[Jeffc]

I am new to SW, I have a FOWLR –F. I purchased a 45g that was previously setup for 8 years, moved it 15 miles and had water over the rocks within 2 hours, kept the sand and did not scrape algea on sides and back didn’t want to lose coralline algea which later died/fell off glass. I have cleaned both HOB filters twice due to inserts clogging. Running 3 power heads, skimmer and HOB refuge.

Tank has been setup for 25 days, added cleanup crew week ago, started running lights 10 hrs (130w) for 3 days. Had a black moly in there for a week but he died. I have tested the water with standard SW kit and all readings are zero. (sorry if to much info)

Q: Will this tank cycle? I have gotten mixed answers.
Q: Using city water, I live in ypsi but believe the water comes from Detroit and is of good quality, former tank owner used city water also. Will this be ok or should I use RO? Cannot afford RO unit at this time.

 

[weimers75]

R/O will help you avoid algae problems down the road. If its been 25 days, you likely had the cycle. The rock out of the water for two hours will cause a tank to cycle again. Was the molly acclimated to saltwater? How is the cleanup crew doing?

 

[jjralo]

Did you do a water change? If so how much did you change? What kind of salt are you using? There is a cheap ro unit that will get you by for a little longer it's called the "bare bones".

 

[Jeffc]

Crabs are doing fine, 3 of 20 snails appear to be dead (should I remove them?)
molly was accumulated for 7 hours, 3-6 drips second.

I have not done a WC yet

 

[weimers75]

No, was the molly acclimated to salt water? Mollys are freshwater fish that can be transitioned to saltwater but if I'm not mistaken it takes days to transition them. Mollys are rarely kept in saltwater today - they used to be used all the time to cycle tanks but no one should cylce a tank with live fish anymore. Did your lfs recommend it?

 

[Jeffc]

No, I read it in a book (musta been an old one) and had a molly already in my planted tank.

 

[iyachtuxivm]

You can put a molly in salt water but if you dont do it slowly it may survive for a little bit and then die of osmotic shock. Most recommend a drip that changes the sg by no more then .001-.002 per hour. Even better is to give it days-weeks to acclimate once again low changes in sg no more then .010 per day. The first day being very critical to go slow and dont just change it by .010 the next time either.
Either case its not a good idea to cycle a tank with live fish. I know mollies and damsels are cheap but its still a living thing you are torturing.

 

[ajmckay]

Sounds like someone needs to do some more research on the nitrogen cycle!

Seriously this will help you understand what's going on in your tank a lot better. Do more research than about.com or wikipedia though those are okay places to start.