New to this

[Boats80]

Hello everyone. I just purchased a 45 gal JBJ acrylic tank and plan on starting with FOWLR. Any help or advice will be appreciated.

[hydrahawk]

What do you want to know?

[unbereefable]

My advice: get out now. This is an addiction that can never be satisfied.

[Boats80]

I just purchased a 45g JBJ tank and am going FOWLR. I understand the cyling process takes up to 6 weeks however how do I know when that process is complete? and should I add the sand and rock during the process?

[Boats80]

So I have heard!

[CMD2213]

My advice: get out now. This is an addiction that can never be satisfied.

lol not true im satisfied I know my new 80 will be good for a few months till the 125 lol

[Boats80]

How do you know when the cycling process is complete? So you can add livestock

[CMD2213]

I did test kits. And slowly added things after, remember fish add gradually don't dump 6 on day one

[FDdragon]

i set up my first tank with the aragonite sand, live rock, temp and lights. I waited until my parameters stayed stable. I checked every day to make sure my temp and salt stayed steady. about a week - week and half later I added two chromis to get the bacteria going. (I had a 30gl). after that I had my water tested every day (i probably could have waited but i didnt and it annoyed my LFS, ha ha) and saw the spikes in different parameters (part of the process) over a while.( Ammonia to Nitrite and Nitrite to Nitrate ) and then things stabled out.

I know there is more to the cycling process but that is where I decided to add some clownfish and hoped for the best. All my fishies have survived so far (lost a few to other reasons though). some people use the fishless cycling method but I decided to use the ammonia that fish create to get the cycle going (I was wasn't feeding a whole lot since it would have created too much ammonia)

Hope this helps and hope I don't get too many negative comments since I know some don't like using fish in the cycle. =)

but as mentioned above....do not add too many at one time once you decide to add the fish (make sure to add some hardy fish at first just to make sure). Good luck

[Boats80]

Thank you FD! very helpful

[Elias]

Take time on the initial cycling process, don't rush it cause it can cost u in livestock. Like FD said just stay on top of your parameters and start hardy fish(damsels, chromis, CUC) if they survive you can move on so forth. The biggest thing is patience get your self live rock and sand from an established tank to seed yours and it will expedite the process

[XO PRESENTS]

Welcome to SDR . A few things to keep in mind.

When your stumped ask questions, members on here are a great resource as many have been in the hobby forever.

Patience, I don't have much of it and I spent a ton from my mistakes. Even though we are eager to put all sorts of cool things in our tanks, do your research before hand. You will save yourself a lot of time and $$$.

The last and and most important tip, to me at least is to have fun ! We all run into issues but don't get flustered, have fun and enjoy the hobby.

If you haven't done so, check out our etiquette page and happy reefing

http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showth...et+discouraged

[hydrahawk]

Yes, the cycle time could take anywhere from 4-6 weeks. Get NH4, NO2 and NO3 test kits, cheap ones are fine. You could get a few fish in the tank, or you can add some fish food. You will notice a spike in NH4, then it will drop. Next to spike is NO2, then it will drop. When you see the NO3 spike, you can then add some CUC (Clean Up Crew) to the tank. At that point, I am sure you will get algae on the glass and/or rocks and sand. When you have little to no reading on your NO3, you can start adding fish. Just make sure not to add too many because the cycle will start all over again. Also, quarantine all your new fish!

[CMD2213]

+1 quarantine