycle...there isn't a good answer for your clowns right now unless you return them and then you can cycle full bore and get it over with.
 
Johnseye said:
Guessing your tank is just beginning its cycle. At some point you will see ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You joined these forums in 2008 and have 151 posts so I assume you know what's going on. Have you read this post?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2075632

I've heard so much b.s. from various LFS's that I take what they say with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

Yes as you said I joined in 2008, had a tank years ago, couldnt have no more, didnt learn everything I should, and because of that it doesnt mean Im suppost to know everything. You shouldnt gonby how many post or how long they are here for. To be honest it was ling time ehen I setup mine first tank. I dont remember everything. I havent see that post till now that you showed me. Thank you
 
I would look into proper quarantine of your fish. If you were to setup a QT tank, do a proper quarantine and some prophylactic treatment, you would give the DT time to cycle naturally. I'm definitely not the most experienced person here but that would be my solution to your problem.
 
I have a 20 gallon refugium where I grow chaeto, pods, amphipods and sponges. Low flow is a key to healthy pod population, and also avoid skimming water from refugium.
 
Return the fish or put in a QT (quarantine tank). Add a raw shrimp from the store (ie walhell) or dose PURE ammonia. Note, most ammonia has additives (surficants) which is bad for the tank. Monitor through the cycle.
 
wcarterh said:
Return the fish or put in a QT (quarantine tank). Add a raw shrimp from the store (ie walhell) or dose PURE ammonia. Note, most ammonia has additives (surficants) which is bad for the tank. Monitor through the cycle.
Click to expand...

Its ben a month now and 0 nitrate, ammonia, nitrite.
Algea growing a little, sand turning brownish color. I'm not sure if I'm going to have a cycle.
Or if I already had a small one.. I'm a little confused here. The clowns are very happy.
I want to add more fish but I'm going to wait more time.
 
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