Started New 55 gallon Tank....

[StormySkiez]

We have had the 2 baby GSP's for a few weeks. Thay are still in freshwater in a 10 gallon tank aprox 1 1/2 inches long. We bought a 55 gallon tank last night and added 50 lbs of crushed coral and the rest green gravel. The bag of Sea floor said clean, pure and ready to use. We did not rinse it. It has clouded up the tank and still is not clear. Is this normal? When will it be safe to add bio spira and the fish?

[Nusquam]

You may want to take the gravel back out and give it a quick wash anyway, or do a few water changes in the tank. I think the point of washing it after getting it out of the bag is mostly to get rid of that detritus that's making it cloudy. If you leave it long enough, it will probably calm down on its own, though.

[crazedpuffer]

Agreed just keep doing WC and it should clear up in a few days.

[StormySkiez]

The tank cleared almost completely the first few days. There is a bit of a residue on the plants from the crushed coral but nothing serious. The bags of crushed coral state no rinsing necessary but I would never recommend not rinsing it before adding it to the tank to anyone. We added bio spira and the two baby puffers to the tank a week ago. The water tests are checking good so far.

My next question is our LFS manager said Do Not do any water changes for a month to let the tank cycle. He says that changing the water will throw off the cycle and that I need to give the tank time to settle into a good cycle even if I have bad test readings. Is this true? It seems to go against what I read here.

[Pufferpunk]

Did you add the B-S to your filter? I always recommend that. You can do a WC after 48 hours. It is necessary though?

[StormySkiez]

What is B-S? I did not add it. We added water from the old tank, bio spira, and the fish. Our tests have been reading fine. It has been a week. My concern is my LFS said Do Not do a water change for a Month as it will mess up the cycle. It sounds like he is full of #$$#.

[Pufferpunk]

B-S=Bio-Spira.

[StormySkiez]

Ah yes, I did add B-S. I added it to the tank. Is that a mistake? The directions did not say add it to the filter.

[Pufferpunk]

No, that's something I've been saying to do. Makes sense though, since a large portion of your bacteria is developing in your filter & then you don't have to worry about removing any of the product from the water column. Like I said, 48 hours should be fine but you should only have to do a WC 1x/week, if the product was good.