a while ago i had a major problem with ich. nearly all my fish were infected. but thanks to the advice from fihsboy, schigara, gumbii, jweb1369 and especially puffedupseagull, all my fish are cured. thanx a million everyone!

You're welcome bud.

As Clark Griswold would say, "It's all part of the experience."

random- yeah puffedupseagull mentioned for me to start cycling my tank but i only have the filter, i dont really see how that could work out?? when is the soonest time that i can start?
on the other hand- if i ever get ich ill know who to go to

go get some water......get some food throw you some food in your tank and BAM, your cycle starts. OR you could go buy a bottle of CYCLE from the fish store. Stuff works great, specially if you over fed or something. Its pure bacteria and if your tank ever looks bad or something you can just add this stuff in and it will help a lot. You cant overdose it either.....soo its pretty much fool proof. BTW the sooner you get your cycle started the better......if you cycle your tank for two months........it wont hurt. It will just add to your stability of your tank. Cyano sucks gumbii I wish you the best of luck! Did you OD on anything?

the skimmer is a "hyper filter" in a matter of speaking......it pulls microscopic particles, protiens and garbage that pass through our filters.....................in a nut shell


as far as a cycle goes, throw a piece of table shrimp in there for a few days - - -it'll get all nasty and start a nitrate spike and create amonia etc etc .............thats a basic cycle..................all the other suggestions are good and will work as well...............just don't do them all at once, lol


i personally don't like chems so i wouldn't use the "cycle" - - -but that is 100% me, lots of people have great luck with it............so if you go that way it's absolutly fine as well

best way would be to get some water or sand from another running tank - - -find someone to give you there water from a water change or something - - - - if you have anyone around you

the easiest way is to add fish...........and i commend you for not doing a fish cycle, it'll take longer but it is the most correct and humane way to do it ....................great job ! ! ! ! ! ! !

you will be a great and respected Aquariest

Boss

any brand you want. of salt. Live sand is usuallly just biologically live......which will work fine for your cycle....it will help seed. it....
SO
1.fill your tank
2.place your live rock in your tank as a base.......this will keep it stable.
3.throw in your sand
4.throw in a dead shrimp or scallop or fish or what ever you would like.
5. test for the next week or two and see what happens eventually you could add some grabs when everything goes down.