my first live coral/cycling

[jrobbins]

did you remember to cure the hydrometer in saltwater for 24 hours first? they are pretty inaccurate to begin with, and most are calibrated for water at like 75 degrees. before you go messing with the salinity I would get a refractometer.

 

[kimbaco6]

Darn, nobody told me to soak the hydrometer for 24 hours. Ugh. Ok, maybe that's why, thanks. So many things to know....

Kathy, ok if you think I should get rid of these fish I trust your judgment. Just curious, why do so many people say that cycling with fish is faster? I understand that it is cruel (at this point I get that but the people suggesting it never said that) but why would I get rid of them at week 3/4 when everything is now stable for over a week? And if I do so, shall I keep the cleaners?

 

[Dre]

Darn, nobody told me to soak the hydrometer for 24 hours. Ugh. Ok, maybe that's why, thanks. So many things to know....

Kathy, ok if you think I should get rid of these fish I trust your judgment. Just curious, why do so many people say that cycling with fish is faster? I understand that it is cruel (at this point I get that but the people suggesting it never said that) but why would I get rid of them at week 3/4 when everything is now stable for over a week? And if I do so, shall I keep the cleaners?

Your question is for Kathy C ,but it seem apparent that the people who gave you this advice don't care much about fish and you knew is was a cruel act. You took their advice and lost fish beause they said
''fish will cycle the tank faster'' and you still question the advice given by us here ?Come on! Second,there are different ways to cycle a tank bro,
One way is mother nature with a little patience .

 

[kimbaco6]

I hear ya dre. Just got rid of the fish and got a bunch more live rock, so I should be getting on the right path now.

 

[Keith P]

Not to complicate things, but here is some more useful info.

If you don't have fish, you have a low bio-load. You may need to add a few morsels of flake food to feed your bacteria colony. The more food that is available, the larger the bacteria colony will grow. The lager the colony, the more prepared your tank will be for when you increase the bio-load.