Think your tank is cycled?

Listen, I'm sorry but there have been too many people starting out lately and they all seem to think they have the magic touch and their tanks are cycling in half or even 1/4 of the time it actually takes!

You guys, newbies in particular, unless you start out with rock that is covered in corraline and all other manner of life and is from a tank that has been established for probably 6 months at the least, you are NOT going to cycle in 2 weeks.

It just
.
doesn't
.
happen.

Look, nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Any experienced aquarist will tell you that. And I'm sorry but the problem I have with newbies declaring their tanks cycled too soon has nothing to do with the money they're going to piss down the drain on replacing dead livestock, it's the livestock itself. These animals are being haphazardly tossed into weeks-old tanks at alarming rates and they're paying the price and suffering.

Not cool. Not cool at all. It's basically animal cruelty, if you ask me.

I guess what I'm saying is that even if you THINK your tank is cycled after a couple weeks, you really need to just let nature take its course and wait 5 weeks at a minimum before you slowly start adding fish. *Shrug*

I'll step off my pedestal now and give back the high horse. Happy reefing!

 

I have to agree, it does seem that some people have not taken the time to research and actually understand what is happening with the tank that allows the fish and corals to live and be healthy. Lately there has been several of these posts, but all we can do is answer the questions and advise them the best route to take.

 

Often times people start searching for help online after problems have already started in their tanks. If someone at the nearest LFS tells them oh yeah 1-2 weeks and you're ready to add livestock, why do they have any reason to doubt them? Then when things go wrong people start looking for answers.

I'm not disagreeing with your point because you're absolutely right, it's just that I think by the time your target audience finds this post it will be too late for many of them. Hopefully its not.

 

Unless you dont eat meat I dont think anyone has room to talk about animal's and hurting them.

I mean seriously most people are clueless and I know for a fact everyone here has made mistakes with thier own tanks before.

Its part of learning and life. Yelling at the 3 year old who has not been told the stove is hot is not the way to solve the problem. Explaining to them and letting them learn on thier own is sometimes the only way.

just my 2 cents

 

Just like to add that many peoples profiles do not indicate their ages - and I think some of them are very young - so if the grown up at the LFS tells them - set the tank up and next week add a damsel and a GSP colony - and another grown up on a forum tells them to wait 8 weeks and only add a frozen shrimp in the mean time ?

You cant blame them really under these circumstances

but I see Brandons point totally - it can be frustrating , having to go through the same questions and answers on a weekly basis with another newbie who has GHA, or a dying nem etc

 

There's one LFS that I don't listen to a thing they say. The help doesn't know a thing about maintaining a SW tank.
One kid works there, just set up a 90 gallon and has 2 lionfish and some other fish in there. I told him I'd sell him my used skimmer I have on my 55 for dirt cheap when I upgraded my tank. Anyhow, since the LFS owner couldn't get that skimmer new at cost to him for less than $150, the owner talked him into buying a red sea prism for $60. LOL that won't hardly keep up with 2 lionfish on a 90 gallon. Now the owner will be eventually selling him 2 skimmers, once he learns that his boss talked him into a under-rated skimmer for what he's got. And this is how the LFS owner treats his own employees??? I wouldn't want to start to think about the magic beans he's selling to other customers in that store that don't know what they're supposed to be doing.

 

... I would have to say that the moral and ethical reasons for the animals deaths in these two situations are completely different.

At any rate. I think people who think their tanks are cycled at 2 weeks are just looking for someone to tell them that what they're doing is ok, even though deep down they know that it isn't ok to put fish in yet. They don't want to wait and they're looking for someone else to blame if something goes wrong.

EDIT: Keep in mind that these people don't set out in the hobby to kill fish, they unfortunately don't understand the complexity of the hobby.

 

not to post about religion, but if you have no idea how kosher meat is gotten let me just say don't eat it. i understand a animal has to die and i love meat but it is particularly a brutal process to kill it the kosher way. let just say the objective of a kosher killing is to get the animal to lose most of its blood while its alive.

sorry for the random comment.

 

What?!?!

Yes, exactly, thank you!

I'm not talking about animal cruelty in the sense of what happens to cows or chickens when it comes to harvesting their meat for my own consumption. LoL good god where in the WORLD did you get that idea??

I'm talking about how in this hobby we are KNOWINGLY and WILLINGLY taking these animals into our care with the expectation of supporting them.

And as such, when people are telling you until they're blue in the face that your tank isn't cycled and you are not listening to them and going and getting fish anyways, THAT is the cruelty I'm talking about.

So we're going to steer this away from the point Beamer made because that's politics, and politics aren't allowed in this forum.



However the rest, I think, are all good talking points.

 

+1 and +1 EDIT: another +1