Enough life to cycle?

[Kelley]

Hello everyone,

I have a quick question about cycling my tank. The tank was setup
January 18th and has been cycling since (9 days). The live rock was
fully cured and had some nice growth on it. I have actually had no
visible die off on the rock. In fact, Anthelia has grown like crazy
since I put it in the tank! The hermit crab and the snails have all
been on the rock since it was added to the tank. After about a day or
two, there was a small amount of Ammonia less than .25. Nitrites were
also low, Nitrates were zero. Yesterday I tested and Ammonia is
almost undetectable. (I think, the zero is bright yellow on my test
kit and .25 is a light green. I am nowhere near the green color of
..25 but I do see a little greenish tint.) Nitrites and Nitrates are
both zero. My question is, is there enough sources of Ammonia to get
the cycle started? Is the cycle complete for what is in the tank?
Should I add the next stage of life? I just don't want to rush it.
My LFS told me to add a fish now. I am just looking for another
opinion or two. My goal for the tank is to add a small hardy fish
(either a Clownfish or a Damsel) and a couple more crabs. We'll see
how the tank does after the addition of the first fish. If all goes
well, I might add another one, no time soon though. Also, maybe in
time, I might work my way up to some hardy corals. Additional tank
specs are below.

Thanks!


Equipment
1 10 gallon All Glass Aquarium
1 Aquarium hood
2 Aqua Clear Mini Filters
1 100 watt submersible heater
1 10,000K CoralLife Fluorescent bulb
1 Aqua Clear 201 Powerhead

Inhabitants - purchased
20 lbs Carib Sea Live Sand
13 lbs Live Rock
9 Turbo Snails
1 Red Legged Hermit Crab

Inhabitants - grown on live rock
Anthelia

[skvarken]

(Kelley) wrote in message >...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have a quick question about cycling my tank. The tank was setup
> January 18th and has been cycling since (9 days). The live rock was
> fully cured and had some nice growth on it. I have actually had no
> visible die off on the rock. In fact, Anthelia has grown like crazy
> since I put it in the tank! The hermit crab and the snails have all
> been on the rock since it was added to the tank. After about a day or
> two, there was a small amount of Ammonia less than .25. Nitrites were
> also low, Nitrates were zero. Yesterday I tested and Ammonia is
> almost undetectable. (I think, the zero is bright yellow on my test
> kit and .25 is a light green. I am nowhere near the green color of
> .25 but I do see a little greenish tint.) Nitrites and Nitrates are
> both zero. My question is, is there enough sources of Ammonia to get
> the cycle started? Is the cycle complete for what is in the tank?
> Should I add the next stage of life? I just don't want to rush it.
> My LFS told me to add a fish now. I am just looking for another
> opinion or two. My goal for the tank is to add a small hardy fish
> (either a Clownfish or a Damsel) and a couple more crabs. We'll see
> how the tank does after the addition of the first fish. If all goes
> well, I might add another one, no time soon though. Also, maybe in
> time, I might work my way up to some hardy corals. Additional tank
> specs are below.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Equipment
> 1 10 gallon All Glass Aquarium
> 1 Aquarium hood
> 2 Aqua Clear Mini Filters
> 1 100 watt submersible heater
> 1 10,000K CoralLife Fluorescent bulb
> 1 Aqua Clear 201 Powerhead
>
> Inhabitants - purchased
> 20 lbs Carib Sea Live Sand
> 13 lbs Live Rock
> 9 Turbo Snails
> 1 Red Legged Hermit Crab
>
> Inhabitants - grown on live rock
> Anthelia


Im in the exact same boat with a 65 gallon tank. I'd be curious to see
what responses we get!

[mike and Linda]

In my opinion/experience:
Both Clownfish and Damsels are excellent starters. They are very hardy and
can tolerate great fluctuations in parameters.

Yes I think that you are ready for the fish
Truth be told I have started form day one with two damsels to help cycle my
tanks (one 25 gal and one 90gal).
If the crabs are doing okay than so will the damsels!

That's my opinion.

P.S please pick damsels that you will still like in a few years as they are
hardy and live awhile (mine are 7 yrs)


"Kelley" > wrote in message
m...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have a quick question about cycling my tank. The tank was setup
> January 18th and has been cycling since (9 days). The live rock was
> fully cured and had some nice growth on it. I have actually had no
> visible die off on the rock. In fact, Anthelia has grown like crazy
> since I put it in the tank! The hermit crab and the snails have all
> been on the rock since it was added to the tank. After about a day or
> two, there was a small amount of Ammonia less than .25. Nitrites were
> also low, Nitrates were zero. Yesterday I tested and Ammonia is
> almost undetectable. (I think, the zero is bright yellow on my test
> kit and .25 is a light green. I am nowhere near the green color of
> .25 but I do see a little greenish tint.) Nitrites and Nitrates are
> both zero. My question is, is there enough sources of Ammonia to get
> the cycle started? Is the cycle complete for what is in the tank?
> Should I add the next stage of life? I just don't want to rush it.
> My LFS told me to add a fish now. I am just looking for another
> opinion or two. My goal for the tank is to add a small hardy fish
> (either a Clownfish or a Damsel) and a couple more crabs. We'll see
> how the tank does after the addition of the first fish. If all goes
> well, I might add another one, no time soon though. Also, maybe in
> time, I might work my way up to some hardy corals. Additional tank
> specs are below.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Equipment
> 1 10 gallon All Glass Aquarium
> 1 Aquarium hood
> 2 Aqua Clear Mini Filters
> 1 100 watt submersible heater
> 1 10,000K CoralLife Fluorescent bulb
> 1 Aqua Clear 201 Powerhead
>
> Inhabitants - purchased
> 20 lbs Carib Sea Live Sand
> 13 lbs Live Rock
> 9 Turbo Snails
> 1 Red Legged Hermit Crab
>
> Inhabitants - grown on live rock
> Anthelia