Cycle almost complete - getting nervous

[harthag12]

Bit of an odd feeling. Purchased my tank new and parts in August but than decided to refinish the basement, upgrade odds and ends ect and here it became April. Got water into the tank and way overdosed Ammonia but after 3 weeks it's finally gone. I have a feeling that this system that has been a project / dream is finally going to become a reality and have things in it and it's making me a bit nervous.

The setup portion I could do at my leisure, tweak, play with ect. But once fish go in I need to figure out how to feed a few fish initially in this 100g without the food getting lost. Do I have to much flow and am going to rip the fish apart, I should probably get my lighting hung shortly if I want to get corals in by June, ect. It's a curious feeling. Wondering if anyone else has felt that way once it came time for stocking and caring for the inhabitants.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I suspect many of us felt very much like you when we first started. You'll get over it. And taking your time when making changes is really a good thing. It's an old saying, "Nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank!"

Fish will be fine. If you have too much flow (almost hard to believe) the fish will find places to hide out, like in the rockscape. My fish don't like food to just float around in the water column. They like the pumps on and the food getting blown around so they can chase after it!

Don't be afraid to experiment with turning a pump off or adding one and finding out you didn't need it. It can always be a 'spare' and most of us who have been at this for a while have lots of spares. Heck, after 15 years I have a 40g cube with a 40g sump/refugium and a 16g 'spare' tank for various uses. But in a spare bedroom my wife calls 'the reef room' I have 3 sets of shelves with lots of spares. I even have a 40g, 20g, 10g and 5g spare tanks I've picked up for free from neighbors who tried an aquarium or kept a reptile or a terrarium!

And if you have concerns, look for answers here or ask the question yourself. That's why many of us are here... we want to help you succeed.