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From: whitling@andromeda.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Stocking (Was Re: Nitrification...)
Message-ID: <298@galaxy>
Date: Thu, 3-Dec-87 11:15:54 EST
Article-I.D.: galaxy.298
Posted: Thu Dec  3 11:15:54 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Dec-87 20:07:27 EST
References: <7044@pur-ee.UUCP> <155@bacchus.DEC.COM>
Sender: news@galaxy
Reply-To: whitling@andromeda.UUCP (Donna Whitlinger)
Organization: Eagle Winged Palace
Lines: 33
Keywords: Mini-Cycles, Overload
Summary: Rushing things a bit!

In article <7092@pur-ee.UUCP> tom@pur-ee.UUCP (Tom McCain) writes:
>
>Well as of Nov. 29 my 10 gallon tank went through nitrification with
>flying colors!  Since then I've added 2 fish and one anemone to the tank
>along with the clown and damsel that have been in for a few weeks.
>Things seem to be going very well...so far.   [deleted text about fish size]
>roughly the size of a silver dollar.  Since this is all I plan to put
>in the tank I hope it continues to maintain itself! 

I hope I'm wrong, but I think you have a problem.  In the first place, 
salt-water tanks tend to go through mini-cycles with each new fish added
so fish should be added one-at-time to keep the cycle peaks minimal.  
Since you've added at least 2 fish (no one can tell me whether anemones
contribute to the nitrate cycle), the mini-cycle might not be so small.
If your local aquarium store provides hospital facilities for marine
fish, I would watch the nitrites-nitrates closely and be prepared to
relocate the fish at the first sign of distress.  Otherwise, pray for
good luck.

Additionally, 4 fish and an anemone seems like an unusually heavy load
for a ten gallon tank.  At one time I maintained a 38 gallon marine tank
and was told that more that 4 or 5 fish would overload that tank. 
It might work as long as you never suffer any extended power failures and 
are absolutely reliable about water changes and such.
 
>---
>
>*Tom McCain
>*...!pur-ee!tom

Donna Whitlinger
Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
{...}!rutgers!andromeda!whitling