??? on cycling a new brackish tank

[deiderarogers]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the site and am about to take a leap into the brackish world of fish keeping. I currently have a 90g African Cichlid tank and am fixing to set up my 30g to house just 2 f8 puffers. Can't wait!!!! I just purchased a Rena XP1 and marine salt (first time to ever use this stuff) today. No one had a proper hydrometer. Will check back later. My substrate will be a combination of crushed coral and gravel. I will also have some Texas Holy Rock for decor to all help with buffering PH. My 1st question is, do I add the total amount of salt to my tank water to begin the cycling process? I'm guessing yes since I have no bacteria to kill. Just want to be sure. Can you house a pleco of some sort with these cute lil things to help keep alge down? When feeding snails, how many of them should I drop in for them so I don't over feed? The snails will be very small pond snails and the puffers will be apx. 1-1.5" when I get them. Also, I've never done the fishless cycle before, but am going to attempt it this time. I read the article on this, but still feel a little nervous and not quite sure I understand it perfectly. In the article towards the end, it states "when the nitrite spikes, cut the amount of ammonia back by halving the reading. Then continue adding this quantity and you should observe the nitrite reading start to decrease." So just to make sure I understand this, when my nitrite spikes I will continue to add enough drops of ammonia to obtain the results of 2.5ppm until the nitrite = 0, then do my water change of 70-80%? Oh, btw, I have well water, so no chlorine. I always use prime anyway.

Thanks so much for your help in advance,
Deidera

[Agnate]

Your understanding of the cycling is accurate by my read. The idea is to make sure you have both ammonia-converting bacteria AND nitrite-converting bacteria. The measure of ammonia that you're adding is just to make sure there's enough bacteria to support the bioload of the fish you're adding, in which case over-guessing the ammonia is much safer than under-guessing.

Prime helps get rid of heavy metals in water, too, so it's not only about chlorine and chloramine (though that's the biggest part).

You're also correct about the salt amount. Bring the tank's SG (specific gravity) up to the desired level (yours should be about 1.004 - 1.005 SG if you're keeping F8s), and then start the fishless cycle.

Unfortunately, there's no fish you can keep in brackish that take care of the algae. The best things I've found for the algae are Nerite snails and Mollies (and even the mollies aren't that great). However, as long as you keep only a small-ish light, the brown algae (the major nuisance in a new brackish tank) will subside after about 4-8 months, depending on the tank of course. You can probably get away with keeping a few Nerite snails, as they're too big for a baby F8 to eat, and they stay close enough to their shells that they might be able to avoid being eaten. Add them with that warning, though, hehe.

As for feeding baby snails, you'll have to use your judgment. Feed them until their bellies are well-rounded, but they don't look like they're going to explode. You'll probably be able to give them quite a few before that happens.

Did I cover everything you asked?

[deiderarogers]

yes, thank you. Do you think that will be enough filtration. I understand they are big poopers and like lots of filtration. The XP1 is for up to a 45g and has a flow of up to 250gph. If so, is it necessary to do 50% water change every week or would every other week be ok for only 2 fish.

[Myaj]

Generally for puffers we suggest a tank with 10x flow of your total gallons, so a 250gph filter would be good for a 25 gallon tank. You're actually a little on the low side, but its a cannister which I think is a little better than power filters as far as effeciency, so probably fine.

I would still do weekly 50% water changes though. They do best that way, it keeps everything stable to do it every week. Otherwise you let all your parameters rise, then drop with the water change, then rise way up again, drop with the next water change, etc.

[Agnate]

Also, if you're using a canister filter, I would look into a air pump / powerhead combo to pump in VERY fine bubbles of oxygen throughout the tank. One downfall with canisters is that they're a closed loop, so they're very poor at mixing in oxygen unless you have the output spout above the water line (which can be noisy and leave lots of salt spray), or pointing at the surface of the water to create a lot of agitation (still a risk of oxygen deprivation).

Alternatively, you could mod the spray bar of your filter by drilling a hole slightly smaller than an air hose before the existing holes in the spray bar, and then placing the air tubing in that hole. The air would be forced through the tiny spray bar holes, which would probably give you enough added oxygen without having to put in a powerhead (if you're against powerheads for whatever reason ). Personally, I prefer the powerhead, because you can place it near the surface to agitate the water, add tons of oxygen, and give your puffers some current to swim in (which keeps them healthy).

[deiderarogers]

Ok....Thanks!!