Problems with new set up HELP PLS

[dyereefer]

My brother set up a neww 72 gall bow frt he put baby chromis in to cycle tank twice both times the fish died within 2 hrs he aclimated fish for 1 hrs
before intro to the tank any ideas PH is 8.0 salinity is 1.226
Kh appears to be off the scale I will go double check myself tomorrow
because he is a newb and may have done the test wrong.That is the Kh test.

[marine newbie]

Are you sure the salinity is 1.226 or 1.026. If it's 1.226 then it's too high.

[dyereefer]

Sorry I meant 1.026

[Scavenger]

Ask him if he washed it with soap, bleach, WINDEX ect before setting it up. It could be a toxin problem.[/b]

[dyereefer]

I did Ask him if he used any house hold chemical and he said NO.

[EmilyB]

Chromis don't cycle well.

Stick to non-live forms of cycling, like live rock, fish food, etc.

[johnny rock]

now, don't take this wrong but its horrible to cycle a tank with a living creature, please do not do this its extremely painfull for a fish to have to live in an ammonia atmosphere. just toss in a small piece of [dead] shrimp and there ya go. what amount of liverock is he using? what type of water? [tap,conditioned tap.ro/do].
as mentioned CHROMIS on there own are tricky to get to survive sometimes let alone cycle a tank. I never add fish to a new system ubtil at least the 3 month mark and then the hardiest first and 1 at a time.

[dyereefer]

Never heard of dumping a piece of dead shrimp in the water That is for sure more ethical :redface: .His water is ro/di I have added water from my tank to his to help the process along. When you say dead shrimp what kind and where from ?

[dyereefer]

He has about 60 lbs of tonga/fiji live rock.

[AJ_77]

When you say dead shrimp what kind and where from ?
Doesn't matter, that's why EmilyB said fish food - you can just toss in a small bit of mysis, or a piece of cocktail shrimp - whatever. Anything to get the cycle started and allow bacteria to multiply. Your water and a bunch of LR will certainly help that along too. You could also seed his live sand with a handful of your own.

[dyereefer]

Hey Thanks a bunch to you all.
One more ? How often should he change his water during the cycling period and should he top off with the water from my tank when he does the water changes?

[Lofus]

I use a coctail shrimp for cycling. I wouldn't change the water at all during cycling as it has a reduced effect of building bacteria. Also, only top up with FRESH water as you are losing water due to evaporation.

If you top up with salt water your salinity will increase.

[Quagmire]

I use a different line of thought,I do alot of water changes and run the skimmer, to make the cycle as easy as possible on the liverock,hopefully resulting in less die off.It takes quite a bit longer this way but I feel the end result is worth it. :smile: