New tank - first organisms?

[ThunderGoose]

So my new tank is cycling and I'll be setting up my QT tank tomorrow. What should I plan on adding first? CUC or fish or shrimp?

Stocking plan for fish includes clownfish (probably mocha or caramel), neon goby, yellow watchman goby, cardinals (Banggi or PJ, undecided) and flasher or fairy wrasse (species undecided). This is TENTATIVE and may be modified as I go through the next year and learn more.

Shrimp - definitely lots of shrimp; sexy shrimp, cleaner shrimp, and pistol shrimp are all on my wish list.

Corals will be primarily softies.

Advice is very much appreciated! Thanks.

 

[bobbydelight]

I would add the cuc first

 

[tgfitz1]

How long has your tank been cycling?

Before anything else, make sure you add your clean up crew to help your tank cope with it's eventual increasing bioload when you begin adding fish etc. as while the tank is still young you're still waiting for your beneficial bacteria to multiply into a large population.

Blue and Red Legged Hermit Crabs, and Trochus and Narcissus snails are great members of the clean up crew and will keep things tidy.

I usually wait for a few weeks after adding my first fish before I add any shrimp as they can be more susceptible to fluctuating parameters commonly found in new tanks.

Good luck!

 

[MaiReef]

I am not a hermit crab fan, but mini brittle stars, Trochus and Narcissus snails are great. I also, enjoy a fighting conch.

 

[BlueCursor]

Does the CUC have anything to eat yet? If not, there is no point in adding them before you add fish.

Keeping that in mind, algae growth can explode out of nowhere when you start out so having a CUC for algae is a good idea, but wait until the first hints of algae appear. Adding CUC for cleaning the gravel is a bad idea until the tank has fish in it and you are feeding the fish; otherwise, there is nothing in the gravel for them to eat. Things like brittle stars and fighting conchs can starve if added to early.

 

[MaiReef]

Yes if you have a cleanup crew, you have to feed them. Either with crumbled flake in the water or another option is with Nori rubber-banded to rock.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Great, thanks for all the advice. Starting this hobby can see overwhelming and it's great to have experience reefers to ask questions.

I'm using the Red Sea starter kit so hopefully I'll start seeing algae this weekend (if everything goes according to their schedule). Sounds like as soon as I start seeing algae to add snails and I can start QT my first fish and my shrimp (since they take longer). I am setting up TWO QT tanks - one for fish and one for invertebrates.

Now if I can just get the flow between the tank and the sump adjusted so it quits making noise....

 

[ThunderGoose]

Yes if you have a cleanup crew, you have to feed them. Either with crumbled flake in the water or another option is with Nori rubber-banded to rock.

Yep, picked up some nori and some pelleted food this week. I'm trying to get everything I need and not have to run out to get something since my LFS is not so local and only open part time.

 

[MaiReef]

Now if I can just get the flow between the tank and the sump adjusted so it quits making noise....

That is all in the drain. What type of drain do you have? If you have two drains in one box it can be solved more easily as you could do a Herbie.

Also, a combination of a stockman pipe and a valve from your return pipe can make it almost silent.

 

[adamk]

i found that shrimp are good for eating left over food the fish dont get and are cool to look at. Nassarius snails are GREAT for stirring up the sand bed and eating anything that sinks below the top of the sand. My hermits eat any algae but they are slow eaters, they are always picking at something just very slow. I also have trochus snails that are all over the place, glass, rocks, sand, power heads ect. i have 1 fighting conch which after 2 weeks or so is finally starting to move around, usually he's half buried in the sand. I still have a lot of diatoms i think im gonna go pick up 4-5 turbo snails and a few more hermits pretty soon.....if you do get hermits get the smallest ones they have. all mine are under 1/2" and have zero interest in murdering my snails so far