Cycling almost complete What should I do first?

[ShaneA]

I just finished setting up my 32 gallon biocube with live sand and Carib Sea dry rock. When the cycle is complete what is my first step? Turn on the lights and purchase fish? How many fish should I start out with and when should I purchase a clean up crew and algae eaters or do I need to see algae forming and fish for a while so they all have something to eat. Thank you, Shane

 

[brandon429]

Hey the truth is you have to go to the fish disease forum here n read the 1st 3 pages of threads to find these patterns, be able to converse about these findings:

What are the chances my fish will survive no fallow, no quarantine prep


Define fallow, quarantine. How many days is fallow


What alternatives are there to fallow and quarantine in the first three pages


I was shocked to find out how opposite it is to bring a marine fish home vs a freshwater fish

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Solid advice right there.

 

[brandon429]

I'm only going to keep corals and inverts from here on out, reef fish prep seems about as medical as hanging out in full scrubs and mask in an emergency room all day, you fish keepers have true resolve. No room for error, one vector and you've undone eighty days of work lol nope

when it’s done right and all the mixed fish are swimming and thriving well, so worth it. I’ve seen friends online successfully skip the preps using a nano plus a couple fat clownfish from lfs, pretty tough fish, but they were not planning on mixing a diverse setup, that’ll require the full commit prep.

 

[Greg P]

Hi Shane, and welcome to R2R
Start with 1 or 2 fish and, after a month or so, if you start seeing some algae on the rock, add some snails.
Go slow and read your brains out on here.

 

[Daniel92481]

First things first, do a 15-20% water change, then test all your levels with quality test kits. You will want to test salinity, temp, ALK, phosphates, nitrates, calcium, and magnesium before you put any fish or corals. You want to know where your levels are. Test twice per week. If you do this, nothing will happen in your tank without you knowing about it! If you see some diatoms, get a CUC. Don’t get too many though. A combo of a total of 6-7 crabs and snails should be good for your size tank to start. After 2 weeks, get one or two fish. If you get one, wait a month to get another. If you add two, wait two months before you add any more. Not perfect advice, but should get you going in the right direction.

 

[Greg P]

I'm on the other side of the fence as Daniel
If you get a Dino outbreak, it'll kill off your snails and probably hermits too

Sometimes you just have to experiment at the risk to your purchases' lives.
I bought trochus snails when I thought I was going through a diatom outbreak. Turned out it was Dinos and I lost all the snails.

 

[Greg P]

So, if you want to add a CUC first, you'll need to turn on your lights and get some green algae growing.
I know, we're not much help.
It's kinda up to you at this point.

 

[svogun]

If your cycle is complete I'd start with seeding the tank with some PODs, turning lights on for some algae growth and slowly start adding a CUC as algae growth dictates. Algae barn is where I get my pods from. I would also grab some phytoplankton and introduce some to feed the POD population. I think copepods are an often overlooked part of an initial startup.

 

[Sailingeric]

We all know you are suppose to pour one out for

Neptune.

 

[brandon429]

that mans shirt is full see through

 

[Sailingeric]

that mans shirt is full see through

Do you not know the evilness of Dr Evil??

 

[brandon429]

oh for sure, i just never thought id find another reason its funny 25 yrs later

t shirt contest/winner lol