problem with tank

yesterday i bought sand and rock from someone who was going to get rid of their tank and while there the guy offered the fish for free because he was going to get rid of them one way or another so i decided rather than let them be flushed to take them so they would atleast have a chance.....the tank that they were in wasnt in the best condition and hadnt been tested in a while and was very neglected. i added the sand/and LR to the new tank and then added the saltwater i made and acclimated the fish into it and immediately added a bio booster to help with biological filtration and activated carbon. i had no intention of adding fish until the tank had cycled but decided to atleast give these fish a chance until i could find them a new home if i could. i tested the water today and the nitrite levels were at 0 the nitrate between 10 and 20ppm and th ammonia was between .5 and 1ppm (im about to do a water change)....the fish seem to be well acclimated to the tank not breathing heave and being very playful with one another, maybe theyre fine due to their previous poor conditions? but what else could i do until i have found these guys a home, could they survive through the cycling of the tank with diligent water changes? the fish do seem well and healthy,what would you recommend i do?

to give you a better idea of the situation, i have a 55 gallon tank with LR and LS with a 29 gallon sump/fuge wich was just started yesterday for just the purpose of cycling the tank until i basically saved these fish from death row, i understand it isnt good for fish to be in an uncycled tank and had no intentions of doing so until this came up. i dosed the tank with a bio booster and started running activated carbon. the fish given to me was 2 green blue chromis, a 3 striped damsel, a domino damsel (decently sized), 2 teilbot damsels?....looks almost like a hybrid between a teilbot and a yellow belly damsel, and an african moony

any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated. thank you

 

For the most part they are pretty hardy fish I believe, but you could always see if an LFS could hold them for you until the tank cycles. Some Prime would help with the ammonia and nitrite, but it isn't a long term solution. Best of luck.

Jake

 

ThoSe fish are pretty hardly and should survive the cycle. Granted ammonia is quite painful for them. I am most concerned about the live sand containing lots of nutrients that will spike ammonia to unsafe levels. Good luck

 

^ That's my main concern as well, but I think we already did that thread lol.

 

so the consensus thinks that these guys will be ok?

 

It's too early to tell really, you may get hardly any spikes at all or you may have a long drawn out cycle with severe spikes.
Just keep testing regularly, that's about all you can do now. And have you got any prime to help lock up the ammonia and nitrite?

 

going to the store in a few for the prime and i did a water change which brought the ammonia down between 0 and .25 ppm and the nitrate to between 5 and 10 ppm

 

update, i went out and bought prime and besides that the fish seem to be even more vibrantly colored and playful....the damsel chase one another around the tank and its pretty comical...neither one of the talbots seem to mind because they just go back and forth almost playing tag with one another and all fish are eating well too

 

another update ph at about 7.8, nitrites 0, nitrates between 10 and 20ppm, and ammonia less than .25ppm however i am dosing with prime which locks the nitrates and ammonia in a non harmful form to my understanding

 

+1 to seeing if a fish shop will keep them, you could always try and trade them for credit? cudos on taking them in though, I hate people who just flush animals because they are fed up with them, almost as much as i hate people who abandon dogs on highways.....and rapists. also from what i know WC on a cycling tank slows the process but I might be wrong.

need to bring the PH up, salinity?