Saltwater tank cycling

Question
I've started my first saltwater tank 5 weeks ago. I have a 45 gallon tank. I was
told that live rock isn't needed with saltwater. So I just have artificial decorations.  I have a 350 penguin Bio filter and have used crushed coral on
the aquarium floor. I was told to put in 6 to 8 fish and maybe some crabs,
snails or shrimp. So over the first 3 Weeks I've added 6 fish and one banded
shrimp. Well the Ammonia has spiked and went down, but my Nitrite and
Nitrate are deadly  high. So I've lost 4 damsels. Now I'm going on week six
and my Nitrate and Nitrite are still very high.... what should I do?

Answer
Hi Matt

Live rock is definitely needed for all marine tanks.  I would say that less than 2% of tanks set up without live rock will have long term success.

In order to fix the problem.  I would do the following:

1.  Take all the fish, shrimp and your crabs back to the store
2.  Remove all of the artificial decorations
3.  Add about 70-80 pounds of live rock.  You can add about 60 pounds of dead base rock and the rest as live rock if you want.  However, the latter will take longer to cycle
3.  Test your water daily after doing the above steps.  Add one fish (preferably not damsels as these get very aggressive) and test daily for another 10 days.
4.  After that 10 day period you can add another fish.

Also, your tank cannot hold more that 5 small fish.  Research your purchases before you buy them.

I would recommend that you get rid of the filter as well.  These do more harm than good in marine tanks.  Instead, the live rock will be your filter.  You should also invest in a protein skimmer.

Please visit the following site for more information:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/forumdisplay.php?f=62

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Kind Regards,

Michael