Which to add first in new tank: pods, chaeto or fish

[s_tempest]

Bumping as a thread in this forum, due to no replies (yet) in the "New to SW&Reef Aquaria" forum:

I think I've overthunk myself into a corner with this new tank build:
Which to add first, if I ultimately want a system with a healthy population of copepods & macroalgae? FWIW this tank has a sump with refugium.

- if I add a fish first, it will provide some nutrients for the chaeto but then once I add pods the fish will eat them and repress pod population growth.
- if I add pods first (with phytoplankton) they get a chance to build a population but have less habitat than if I put chaeto in the sump
- if I add chaeto first, I provide pod habitat but may not have enough nutrients to let the macroalgae grow if I'm not feeding fish yet

I'm still cycling, so I have a little while before I add anything to the tank.

If you have an opinion on this, please tell me why and not just what to do

 

[Coastie Reefer]

I say fish. I've never directly added pods to my tank and I have plenty (I don't run cheato anymore either). New tanks won't need cheato for a while as it won't have enough nutrients to thrive.

Just my opinion though.

 

[GeTanked]

I think you would need to:
Fish - pods + macro

Unless you plan on dosing nutrients to feed macro (which could also feed nuisance algae), your macro would starve.

Fish are gonna suppress pod population no matter what, that’s why you set them up in the fuge.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Something as simple as a few rocks in the fuge is plenty for pods to setup a home, they don't "require" macro.

 

[s_tempest]

Something as simple as a few rocks in the fuge is plenty for pods to setup a home, they don't "require" macro.

Thanks for the guidance.
I think that, coming from a nano tank where I’ve been fighting algae and water chemistry much of the time, and years of fw planted tanks before that, I bring my bias of “plants good, suck up nutrients” to the table. I definitely value what you’re saying, and need to hear from you folks who’ve done this before.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Don't get me wrong macros can be an excellent way to export nutrients, but in the beginning you'd just be working more to add nutrients for the algae to live. Unlike a planted tank that has nutrients in the substrate, a reef gets most of the nutrients from the food we add.

 

[GeTanked]

I agree with Coastie. I melted a softball size chunk of cheato the first month my system was up and a handful of Ulva a month later. The system was just too clean. Now I pull out about 3-4 pounds of ulva every other month. I think its better to let the system build up some nutrients before trying to add macros

 

[LesPoissons]

fish then pods then chaetp

 

[Ebslinger]

Fish! Pods and Chaeto like fish poop.