About to start cycling, need help!

[WhiteTang]

Hi everyone!
I am a newcomer and I recently bought my first aquarium which is a Innovative Marine Nuvo 16G.
I have done a ton researching and reading and Im currently waiting for the last few pieces of hardware to arrive so I can finally start my aquarium!

Below is a list of equipment I have. I want to know what you think, if something is missing or if I should use something else or... whatetver comes to mind.

The tank is 16G with a 211gph return pump.
11 lbs Live rock
8,8 lbs Natures Ocean Aragonite Live sand
VorTech MP10 circulation
Tunze nano ATO (auto top off)
Tropic Marine Bio-activ Salt
Refractometer
Eheim thermostat 100w
Tetra liquid crystal thermometer
Picobello RO/DI system
Seachem (carbon, purigen, phosguard, matrix)
Red Sea Marine Test Kit (PH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Phosphor)

(I plan to keep a couple clown and another small fish, a sexy anemone shrimp, a banded coral shrimp, a blue-legged crab and 2-3 turbo snails.)

As I said I am still waiting for some things to arrive (refractometer, sand and chemicals) so I can start. Hopefully that will not take too long.
So i was thinking how to start the process. And that where I need your help!

First I will prepare the RO/DI water with some salt and bring it to 28°C and test for salinity.
Then I will place my live rock, then the sand and then fill in the water. The left-right cannisters will have Floss-carbon-phosguard and in the chambers next to the canisters I was thinking to put some seachem matrix as a mean to maximize the live-rock surface area (see pic). After all is done I will turn on the pumps etc except the lights and throw in a small cube of mysis shrimp to rot, so I can start cycling.

And here come the questions!
Is the order I described correct?
Should I use the matrix from the beginning when cycling the aquarium?
Do I need to put in "food" everyday?
Do I need to make water changes while cycling?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Tahoe61]

1. Yes that order will do, I would leave out all filtration material until the inital cycle is complete.
2. I see no reason not to use the Matrix, it's basically just a media for growth the beneficial bacteria.
3. No you do not need to ghost feed the tank if you're using a raw shrimp. Once you no longer have detectable ammonia and nitrites and the shrimp has decayed or been removed than you should probably just add a very small amount of dry to assist in establishing the biological filter further.
4. No you do no do water changes during the cycle unless the cycle stalls.

Sweet little tank.

 

[WhiteTang]

Hey Tahoe61 and thank you for your feedback.
You mention I should add a very small amount of dry. What do you mean by that?

 

[Tahoe61]

Any dry flake or pellet fish food. If after the initial cycle you immediately add a cuc crew than you can forgo the ghost feedings.

 

[rock_lobster]

Make sure you take out the the media trays!! or you will have to wait twice as long for the tank to cycle.

 

[WhiteTang]

Any dry flake or pellet fish food. If after the initial cycle you immediately add a cuc crew than you can forgo the ghost feedings.

Great! Thanks so much for the info!

 

[WhiteTang]

Hey rock_lobster! Thanks for the tip!

 

[gemini9]

I put a shrimp in mine to start the cycle. It's really starting to stink.... lol ugh maybe I should have used flakes lol