Next step?

[Ray Laneville]

I have a 90g currently in initial cycle - about 4 days in. I have man made rock, seeded with live rock, 80lbs caribsea live sand, added a bottle of bio-spira and threw in a cube of dried brine shrimp to seed the cycle. today's tests ammonia .25, nitrite .25, nitrate 10. I bought the system used and have an old proclear wet/dry filter using as sump for now. In a couple of weeks I'm getting a 45 gallon tank that I'm going to make into new sump and I'm thinking of using the proclear as separate refugium for chaeto, pods, whatever. My question is, is it a good idea to buy some chaeto now and put it in the tank to start controlling the nitrates, then move it to new refugium when it's ready? There are no fish or anything in the tank yet. Also, when the cycle is done, what would be a good start for fish? I am going to have fish only until tank matures, then add corals and stuff.

 

[sfin52]

I think adding bacteria to the tank and your cycle will almost be complete. What is your fish list? We can start you from there. That live rock and sand provide almost imitate cycle one of the reasons to go with lr and ls.

 

[Ray Laneville]

I think adding bacteria to the tank and your cycle will almost be complete. What is your fish list? We can start you from there. That live rock and sand provide almost imitate cycle one of the reasons to go with lr and ls.

I don't have a fish list. Never had a salt tank before and I look at online fish sites and get overwhelmed with the choices. I have a 5 gal tank I could set up as quarantine tank. I should probably do this first right?

 

[Ray Laneville]

I think adding bacteria to the tank and your cycle will almost be complete. What is your fish list? We can start you from there. That live rock and sand provide almost imitate cycle one of the reasons to go with lr and ls.

I want to start with easy to take care of fish and non-aggressive. Another thing I'm wondering - how many fish to start with. Don't want to go too fast but is 2 or 3 small fish ok?

 

[Ray Laneville]

I like the online fish sites but to get free shipping it's probably too many fish for starting out and I don't want to pay $30 to ship a $10 fish.

 

[Mark Gray]

Let your Tank cycle the cheato will consume your ammonia you want your bacteria to get a good start first

 

[mjlash22]

I don't have a fish list. Never had a salt tank before and I look at online fish sites and get overwhelmed with the choices. I have a 5 gal tank I could set up as quarantine tank. I should probably do this first right?

Correct, most people will recommend having a QT ready at all times to treat/observe new fish or fish in the DT.

As for fish, yes, start off with a small amount, as your tank/equipment will have to adjust to the added bio-load. Since you have a decent sized tank, you could probably do a yellow tang pretty easily, maybe a few clowns. I personally love tangs and clowns, but that's just me!

 

[CJS80]

I don't want to pay $30 to ship a $10 fish.

Most fish you are going to get for less than $20 you can get from a local fish store. I would start there for the basics like non-special breeds of clowns, damsels, and they usually have yellow tangs if that's what you want.

 

[Ray Laneville]

Most fish you are going to get for less than $20 you can get from a local fish store. I would start there for the basics like non-special breeds of clowns, damsels, and they usually have yellow tangs if that's what you want.

for fish of clown or damsel size, my question is, for first fish, how many? Is 2 too many? Is 5 ok? ... I don't know

 

[sfin52]

It depends on the size of the fish. The clowns are small usually 1-2 inches. That’s is not going to put a dent on the bio. The larger the fish the bigger hit the bio will take. This is the time to plan your fish. I recommend make a list check compatibility and go from there. liveaquaria has and exultant selection that you can browse through.

 

[CJS80]

I think 2 small ones is alright, everyone will have their own opinion. I usually start with 1 fish, a few crabs, and a shrimp (if it is not going to have too aggressive fish that are going to eat it).

 

[PatW]

I would recommend you looking at Live Aquaria’s web site. They give descriptions of fish .... what it eats, how aggressive it is, how difficult it is to keep and so on.

I would suggest you trying to get reef safe, peaceful and easy to keep fish. Avoid damsels as they can get really aggressive as they get older but you could go with a damsel tank.

Fish to consider are Bengai Cardinals, Fire Fish, royal gramma, flasher or fairy wrasses, gobies and blennies. Of the tangs, a yellow tang and/or a Kole tang might work in a 90 gallon.

Your quarantine tank of 5 gallons is a bit small. It takes over a month to quarantine and it will take some time. A 10 or 20 gallon would work better.

As for numbers, the fewer fish, the more resilient your system will be. Numbers are not every thing, a single large fish will tax the system more than a host of small ones. Also, if you have robust nutrient export like a big skimmer, good water flow a refugium and great maintenance, you can host more fish than a neglecteded tank. Also, fish conflicts can come into play. A murderous fish can prevent you from over stocking a tank by simply killing new arrivals ... fortunately fish that fill different roles usually largely ignore each other. I figure about 10 gallons per fish so about 9 fish. That does not sound like much but if the fish are active and happy, the tank will be quite the hub of activity.

 

[Ray Laneville]

I would recommend you looking at Live Aquaria’s web site. They give descriptions of fish .... what it eats, how aggressive it is, how difficult it is to keep and so on.

I would suggest you trying to get reef safe, peaceful and easy to keep fish. Avoid damsels as they can get really aggressive as they get older but you could go with a damsel tank.

Fish to consider are Bengai Cardinals, Fire Fish, royal gramma, flasher or fairy wrasses, gobies and blennies. Of the tangs, a yellow tang and/or a Kole tang might work in a 90 gallon.

Your quarantine tank of 5 gallons is a bit small. It takes over a month to quarantine and it will take some time. A 10 or 20 gallon would work better.

As for numbers, the fewer fish, the more resilient your system will be. Numbers are not every thing, a single large fish will tax the system more than a host of small ones. Also, if you have robust nutrient export like a big skimmer, good water flow a refugium and great maintenance, you can host more fish than a neglecteded tank. Also, fish conflicts can come into play. A murderous fish can prevent you from over stocking a tank by simply killing new arrivals ... fortunately fish that fill different roles usually largely ignore each other. I figure about 10 gallons per fish so about 9 fish. That does not sound like much but if the fish are active and happy, the tank will be quite the hub of activity.

thanks. What I was asking about numbers was for starters - first trip to LFS for fish. 1 fish at a time, 2 or 3?

 

[Ray Laneville]

I would recommend you looking at Live Aquaria’s web site. They give descriptions of fish .... what it eats, how aggressive it is, how difficult it is to keep and so on.

I would suggest you trying to get reef safe, peaceful and easy to keep fish. Avoid damsels as they can get really aggressive as they get older but you could go with a damsel tank.

Fish to consider are Bengai Cardinals, Fire Fish, royal gramma, flasher or fairy wrasses, gobies and blennies. Of the tangs, a yellow tang and/or a Kole tang might work in a 90 gallon.

Your quarantine tank of 5 gallons is a bit small. It takes over a month to quarantine and it will take some time. A 10 or 20 gallon would work better.

As for numbers, the fewer fish, the more resilient your system will be. Numbers are not every thing, a single large fish will tax the system more than a host of small ones. Also, if you have robust nutrient export like a big skimmer, good water flow a refugium and great maintenance, you can host more fish than a neglecteded tank. Also, fish conflicts can come into play. A murderous fish can prevent you from over stocking a tank by simply killing new arrivals ... fortunately fish that fill different roles usually largely ignore each other. I figure about 10 gallons per fish so about 9 fish. That does not sound like much but if the fish are active and happy, the tank will be quite the hub of activity.

Ok I'll plan on setting up a 10 or 20 for that. Thanks

 

[LPStandard]

+1 for waiting until the cycle (bacterial population) is stable before adding chaeto or other macro. You want to let the bacteria reproduce to support the tank before adding macros that will pull the same nutrients out.