Am I getting this cycling thing wrong?

[chris2]

I am a total noob, and I am so worried over these fish. I just started cycling the tank. 40 gal., about 50 lbs. live rock, crushed coral, powerhead, filter, skimmer, 50/50 light. I just added 4 damsels TWO days ago, and the nitrite level is 0.5 !!!
The fish look great, I read that high nitrate levels make them sluggish and they breathe heavy. None of that is there.
Am I reading this all wrong? I thought that the live rock would convert the nitrite into nitrate? Should I leave this alone, or start changing out water? I read two gallons per day until the levels go down. I'll post the rest of the levels for day three tomorrow night.
Please advise and thank you in advance.

[Bifferwine]

Cycling with fish usually ends up killing them. With the amount of live rock that you put in the tank, that alone should have been enough to cycle it. An even better alternative to using live fish is using a piece of shrimp from the grocery store. Then when the tank is done cycling, you add your fish, and you don't risk killing them. Plus, you will regret having damsels in there if they do survive. They are super aggressive and will try to kill any fish that you add after them.

If I were you, I would catch the damsels, take them back to the store, and let the tank cycle without them. It's just not a good idea to cycle with fish, and one of my pet peeves are fish stores that tell people they need to do it that way. You either end up killing a bunch of animals, or you're stuck with fish that kill all your other animals.

The live rock will convert nitrite to nitrate -- but only after your tank has cycled and your bacterial colonies have grown and established themselves. It can take several weeks for that to happen. In the meantime, your ammonia and nitrite levels will spike. Once both of them drop down to zero, then do water changes. Doing water changes in the middle of the cycle will only prolong it.

[MikMcgyver]

Biffs right, get the DAMsels out of the tank, they will only casue problems in the future. Plus its cruel to cycle a tank with live stuff, only causes death, not to mention cash lost....

[chris2]

Thank you so much. I was really worried about this. You hit the nail on the head with the LFS and cycling with fish. One fish expert at my LFS said, "You can cycle the tank with live rock, but fish are nicer to look at." Then I went back on his day off and quickly found out who the owner was when I was told "Fish cycle a tank great, bigger fish cycle a tank faster." That idiot wanted me to buy a panther grouper for a 40g tank! Needless to say, I won't be going there again. I may take the damsels back, since I hear they may be a problem with clowns. I found a guy near my office who is even more knowledgeable, and seems to care about fish. Now I'm rambling...=)

[Bifferwine]

It's sooo important to find a fish store that you TRUST and that doesn't just try to sell you stuff so they can make money. I only go to one LFS in my city, and that's because I could tell from the first time I went in there that their two main concerns were the health of their livestock and the health of their customers' tank. Sometimes it takes a while to find a good store, but it's worth it when you do, because then you're not afraid that if you ask a question, you'll be conned into buying $100 worth of crap that you don't even need.

The damsels won't only be a problem with clowns, they'll be a problem with any fish that is remotely close to their size or smaller than them. My blue damsel even killed any corals that I put in its territory.

[winyfrog1]

all I can say is ....bleep bleep about that lfs..... biff and mik is right

how long has your tank been cycling?